{"id":205168,"date":"2025-10-11T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/205168\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T13:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T13:00:10","slug":"marine-park-threatens-to-kill-30-beluga-whales-unless-government-pays-weird-news-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/205168\/","title":{"rendered":"Marine park threatens to kill 30 beluga whales unless government pays – Weird News – News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marineland, a marine park in Canada, has issued an ultimatum to the government: provide financial aid or the remaining 30 beluga whales<\/a> will be euthanized.<\/p>\n

In a threatening letter to fisheries officials<\/a>, Marineland stated that if they do not receive a response by Tuesday night (October 7), they will assume their request has been denied.<\/p>\n

The park ominously added that any resulting bloodshed would not be on their hands, but a “direct consequence<\/a> of the minister’s decision.”<\/p>\n

However, the government minister has fired back, blaming the park for its lack of foresight. Marineland, a water-themed park located in Niagara Falls, closed permanently last year.<\/p>\n

The park had planned to transfer its whales to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China, as reported by the New York<\/a> Times.<\/p>\n

But Fisheries Minister Joanna Thompson thwarted this plan by refusing to grant an export license. She stated that the belugas could remain in captivity and continue to entertain visitors.<\/p>\n

Park officials have now claimed that they are out of funds to maintain the whales. They insist that the government must provide emergency assistance or the whales will meet a grim fate.<\/p>\n

Thompson responded on Monday, criticizing the park for failing to adequately plan for the care of its animals.<\/p>\n

“The fact that Marineland has not planned for a viable alternative despite raising these whales in captivity for many years does not place the onus on the Canadian government to cover your expenses,” she said.<\/p>\n

The popular Ontario tourist attraction, Marineland, closed its doors in 2024 due to dwindling attendance and allegations of animal abuse.<\/p>\n

Canada’s “Free Willy” bill, passed in 2019, prohibited the breeding of whales and dolphins for entertainment purposes, which significantly impacted the park’s operations.<\/p>\n

Following the passage of this law, Marineland experienced a sharp decline in visitors, leading to its closure after six decades of operation.<\/p>\n

The park also faced serious accusations of animal mistreatment. Since 2019, twenty whales have died at Marineland, as reported by the Canadian Press.<\/p>\n

In August 2024, the New York<\/a> Times reported that the park was fined for keeping three black bears in cramped cages without sufficient water for several months.<\/p>\n

Marine parks have been under scrutiny in recent years following a series of tragic incidents involving not only animals but also trainers, such as Dawn Brancheau at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Marineland, a marine park in Canada, has issued an ultimatum to the government: provide financial aid or the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2837,98575,49,48,100509,100508,66525,66,323],"class_list":["post-205168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-beluga-whales","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadas-free-willy-bill","tag-fisheries-minister-joanna-thompson","tag-marineland","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205168","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=205168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}