{"id":188961,"date":"2025-10-04T06:28:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T06:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/188961\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T06:28:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T06:28:04","slug":"marineland-asks-ottawa-for-emergency-funds-saying-belugas-face-euthanasia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/188961\/","title":{"rendered":"Marineland asks Ottawa for emergency funds, saying belugas face euthanasia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Beluga whales at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont., in 2023. Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson earlier this week denied Marineland\u2019s request to export 30 belugas to an aquarium in China.Chris Young\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Marineland has asked Ottawa for emergency funding to feed and care for the last captive whales in the country, saying euthanasia is otherwise imminent and will be a \u201cdirect consequence\u201d of the Fisheries Minister\u2019s decision to deny export permits for the belugas.<\/p>\n

Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson earlier this week denied Marineland\u2019s request to export 30 belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China.<\/p>\n

Thompson said she will not subject the belugas to a future performing in captivity, which is consistent with a federal law passed in 2019.<\/p>\n

Marineland disappointed by denial of request to export beluga whales to China<\/a><\/p>\n

Marineland succeeds in bid to sever property so it can raise money to move animals<\/a><\/p>\n

Marineland said the decision \u201ceffectively prohibits\u201d the whales\u2019 export to any operational aquarium in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur only options at this point are to either relocate the whales or face the devastating decision of euthanasia,\u201d Marineland wrote in a letter to Thompson on Friday. \u201cThis is an outcome we are desperately trying to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twenty whales \u2013 one killer whale and 19 belugas \u2013 have died at the Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction since 2019, according to a database created by The Canadian Press based on internal records and official statements.<\/p>\n

Marineland has been up for sale since early 2023, though it has not landed a deal. The animals are a stumbling block to any company looking to acquire the massive piece of land that is one kilometre from Horseshoe Falls and the heart of the region\u2019s tourism industry.<\/p>\n

The park is quickly running out of money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are fully indebted and rapidly running out of resources to provide adequate care for the whales,\u201d Marineland wrote to Thompson.<\/p>\n

The park has asked for immediate operating funding to care for the whales until a suitable relocation can be arranged.<\/p>\n

A proposed sanctuary in Nova Scotia has stalled in recent years and is not a viable option, Marineland said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis leaves us in a precarious situation, as Marineland is not aware of any facility, anywhere in the world, that meets the conditions set forth by the minister for the export of these majestic animals,\u201d the park wrote.<\/p>\n

Thompson said earlier this week that all whales belong in the ocean, but that she is open to \u201clooking at other decisions that really speak to the health and well-being of the whales.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what would happen next, she said: \u201cThat decision sits with Marineland.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marineland has asked Thompson for help to identify other possible facilities that would take the whales.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand and appreciate that the minister holds a strong belief against captivity and we do not oppose this viewpoint,\u201d Marineland wrote. \u201cHowever, it is important to recognize that these whales were born in captivity. Releasing them into the ocean would unfortunately lead to their immediate demise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thompson\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

In 2019, the federal government banned whale and dolphin captivity with a limited exemption for scientific research. The law did not apply to Marineland\u2019s existing complement of marine mammals.<\/p>\n

The new laws also forbade breeding \u2013 which forced Marineland to split up its male and female belugas \u2013 banned performances and made it illegal to import or export marine mammals, though there is an exception carved out for a minister to export the animals if it is in their best interest.<\/p>\n

Marineland has asked Thompson for an answer by Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf 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,\u201d it wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn such an unfortunate scenario, we will inform all stakeholders and the public accordingly and proceed with actions that will be a direct consequence of the minister\u2019s decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four dolphins, a few seals and sea lions and a contingent of bears and deer also remain at Marineland.<\/p>\n

A juvenile beluga died in February, while another beluga whale and a harbour seal died at the park in mid-August.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Beluga whales at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont., in 2023. Fisheries Minister Joanne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,66,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-188961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-science","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}