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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an cute small “ham sandwich”. Orion – called “Onion Ring” – is a big but guardian-like friend. Zephyr has “endless energy” and wiggles like a wiggly creature. Lillooet the beluga is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

Thirty captive beluga whales in a Canadian entertainment facility have been caught in a tussle between a shuttered park, public officials and welfare campaigners.

But those most familiar with the whales say the impassioned discussion over their destiny often overlooks the nuances of the whales who, after spending their lives in captivity, have been closely studied by the humans who work with them regularly.

After the Canadian government prevented the sale of the belugas to China, the struggling attraction near the famous falls where they are housed threatened to euthanize them unless the government funds the upkeep of their survival. The nation’s marine resources official has refused that request, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious circumstance.

Intelligent Marine Mammals

Experts say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their mimicry abilities, problem solving and group interactions suggest they are deeply intelligent creatures – something a former trainer learned first-hand.

She spent three years as a whale caretaker, a position that required gaining confidence of the marine predators.

“Establishing those bonds over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the beginning, they’re very wary of you,” she said. “Over time, you gain reciprocal understanding. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so wonderful and fulfilling.”

The trainer knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was even so amazed by the details and quirks in their personalities. She developed a deep bond for two female belugas with opposing temperaments.

“One whale accepted me. The other made me earn it,” she said. “Each transformed the way I view relationships.”

Public Concerns and Facility Decline

Burgess’s interaction with the whales evolved against a context of growing public opposition to their captivity.

During her tenure at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, died. In total, 19 belugas have perished at the park since recent years, a number which the park attributes to natural mortality, but which activists say indicates the inadequate care in which they were housed.

The facility did not open to the visitors over the recent season, but the former trainer says she observed directly results of the shutdown. “Concrete is falling apart from the tanks because they’re in disrepair and not being maintained. The whales are inquisitive and so they pick it up and swim around with fragments in their jaws. It’s heartbreaking to see.”

The facility did not comment to a request for comment, but in the past stated: “The whales … get far higher quality veterinary services and constant supervision than any individual in the United Kingdom, or other places.”

Fate in Limbo and Potential Resolutions

The former employee was dismissed from the park in recent months following the demise of a beluga, an unwell beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the park thought particulars of the incident were disclosed to the media and she was released not long after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left Burgess and current and former trainers in despair. She says the facility’s warning to euthanize its whales is a leverage tool and is a “logistically impossible” endeavor, adding any efforts to humanely kill even a one beluga would require “immense personnel”, equipment and machinery.

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

She backs demands for the whales to be removed right away from the park, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

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

“Granting the request would have meant a continued existence in enclosure and a reversion to performance for audiences,” the minister stated. “As the public, we know that whales belong in the wild, not in enclosures for our amusement. I could not in good conscience approve an relocation that would continue the conditions these belugas have endured.”

But Burgess said the minister’s comments reflect a broader misunderstanding of the circumstances of living conditions for belugas raised in confinement.

“The people needs to realize these are whales that have spent their whole lives in captivity and they will need ongoing assistance for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “The public just don’t realize that it’s not as straightforward as saying ‘end operations’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As decision makers work to find a solution, suggestions have emerged, some of which have questionable practicality. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the open waters of northern regions – where whales are a key source of sustenance for Inuit communities.

A planned sanctuary in the region of eastern Canada, which recently received government approval, has proven most controversial. The prospective site, which includes 100 acres of protected cove, is not yet built. Proponents remain hopeful that it could eventually represent a long term answer for a number of the whales.

But, Burgess says, among trainers she’s discussed with, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “merely an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Different voices say the idea of a refuge indicates a worldwide trend away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a workable solution in the near future.

An official, head of the initiative, said the site will replicate the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a more expansive environment. He said after the well-being of whales is fully assessed, which could take months|an extended period|