PRESS STATEMENT
Six More Marineland Belugas Sent to U.S. Aquariums as Whale Sanctuary Project Condemns Continued Captive Breeding
Four whales bound for Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium and two for Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta as third airlift in three weeks moves animals from one concrete tank to another
CHICAGO / ATLANTA, August 14, 2026 – The Whale Sanctuary Project is raising concerns over the breeding programs of both Shedd Aquarium and Georgia Aquarium as six more beluga whales were removed from Marineland and transported this week.
Transferring beluga whales from one impoverished environment to another, only to be bred, should not be celebrated as the humane end to this crisis.
“Marineland’s collapse should be a turning point for captive belugas, not an opportunity to continue the cycle of forcing them to live in barren tanks while growing its inhumane breeding program,” said Dr. Lori Marino, President and Founder of the Whale Sanctuary Project. “These whales needed immediate care and a safe place to go. But the long-term goal must be to end the cycle that creates more whales who will spend their entire lives in tanks. Institutions taking in these animals have a responsibility to ensure this crisis is not used to perpetuate that system.”
The latest transfer follows two earlier airlifts from the shuttered Canadian marine park. With this latest move, Shedd Aquarium is receiving four additional female belugas, bringing its beluga population to 16. The aquarium has a decades-long history of breeding belugas in captivity.
Georgia Aquarium has also participated in efforts to maintain a captive beluga population and has publicly described collaboration among accredited aquariums as important to sustaining that population.
The Whale Sanctuary Project is calling on Shedd Aquarium and Georgia Aquarium to honor the intent of Canada’s prohibition on cetacean breeding by committing publicly that the Marineland belugas transferred into their care will not be bred. These whales should not leave Canada only to produce another generation born into captivity.
The Marineland crisis exposes a fundamental problem with the captive-whale industry: when marine parks fail, close or can no longer care for their animals, there are extraordinarily few alternatives available to whales who cannot simply be released into the wild.
That is precisely why seaside sanctuaries are needed.
“Calling these transfers a rescue does not resolve the larger ethical problem,” added Dr. Marino. “The question is not whether these aquariums can provide better care than a bankrupt and shuttered Marineland. They can. The question is whether lifelong confinement in an aquarium, and especially the continuation of captive breeding, is the best future we can offer these animals. It is not.”
The Whale Sanctuary Project is building that alternative at Port Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia: a seaside sanctuary where whales retired from entertainment facilities can receive lifelong professional care in a natural coastal environment, supported by dedicated veterinary and animal-care teams.
But creating a sanctuary capable of receiving whales requires significant investment in infrastructure, animal care facilities and the systems needed to safely bring whales from captivity into a coastal environment.
The crisis at Marineland underscores the urgent need for an alternative to the industry’s tank-to-tank trafficking of whales. The Whale Sanctuary Project is calling on donors and supporters in Canada, the United States and around the world to help close the remaining funding gap and open the sanctuary.
In recent months, the organization has raised millions of dollars toward construction and development, bringing a 2027 opening increasingly within reach.
Additional funding will help close the remaining gap and ensure that the next whales in need have a genuine alternative to another life in an aquarium tank.
To support the Whale Sanctuary Project and help build a seaside sanctuary for whales retired from captivity, visit whalesanctuaryproject.org/donate.
About the Whale Sanctuary Project
The Whale Sanctuary Project is establishing a coastal sanctuary in Nova Scotia, Canada, to provide retired captive orcas and beluga whales with a safe, natural environment for lifelong care. The organization is building the infrastructure needed to support humane, legally compliant transitions out of captivity in aquariums and entertainment parks.
Media Contact:
Kari Vierimaa
Vierimaa Consulting Inc.
kari@vierimaaconsulting.com