Mass euthanasia or a Chinese theme park: Limbo of 30 belugas and two orcas shows banning the exhibition of cetaceans is not enough

The 30 beluga whales living at Marineland, an aquarium in Ontario, Canada, face a death sentence, which, for the time being at least, they have managed to avoid. The entertainment center closed its doors in 2024 due to a drop in visitors, and the owners claim they can no longer care for the whales. Meanwhile, two orcas remain in Antibes, France, in an uncertain limbo, awaiting a decision on their future after the closure of another aquarium, also part of Marineland. These cases demonstrate that, even in countries with advanced animal welfare laws, these regulations fall short when it comes to safeguarding the future of cetaceans once governments prohibit their exhibition or establishments cease operations for economic or other reasons.

China’s water parks have become the most common destination for these mammals — mainly dolphins, orcas, and belugas — when zoos no longer want to or can care for them. In January, the eight dolphins from the Madrid Zoo were moved to more modern facilities on Hainan Island, the same place where the eight dolphins from the Selwo Benalmádena adventure park (Málaga) were sent in September. The nine dolphins from the Aquopolis Costa Dorada park in Catalonia paved the way for these transfers in 2022 after its closure.

Andrea Torres, a biologist and coordinator of the wildlife area at the FAADA Foundation, warns of the “senselessness” of these transfers. “It’s like saying: okay, we’ll fix the problem here and condemn the animals to the same or worse conditions of exploitation elsewhere, no matter how advanced the technology is.”

The Canadian government has refused to adopt this solution for the same reason Torres cites. The belugas would be used in shows, something banned in Canada since 2019, although not retroactively, so the Ontario aquarium could continue operating. In France, this practice was banned in 2021, while in Spain, although the animal welfare law prohibits the use of wild animals in circuses, their exhibition in water parks and their breeding are still permitted, thus perpetuating the problem with new generations of cetaceans.

A study by the China Cetacean Alliance, an international coalition of organizations working to protect and conserve cetaceans, warns of the boom in marine parks in the Asian country, where legislation fails to address animal welfare or meet the needs of captive animals. China houses more than 1,300 cetaceans in captivity across some 99 marine parks, including 34 orcas.

China also allows the import of wild-caught whales under certain conditions for research, breeding, or education — a practice that is banned in Europe and most other countries. Since there is no explicit prohibition, NGOs believe this could be a gateway for whales caught in the ocean to be taken to theme parks.

Maneesha Deckha, a law professor at the University of Victoria (British Columbia), uses the beluga whale case as an example of the difficulties encountered when trying to provide effective animal protection. In an article in The Conversation, Deckha explains that the threat of culling these whales “reflects the ethical emptiness of the Canadian legal system when it comes to animals.” The law “still allows” owners to kill their animals because they are considered “property.”

In Europe, the orcas Wikie, 24, and her son Keijo, 12, live in limbo at the Marineland water park on the French Riviera, near Cannes. The park closed in January, so the two orcas no longer perform for thousands of visitors, but neither have they been relocated, along with a dozen dolphins. The conditions in which they live have been criticized by several NGOs.

Loro Parque in Tenerife, the only zoo in Europe that exhibits orcas, offered to take them in, but the CITES international convention, which regulates the trade in endangered species of flora and fauna, opposed their transfer. The zoo believes it is the only option left for the animals “given the alternative of euthanasia proposed in France” and has filed an administrative appeal because it has not been able to obtain the report that questions the suitability of its facilities.

The option of sanctuaries in the wild — an enclosed bay where animals could live in semi-freedom — is gaining traction, but it remains a distant possibility. Organizations like Animal Justice and World Animal Protection advocate for sending some of the 30 belugas to a sanctuary in Port Hilford, a town in the province of Nova Scotia. However, the facility could only house between eight and 10 animals (either of a single species or a combination of belugas and orcas) and only as of next summer, because although it has authorization from the provincial government, it still requires permits from federal authorities.

The owners of the Ontario park refuse to allow their animals to be transported to the sanctuary, arguing that the site is not environmentally safe; they have also questioned the sanctuary’s financial plan. Marineland did not respond to this newspaper’s requests for comment.

The solution is far from simple due to clashes and differing opinions between the federal government, provincial authorities, and the owners of the entertainment center. No one imagined this scenario in 1961, when this water park, located near Niagara Falls, opened its doors. At its peak, it welcomed 1.5 million visitors annually. But in recent decades, the number of visitors has declined drastically, until it finally closed at the end of the 2024 summer season due to financial difficulties.

Growing public awareness of animal abuse has been accompanied by a long list of complaints against Marineland. One statistic starkly illustrates this: since 2019, 19 beluga whales and one orca have died within its facilities. The park argued that the deaths were due to the animals’ natural life cycles.

In September, Marineland’s owners requested federal government permission to send the 30 beluga whales to a park in the Chinese city of Zhuhai. But Fisheries and Oceans Canada denied the request. Minister Joanne Thompson stated that approval would have meant “perpetuating the treatment these belugas have received.”

Two days later, Marineland asked Thompson for financial support to care for the animals, including an ultimatum: if it didn’t receive a positive response by October 7, the animals would be euthanized. This threat hasn’t been carried out yet, but it seems to have calmed tensions.

The minister has invited Marineland to submit a new plan, indicating her willingness to grant a permit if it is in the best interest of the belugas. In fact, the law passed in 2019 includes exceptions to the export ban for scientific reasons, or if it is in the best interest of the cetaceans. The Ontario government has also asked federal authorities to reconsider their refusal to allow the belugas to be transferred to China.

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