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The beluga known as Jelly Bean’s daughter Bertie Botts is an adorable little “playful character”. Orion – nicknamed “Onion Ring” – is a big but very loyal friend. Zephyr has “constant motion” and moves like a worm. Lillooet is the “most affectionate” with a gentle spirit.

A group of thirty enclosed beluga whales in a Canada-based entertainment facility have been caught in a struggle between a closed attraction, local and national governments and welfare campaigners.

But those most familiar with the whales say the heated debate over their destiny often fails to consider the complexities of the whales who, after spending their lives in enclosed habitats, have been carefully observed by the caretakers who interact with them daily.

After the national authorities blocked the export of the belugas to a foreign facility, the controversial amusement park near Niagara Falls where they are housed threatened to put them down unless the government pays for the expense of their care. Canada’s marine resources official has refused that request, placing the 30 whales in an ever more uncertain position.

Highly Cognitive Marine Mammals

Scientists say that belugas’ brain structure, along with their sound replication, intellectual tasks and communal behavior indicate they are remarkably smart animals – something one caretaker learned first-hand.

She spent three years as a beluga trainer, a position that required building relationships of the marine predators.

“Building up those bonds over time takes a lot of consistency and a lot of care. At the start, they’re very cautious of you,” she said. “Eventually, you gain mutual trust. And they start being more vulnerable with you. It’s just so extraordinary and fulfilling.”

Burgess knew the whales were exceptionally cognitive, but she says she was nevertheless amazed by the details and unique traits in their characters. She developed a special affection for a pair of whales with contrasting personalities.

“One whale selected me. The other demanded work,” she said. “They changed the way I understand bonding.”

Growing Opposition and Deteriorating Conditions

Burgess’s relationship with the whales evolved against a background of growing public opposition to their confinement.

During her three years at the park, multiple belugas and the park’s one orca, Kiska, passed away. In total, 19 belugas have died at the park since recent years, a toll which the facility attributes to expected lifespan, but which advocates say points to the poor conditions in which they were kept.

The park did not admit visitors to the guests over the recent season, but Burgess says she witnessed firsthand results of the cessation. “Structural materials is deteriorating from the enclosures because they’re in disrepair and not being fixed. The whales are inquisitive and so they take pieces and move about with pieces in their jaws. It’s distressing to see.”

The park did not reply to a inquiry, but earlier asserted: “The whales … obtain far higher quality medical attention and constant supervision than any human in the UK, or anywhere else.”

Uncertain Future and Proposed Solutions

The former employee was terminated from the facility in the spring following the demise of a beluga, an sick beluga the employees had to humanely kill. She said the park thought particulars of the incident were shared to the press and she was let go soon after.

The ambiguity over the whales’ future has left her and current and former trainers in anguish. She says the facility’s warning to end the lives of its whales is a negotiation tactic and is a “logistically impossible” endeavor, adding any plans to humanely kill even a one beluga would require “immense staff”, vehicles and specialized tools.

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

Burgess backs demands for the whales to be transferred right away from the park, with its failing enclosures and reduced personnel.

In recent months, Canada’s fisheries minister rejected a request to export the whales to China.

“To approve the proposal would have meant a continued life in confinement and a reversion to performance for audiences,” the official wrote. “As society, we know that marine mammals belong in the wild, not in tanks for our entertainment. I could not in ethical standing approve an export that would continue the conditions these belugas have suffered.”

But Burgess said the official’s remarks reflect a wider incorrect perception of the circumstances of existence for belugas living their whole lives in enclosures.

“The people needs to understand these are whales that have lived entirely in captivity and they will need constant supervision for the foreseeable future,” she said. “Many just don’t realize that it’s not as easy as saying ‘shut it down’.”

Alternative Habitat and Continuing Discussion

As officials struggle to find a resolution, suggestions have been put forward, some of which have little basis in reality. One proposal called for the belugas to be let go into the open waters of Canada’s north – where whales are a key source of nourishment for Inuit communities.

A planned protected area in the region of Nova Scotia, which now received government approval, has proven most controversial. The prospective site, which includes extensive space of penned in ocean, doesn’t yet exist. Supporters remain optimistic that it could eventually represent a long term solution for some of the whales.

But, the former trainer says, among caretakers she’s consulted, there is “skepticism there” about what she said is “only an trial” in the whales’ fate.

Different voices say the idea of a protected habitat represents a broader global shift away from captive facilities and could represent a workable plan in the near future.

Charles Vinick, head of the sanctuary project, said the location will mimic the intellectual stimulation and nutrition the whales receive from trainers, albeit in a more expansive space. He said after the medical condition of whales is thoroughly evaluated, which could take months|an extended period|