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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s offspring Bertie Botts is an charming small “playful character”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a big but guardian-like companion. Zephyr has “endless energy” and moves like a worm. Lillooet is the “loving presence” with a kind nature.

Thirty captive beluga whales in a Canada-based amusement park have been entangled in a struggle between a closed attraction, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those closest to the whales say the intense controversy over their fate often fails to consider the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in captivity, have been thoroughly researched by the humans who interact with them daily.

After the federal government prevented the sale of the belugas to a foreign facility, the struggling attraction near the famous falls where they are kept warned to end their lives unless the government pays for the expense of keeping them alive. The nation’s marine resources official has denied that ultimatum, placing the 30 whales in an increasingly precarious circumstance.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Scientists say that belugas’ neural makeup, along with their mimicry abilities, intellectual tasks and communal behavior indicate they are remarkably smart mammals – something a former trainer discovered directly.

She spent several years as a beluga trainer, a job that required earning the trust of the sea creatures.

“Building up those bonds over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of care. At the start, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more trusting with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were highly intelligent, but she says she was even so amazed by the subtleties and quirks in their dispositions. She formed a special affection for a pair of whales with opposing temperaments.

“One whale chose me. Cleo required effort,” she said. “Both transformed the way I view connection.”

Public Concerns and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s interaction with the whales progressed against a background of increasing societal concern to their enclosure.

During her three years at the facility, multiple belugas and the park’s one killer whale, Kiska, succumbed. In all, 19 belugas have died at the park since recent years, a statistic which the park attributes to age-related causes, but which advocates say indicates the poor conditions in which they were maintained.

The facility did not admit visitors to the public over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand effects of the cessation. “Structural materials is breaking off from the pools because they’re falling apart and not being repaired. The whales are exploratory and so they grab fragments and swim around with fragments in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The facility did not reply to a request for comment, but previously asserted: “The whales … obtain far better health care and around the clock supervision than any person in the UK, or other places.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

Burgess was fired from the facility in the spring following the death of Eos, an ailing beluga the employees had to euthanize. She said the park suspected particulars of the death were shared to the news outlets and she was released not long after.

The uncertainty over the whales’ fate has left her and current and former trainers in distress. She says the park’s threat to kill its whales is a bargaining chip and is a “logistically impossible” undertaking, adding any attempts to put down even a individual beluga would require “immense manpower”, trucks and heavy equipment.

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

Burgess advocates for demands for the whales to be taken promptly from the facility, with its crumbling tanks and shrinking team.

In the autumn, the nation’s government official denied a request to export the whales to China.

“Granting the proposal would have meant a perpetual situation in confinement and a return to performance for audiences,” the official commented. “As society, we know that belugas should be in the ocean, not in pools for our entertainment. I could not in ethical standing permit an export that would prolong the treatment these belugas have suffered.”

But the former trainer said the official’s comments reveal a broader misunderstanding of the facts of living conditions for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The public 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. “Many just don’t comprehend that it’s not as easy as saying ‘close it down’.”

Sanctuary Proposal and Continuing Discussion

As authorities attempt to find a resolution, proposals have surfaced, some of which have minimal feasibility. An idea called for the belugas to be freed into the open waters of the Arctic – where whales are a important part of food for Inuit communities.

A planned refuge in the region of Nova Scotia, which now received regulatory clearance, has been highly debated. The future site, which includes extensive space of penned in ocean, is not yet built. Advocates remain positive that it could in time represent a permanent resolution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among staff she’s discussed with, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “simply an untested concept” in the whales’ future.

Different voices say the idea of a refuge indicates a worldwide trend away from captive facilities and could represent a viable solution in the short term.

An official, leader of the sanctuary project, said the facility will replicate the mental engagement and nutrition the whales get from caretakers, albeit in a significantly bigger space. He said after the well-being of whales is completely examined, which could take months|an extended period|