Marineland Canada has announced that the 30 surviving beluga whales at the company’s zoo and theme park in Niagara Falls are to be distributed among a number of commercial facilities in the United States under the medical emergency Section 109(h) clause of the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Over the coming months, according to the U.S. agreement, 13 belugas will be shipped to SeaWorld San Antonio. Three will go to SeaWorld San Diego, two to the Georgia Aquarium, and ten to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
The other two are believed to be going to Oceanografic Valencia in Spain.
“This collective of aquariums is well positioned for this extraordinary task, thanks to decades of beluga care experience and having collaborated on several successful beluga rescues in the past,” said Johnny Ford, a spokesperson for the Shedd Aquarium and the rest of the consortium of facilities.
Absent from the consortium is the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. Five years ago, five belugas from Marineland were transferred there from Marineland. Two of them died within a few months, and a third passed away after that.
This outcome will at least be preferable to Marineland’s crowded and grossly sub-par conditions.
Since September 2024, when Marineland Canada closed its doors to the public, the company has been looking to sell the whales to another commercial facility or, when that approach failed, to be relieved of the cost of caring for them any longer. On more than one occasion, the management threatened to kill them if the Canadian government did not step in to facilitate a suitable transfer for all of them.
While this is a sad outcome, it will at least be preferable to the crowded and grossly sub-par conditions to which the whales have been subjected. And the facilities to which they will be distributed will be under more pressure than was the case at Marineland to be transparent about their health and welfare.
It is now seven years since the Canadian parliament passed Senate Bill S-203: The Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act. This groundbreaking legislation paved the way for other countries to pass similar laws. However, while these laws bring an end to the exploitation of whales and dolphins for entertainment, they do not provide for their retirement. There are many whales in need of retirement, and establishing sanctuaries for these animals is no small undertaking.
Our hearts go out to the beluga whales now leaving Marineland Canada. May they find a measure of better health and welfare at the parks and aquariums that will be receiving them.