The Ontario, Canada-based Marineland theme park has threatened to euthanise its 30 remaining captive beluga whales if the Canadian government does not immediately authorise and fund their export to China.
Marineland, which is situated in Niagara Falls, is the last marine park in Canada to hold cetaceans captive.
The practice was outlawed by the Canadian government in 2019 and is punishable with fines of up to CA$150,000 for illegally holding any whale, dolphin or porpoise in captivity.
Marineland’s owners argued at the time that the law, which became known as the ‘Free Willy’ bill, was unconstitutional.
Twenty cetaceans, including 19 beluga whales and one orca (killer whale), are reported to have died at Marineland since the law was passed.
The theme park – which has been shuttered since last year – was also under scrutiny after government inspectors found that its animals were ‘in distress’ due to the poor quality of water in the tanks in which they were being kept.
In a letter dated 3 October, the owners of Marineland said the park was no longer financially capable of providing care for the whales, and requested the government fund their export to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park in Zhuhai, China.
If the request was not met before 7 October, Marineland said it would have no option but to euthanise all 30 of the animals.
Canadian Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson refused the request, saying she ‘could not in good conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured’ – Chimelong Ocean Kingdom already houses captive beluga whales, dolphins, manatees and whale sharks, among other aquatic species.
In her reply to Marineland’s owners, Thompson wrote: ‘The fact that Marineland has not planned for a viable alternative despite raising these whales in captivity for many years, does not place the onus on the Canadian government to cover your expenses.’
A spokesperson for Canadian animal law advocates Animal Justice said the group ‘applauded’ the government’s decision, saying that the laws passed in 2019 can only permit the export of live cetaceans if doing so is in the best interests of the animal.
‘Marineland has spent decades profiting from keeping whales in miserable tanks, and is now sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property in Niagara Falls,’ said Animal Justice’s executive director, Camille Labchuk.
‘Marineland has a moral obligation to fund the future care of these animals,’ said Labchuck. ‘This crisis didn’t appear overnight; it’s the product of decades of neglect and cruelty. Marineland’s attempt to strong-arm the government into reversing its decision, even implying it may kill the whales, is reprehensible.’
While the future of Marineland’s beluga whales remains uncertain, campaigners are hoping they will eventually be transferred to a planned whale sanctuary off the coast of Nova Scotia.
The sanctuary has been in development since 2015 as a means to rehome captive cetaceans.
It was proposed as a destination for Tokitae (aka Lolita), a 57-year-old female orca kept in miserable conditions at the Miami Seaquarium, before her tragic death in 2023.
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