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Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie is an cute little “playful character”. The whale Orion – nicknamed “Onion” – is a big but guardian-like friend. Zephyr has “ants in his pants” and moves like a worm. Lillooet the beluga is the “loving presence” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed marine mammals in a Canadian amusement park have become pawns in a struggle between a shuttered park, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those most familiar with the whales say the impassioned debate over their fate often fails to consider the nuances of the whales who, after growing up in captivity, have been thoroughly researched by the people who work with them regularly.

After the national authorities prevented the export of the belugas to China, the controversial amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are housed warned to put them down unless the federal government pays for the upkeep of their care. The nation’s marine resources official has refused that demand, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain situation.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Researchers say that beluga whales’ neuroanatomy, along with their vocal imitation skills, problem solving and group interactions point to they are highly cognitive mammals – something a former trainer learned personally.

She spent several years as a whale caretaker, a job that required gaining confidence of the sea creatures.

“Developing those connections over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of love. At the beginning, they’re very unsure of you,” she said. “In time, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so wonderful and rewarding.”

Burgess knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was even so astounded by the subtleties and idiosyncrasies in their personalities. She cultivated a deep bond for Eve and Cleopatra with opposing natures.

“Eve chose me. The other required effort,” she said. “Both changed the way I view bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s connection with the whales progressed against a context of rising activist criticism to their confinement.

During her time at the park, seven belugas and the park’s single killer whale, Kiska, passed away. In total, 19 belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the facility links to natural mortality, but which campaigners say points to the inadequate care in which they were maintained.

The facility did not open to the public over the summer, but the former trainer says she witnessed firsthand results of the shutdown. “Structural materials is falling apart from the tanks because they’re degrading and not being maintained. The whales are curious and so they grab fragments and move about with pieces in their mouth. It’s distressing to see.”

The facility did not reply to a inquiry, but earlier asserted: “The whales … obtain far superior health care and around the clock care than any person in the Britain, or elsewhere.”

Fate in Limbo and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the facility in early March following the death of a beluga, an ailing beluga the park staff had to euthanize. She said the facility suspected particulars of the death were leaked to the media and she was released shortly thereafter.

The lack of clarity over the whales’ fate has left her and current and former trainers in anguish. She says the park’s threat to euthanize its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” endeavor, adding any attempts to euthanize even a individual beluga would require “significant personnel”, vehicles and heavy equipment.

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

Burgess backs requests for the whales to be transferred right away from the facility, with its failing enclosures and shrinking team.

In late September, the nation’s government official rejected a proposal to send the whales to China.

“To approve the application would have meant a perpetual existence in confinement and a return to display for amusement,” the minister commented. “As society, we know that belugas belong in the ocean, not in enclosures for our enjoyment. I could not in clear conscience authorize an transfer that would continue the situation these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the official’s statements indicate a more general misunderstanding of the facts of existence for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The society needs to realize these are whales that have lived entirely in confinement and they will need constant supervision for the remainder of their lives,” she said. “The public just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials attempt to find a answer, proposals have emerged, some of which have minimal feasibility. One proposal called for the belugas to be freed into the open waters of northern regions – where whales are a key source of sustenance for local populations.

A suggested sanctuary in the region of Nova Scotia, which now received regulatory clearance, has proven most controversial. The future location, which includes 100 acres of enclosed sea water, is not yet built. Advocates remain positive that it could eventually represent a permanent resolution for a number of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among caretakers she’s consulted, there is “no trust there” about what she said is “only an untested concept” in the whales’ well-being.

Others say the prospect of a refuge reflects a changing attitudes away from zoos and aquariums and could represent a viable plan in the near future.

An official, director of the initiative, said the location will mimic the mental engagement and diet the whales receive from specialists, albeit in a significantly bigger area. He said after the well-being of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|