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Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie is an cute little “ham sandwich”. Orion – called “Onion” – is a big but very loyal companion. Zephyr has “endless energy” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

Thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian entertainment facility have been caught in a struggle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those working directly with the whales say the impassioned debate over their future often overlooks the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in confinement, have been carefully observed by the caretakers who see them each day.

After the federal government blocked the export of the belugas to a foreign facility, the embattled amusement park near the famous falls where they are housed warned to put them down unless the authorities covers the expense of keeping them alive. The nation’s fisheries minister has denied that ultimatum, placing the thirty whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Scientists say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their mimicry abilities, intellectual tasks and communal behavior point to they are remarkably smart mammals – something one caretaker observed first-hand.

She spent a significant period as a beluga trainer, a position that required earning the trust of the aquatic animals.

“Building up those connections over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the outset, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and gratifying.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was even so astounded by the nuances and idiosyncrasies in their personalities. She formed a particular love for a pair of whales with different personalities.

“One whale accepted me. Cleo demanded work,” she said. “They altered the way I understand bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Facility Decline

Her connection with the whales developed against a backdrop of increasing societal concern to their confinement.

During her tenure at the facility, seven belugas and the park’s one killer whale, the orca, succumbed. In all, 19 belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the park ascribes to natural mortality, but which activists say indicates the inadequate care in which they were kept.

The facility did not admit visitors to the public over the recent season, but Burgess says she observed directly consequences of the shutdown. “Concrete is deteriorating from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they grab fragments and move about with chunks in their mouth. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not respond to a inquiry, but previously claimed: “The whales … get far superior health care and 24/7 care than any individual in the Britain, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was dismissed from the park in early March following the death of a beluga, an ailing beluga the caretakers had to humanely kill. She said the park believed details of the incident were shared to the press and she was let go soon after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and current and former trainers in anguish. She says the facility’s warning to kill its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any efforts to put down even a individual beluga would require “immense staff”, trucks and machinery.

“It cannot happen in hell the employees would ever do it,” she said.

She backs requests for the whales to be removed right away from the park, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.

In late September, Canada’s fisheries minister rejected a request to transfer the whales to an overseas location.

“Allowing the request would have meant a continued situation in captivity and a return to display for amusement,” the official wrote. “As Canadians, we know that marine mammals belong in the wild, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in clear conscience permit an transfer that would continue the situation these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the official’s comments reveal a more general lack of awareness of the circumstances of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The society needs to grasp these are whales that have existed solely in enclosed habitats and they will need constant supervision for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “People just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘close it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials work to find a answer, ideas have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be let go into the natural habitat of northern regions – where whales are a primary resource of sustenance for Indigenous peoples.

A proposed sanctuary in the region of Nova Scotia, which recently received official endorsement, has proven highly debated. The prospective facility, which includes extensive space of penned in ocean, doesn’t yet exist. Supporters remain positive that it could ultimately represent a long term answer for eight of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among staff she’s consulted, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “merely an trial” in the whales’ fate.

Different voices say the prospect of a refuge indicates a changing attitudes away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a workable solution in the coming months.

An official, leader of the sanctuary project, said the location will mimic the cognitive activities and diet the whales obtain from trainers, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the health of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|