Caught in political crossfire and facing potential death, there are few options for relocating the remaining 30 belugas at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont.
The now-closed theme park and zoo said in a statement last week that the whales face possible euthanasia after Ottawa denied its applications to export them to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China.
Federal Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson expressed concern that approving the export request may set the whales up for being used for entertainment purposes. She said Wednesday she’s “completely open to looking at” other export requests and has been in touch with a provincial counterpart about possible solutions.
While any applications for the export of whales fall under the purview of the federal government, animal welfare is legally the responsibility of the province.
But Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he wants Thompson to reconsider her decision and help get the whales out of the country.
“Either they issue a permit and we end up finding a home for them, or they don’t issue a permit and they can come up with a solution …,” Ford said on Tuesday.
Expert says whales face certain death in the wild
As far as what those solutions could be, it’s complicated.
To release the belugas into the wild would amount to a death sentence, said Andrew Trites, director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia.
If put into a setting they’ve never adapted to, they may get rejected by other animals and be “looking at a life of starvation, loneliness.”
Another idea being pushed by some animal advocacy groups is establishing a seaside sanctuary where the belugas could live in a fenced-off area in the ocean.
But a preserve of this kind isn’t established anywhere in North America.
However, in Klettsvik Bay, Iceland, there is a sanctuary run by the British charity SEA LIFE Trust. According to its website, the Beluga Whale Sanctuary was created “with the aim of providing beluga whales with a safe and more natural home” and has room for up to 10 belugas.
The sanctuary took in females Little Grey and Little White from an aquarium in Shanghai, China, in 2020.
In 2020, female belugas Little Grey and Little White were released into a seaside sanctuary in Klettsvik Bay, Iceland, after they arrived from an aquarium in China. The whales have spent more than 90 per cent of their time at an indoor pool nearby.
But since their arrival, the two whales have spent more than 90 per cent of their time at an indoor pool nearby, said Javier Almunia, a marine biologist, professor at the University of La Laguna in Spain and co-author of a 2025 published paper on the sanctuary.
In an interview with CBC, Almunia said there have been big challenges, including an oil spill in 2022 that contaminated the bay and the belugas showing signs of stress from living in an open-water environment.
“Everything is different. The weather conditions are changing. The temperature is changing.”
Is a sanctuary best for whales in captivity?
The U.S.-based Whale Sanctuary Project, a proposal for a site in Port Hilford Bay, N.S., has been viewed by some as a possible Canadian option for the Marineland belugas.
Charles Vinick, the project’s executive director, said the cove could house eight to 10 belugas, at a cost of $1.5 million to $2 million a year to operate.
The project is currently funded by donations, has an upfront cost of $15 million, and could be up and running by next summer, he told CBC.
“The kinds of cost we’re talking about are way less than what would be spent to build another tank on land for even a few cetaceans.”
But the project has stalled due to lack of consent from adjacent landowners and has not yet received federal or provincial approval.
Vinick said not everyone agrees with the project, but the situation at Marineland “underscores the need not only in Nova Scotia, but globally for sanctuaries to be able to respond to the needs of the closing of marine parks.”
Almunia disagrees. He said current research and technology isn’t where it needs to be to guarantee the animals a better life in a seaside sanctuary, and that it might “be an option for animals in 10 or 20 years. It’s not an option for animals tomorrow.”
For the Marineland case, Almunia believes the best solution is to send them to a conventional aquarium where they can enjoy the human care they are accustomed to having.
“They are used to management — the link with the trainer, with the caretakers.”
One solution for finding a home to 30 Marineland belugas is to send them to a proposed whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia but that development has stalled since plans for its construction were unveiled in 2020.
Advocates cite moral obligation to save whales
Caring for the 30 belugas costs an estimated $2 million a month, Ford said previously.
Another Canadian facility that once held captive whales is the Vancouver Aquarium. Its last remaining dolphin died in 2017 and a year later, it said it would stop keeping whales and dolphins.
On whether it could take the Marineland belugas, the Vancouver Aquarium told CBC News that it is “unable to accommodate these animals due to legal, regulatory and operational constraints,” and it simply has no space for them.
A letter from the international charity World Animal Protection that was addressed to Ford on Monday said any whales that could not be rehomed in Canada, in seaside sanctuaries or otherwise, should go to accredited facilities in the U.S. or Europe where their welfare can be independently verified.
In the meantime, animal advocates feel strongly that governments have a moral obligation to save Marineland’s belugas from being euthanized.
“The province can seize the whales …,” said Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, adding that “the federal government can decide on permits, and together they can work to get a seaside sanctuary or some other appropriate facility ready for the whales.”
