Marine park threatens to kill 30 beluga whales if federal government doesn’t act quickly

A marine park in Canada has said it will euthanise 30 beluga whales held there if the government doesn't take action.

Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, closed in 2024 after years of declining attendance as well as allegations that animals being kept at the park were being mistreated, which Marineland has denied.

The closure has left 30 beluga whales, a species which is often held in captivity, with their fate hanging in the balance.

Since the closure last year, Marineland had put together plans to ship the whales to a sea life centre in China, but those plans have been blocked by the Canadian government.

Canada's fisheries minister Joanne Thompson refused to issue a permit for the animals' export as the belugas would be moving to a place where they would continue to be kept in captivity, as opposed to being released into the wild.

The public watching Belugas at Marineland in 2012 (Tara Walton/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

The minister said she 'could not in good conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured'.

She added: “To approve the request would have meant a continued life in captivity and a return to public entertainment.”

But the refusal to issue a permit has seen Marineland issue a chilling threat in response, as well as demanding money from the government to feed and care for the animals.

It gave the government until 7 October to grant the permit, threatening to euthanise the whales if they could not be exported.

A letter from the park to the fisheries ministry said: “If we do not receive a response by that date, we will have no choice but to presume that the answers to our inquiries are negative."

It added that anything that happened to the belugas after that would be 'a direct consequence of the minister’s decision'.

Thompson had previously said she 'would love to see the whales in a sanctuary', including a potential site in Nova Scotia.

The park has been the target of protests for years, including this one in 2013 (Tara Walton/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

However, Marineland has refused to entertain the notion, citing 'serious environmental issues that remain unresolved, along with a total lack of proven financial viability' in a report on the Nova Scotia sanctuary.

Documents compiled by the Canadian Press say that 20 whales have died at Marineland since 2019, including 19 belugas and one orca.

Marineland has previously told The Guardian that allegations of abuse arising from animal deaths have been used by animal rights groups as 'propaganda' for them to fundraise.

Camille Labchuk, lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice, said in a statement: “Marineland has spent decades profiting from keeping whales in miserable tanks, and is now sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars worth of property in Niagara Falls.

"Marineland has a moral obligation to fund the future care of these animals."

UNILAD has approached Marineland for comment.