\u2022 Sign up for The Times\u2019s weekly US newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n The park then said in a letter last Friday: \u201cOur only option at this point is to either relocate the whales or face the devastating decision of euthanasia. If we do not receive a response by [October 7], we will have no choice but to presume that the answers to our inquiries are negative.\u201d<\/p>\n The fisheries minister denied the park\u2019s funding request on Monday night, according to The New York Times. Thompson described the request as \u201cinappropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe 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,\u201d Thompson wrote. <\/p>\n Keeping animals such as belugas in captivity was banned in Canada six years ago<\/p>\n CHRIS YOUNG\/THE CANADIAN PRESS\/AP<\/p>\n After the federal government\u2019s denial, a representative for the park said in a Tuesday evening statement that it \u201cis actively working with the provincial government to find a suitable solution that ensures the health and wellbeing of our 30 beluga whales\u201d. It\u2019s unclear whether the province will fund the park or seize the belugas.<\/p>\n Marineland, which has been up for sale since 2023, said it was \u201cfully indebted\u201d and running out of resources to care for the 30 mammals.<\/p>\n Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, a Canadian animal advocacy organisation, told The Times she suspected Marineland\u2019s crisis was \u201cmanufactured\u201d and that it intended to pass the responsibility to taxpayers.<\/p>\n \u201cMarineland has known for years that this day was going to come,\u201d she said. \u201cCanada banned whale and dolphin captivity in 2019, and attendance at places like Marineland has been declining steadily for a long time. It would also be obvious that they would have to do something with the whales, but, so far as I can tell, they failed to put away any funds for the care of those animals, despite sitting on property worth probably half a billion dollars or more, and also having made tens of millions of dollars, probably hundreds, over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/\/95ee748f-82f5-44be-824e-881d67d8848d.jpg\")
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