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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an charming little “playful character”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a sizeable but very loyal friend. Another whale, Zephyr has “constant motion” and sways like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “biggest cuddle bug” with a kind nature.

Thirty captive marine mammals in a Canadian amusement park have been caught in a tussle between a closed attraction, public officials and animal rights activists.

But those closest to the whales say the intense discussion over their destiny often fails to consider the individual traits of the whales who, after living their entire lives in captivity, have been carefully observed by the caretakers who see them each day.

After the Canadian government blocked the export of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are kept warned to end their lives unless the federal government pays for the upkeep of their survival. The nation’s fisheries minister has refused that demand, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious circumstance.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Researchers say that beluga whales’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, problem solving and group interactions point to they are highly cognitive mammals – something a former trainer observed personally.

Burgess spent a significant period as a whale caretaker, a job that entailed building relationships of the marine predators.

“Developing those relationships over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the start, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so extraordinary and fulfilling.”

Burgess knew the whales were very smart, but she says she was nevertheless amazed by the details and quirks in their dispositions. She formed a deep bond for two female belugas with opposing personalities.

“Eve selected me. The other demanded work,” she said. “Each altered the way I perceive relationships.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Her interaction with the whales progressed against a backdrop of growing public opposition to their captivity.

During her three years at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s single killer whale, Kiska, succumbed. In total, 19 belugas have perished at the park since recent years, a toll which the park attributes to natural mortality, but which campaigners say reflects the poor conditions in which they were kept.

The facility did not operate to the visitors over the summer, but the former trainer says she witnessed firsthand effects of the closure. “Concrete is deteriorating from the pools because they’re in disrepair and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they pick it up and swim around with chunks in their jaws. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The park did not respond to a questionnaire, but previously claimed: “The whales … obtain far better veterinary services and constant attention than any person in the United Kingdom, or anywhere else.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was dismissed from the facility in the spring following the demise of a beluga, an unwell beluga the park staff had to euthanize. She said the park thought information of the incident were disclosed to the news outlets and she was fired shortly thereafter.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ outcome has left Burgess and current and former trainers in anguish. She says the facility’s warning to euthanize its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “extremely difficult” endeavor, adding any efforts to put down even a one beluga would require “immense staff”, equipment and machinery.

“It’s impossible in hell the staff would ever do it,” she said.

She advocates for demands for the whales to be transferred right away from the park, with its crumbling tanks and reduced personnel.

In recent months, the nation’s fisheries minister rejected a proposal to send the whales to an overseas location.

“To approve the application would have meant a continued life in captivity and a return to public entertainment,” the official commented. “As society, we know that whales belong in the ocean, not in tanks for our enjoyment. I could not in ethical standing approve an relocation that would continue the conditions these belugas have experienced.”

But Burgess said the minister’s remarks indicate a wider lack of awareness of the circumstances of existence for belugas born in captivity.

“The society needs to grasp these are whales that have lived entirely in confinement and they will need ongoing assistance for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “People just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials work to find a answer, ideas have been put forward, some of which have little basis in reality. A suggested plan called for the belugas to be freed into the wilds of the Arctic – where whales are a primary resource of food for local populations.

A planned refuge in the province of eastern Canada, which now received regulatory clearance, has been most controversial. The future location, which includes extensive space of protected cove, is not yet built. Advocates remain optimistic that it could in time represent a permanent answer for some of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among caretakers she’s consulted, there is “doubts there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Different voices say the prospect of a protected habitat indicates a broader global shift away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable approach in the short term.

An official, head of the plan, said the facility will simulate the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales get from specialists, albeit in a more expansive space. He said after the well-being of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|