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Six beluga whales have found a new home. The cetaceans were part of the first wave of relocations from the long-embattled Canadian theme park Marineland.
Marineland, located on the Canadian side of Niagara falls, began operation in the 1960s and had one of the largest captive whale populations in the world. However, it was also plagued by reports of poor conditions for the animals and 20 whales were reported to have died in the facility since 2019. Poor sales, bad press and the passing of a federal law that banned the sale, captivity and breeding of dolphins and whales led to the park’s decline and eventual closure in 2024.
That was only the beginning of Marineland’s problems, however, as it couldn’t figure out what to do with the whales still housed in the park. In 2025, an attempted sale to a Chinese theme park was blocked by the Canadian government for fear of poor conditions in the receiving facility, which resulted in the park threatening to euthanize all of the animals, to widespread criticism from animal activists and the general public.
Luckily for the whales, Marineland and the Canadian government came to terms last month. They agreed to relocate the whales to a collection of U.S. aquariums in Georgia, Chicago, San Diego and San Antonio, and the Oceanogràfic València aquarium in Spain. On Monday, the first group of belugas were taken out of their tanks in slings, then transported to Toronto Pearson international airport, where they were flown to their new homes – four to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and two to SeaWorld in San Antonio.
The move is just the beginning of the process, however, as 24 whales and two dolphins still remain at Marineland.
“There’s obviously some relief, but it’s hard for me to frankly endorse any of the facilities that these animals are going to,” former Marineland trainer turned outspoken critic of the park Phil Demers told The Guardian. “I’m happy for the animals. I just know that the fight for their improved existence will probably last their entire lifetimes.”
Camille Labchuk, executive director of Canadian animal rights nonprofit Animal Justice, had stronger words of criticism. “Marineland has never been honest with the public about the health of these sensitive, highly intelligent animals, and that pattern of secrecy hasn’t changed now that a handful of whales are finally being moved out,” she said in a press release. She further urged the other facilites to commit to not breeding the animals and to pressure Marineland “to be transparent, to require independent health assessments for every whale, and to ensure no animal is killed simply because it’s inconvenient or unprofitable to keep them alive a little longer.”
