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Tag: Marineland

  • Canada gives conditional approval for Marineland to export remaining belugas to the US

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    Canada’s last captive whales have received a reprieve from death after the government conditionally approved a plan Monday to export them to the United States.Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson met Monday with officials from Marineland, the shuttered theme park and zoo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, to talk about its proposed plan to move the animals south. The park is in discussions with four U.S. institutions to take its 30 beluga whales and four dolphins.Video above: Animal Stories with Dan Green: a baby beluga whale“It was a constructive meeting, and I provided conditional approval for export permits,” Thompson said in a statement posted on social media Monday. “I will issue the final permits once final required information is received from Marineland.”Marineland pleaded with the minister, telling her repeatedly the park was running out of money. The park had told Thompson the animals would be euthanized if the export permits were not authorized by Jan. 30, according to a letter she wrote to Marineland on Monday, which was obtained by The Canadian Press news agency.Marineland said in a statement that it has Thompson’s support for the relocation of the animals. “We extend our gratitude to the minister and the Canadian government for prioritizing the lives of these remarkable marine mammals,” it said.The move comes after Marineland presented what it called an urgent rescue solution to the federal government last week.The park is reportedly in discussions with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut and SeaWorld, which has several U.S. locations.Ontario Premier Doug Ford supported Thompson’s decision.“They’re going to have a better home than where they are because it’s a terrible home they’re in right now,” Ford said of the animals. “It wasn’t large enough.”Twenty whales — one killer whale and 19 belugas — have died at Marineland since 2019, according to an ongoing tally created by The Canadian Press based on internal records and official statements.In October, Marineland applied for export permits to move its complement of belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China. Thompson denied those permits, saying she would not subject the whales to a future performing in captivity.That is consistent with a 2019 law that banned whale and dolphin captivity, though Marineland’s animals were grandfathered in.

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    Canada’s last captive whales have received a reprieve from death after the government conditionally approved a plan Monday to export them to the United States.

    Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson met Monday with officials from Marineland, the shuttered theme park and zoo in Niagara Falls, Ontario, to talk about its proposed plan to move the animals south. The park is in discussions with four U.S. institutions to take its 30 beluga whales and four dolphins.

    Video above: Animal Stories with Dan Green: a baby beluga whale

    “It was a constructive meeting, and I provided conditional approval for export permits,” Thompson said in a statement posted on social media Monday. “I will issue the final permits once final required information is received from Marineland.”

    Marineland pleaded with the minister, telling her repeatedly the park was running out of money. The park had told Thompson the animals would be euthanized if the export permits were not authorized by Jan. 30, according to a letter she wrote to Marineland on Monday, which was obtained by The Canadian Press news agency.

    Marineland said in a statement that it has Thompson’s support for the relocation of the animals. “We extend our gratitude to the minister and the Canadian government for prioritizing the lives of these remarkable marine mammals,” it said.

    The move comes after Marineland presented what it called an urgent rescue solution to the federal government last week.

    The park is reportedly in discussions with the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut and SeaWorld, which has several U.S. locations.

    Ontario Premier Doug Ford supported Thompson’s decision.

    “They’re going to have a better home than where they are because it’s a terrible home they’re in right now,” Ford said of the animals. “It wasn’t large enough.”

    Twenty whales — one killer whale and 19 belugas — have died at Marineland since 2019, according to an ongoing tally created by The Canadian Press based on internal records and official statements.

    In October, Marineland applied for export permits to move its complement of belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China. Thompson denied those permits, saying she would not subject the whales to a future performing in captivity.

    That is consistent with a 2019 law that banned whale and dolphin captivity, though Marineland’s animals were grandfathered in.

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  • Shuttered Amusement Park Says It Will Have to Euthanize 30 Whales Unless Government Provides Help

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    NEED TO KNOW

    • Marineland in Ontario threatened to euthanize 30 belugas unless the Canadian government provided funding for the animals’ care

    • This demand comes after the government rejected the park’s bid to sell the whales to another park in China, citing the animals’ welfare

    • Marineland has faced allegations of animal mistreatment for years, with 20 whales dying in the park’s care since 2019

    A shuttered amusement park and aquarium in Canada is reportedly claiming it will have to euthanize 30 beluga whales unless the federal government provides them with funding.

    Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario — which went up for sale in 2023 and closed to the public in summer 2024 — allegedly threatened to kill its remaining 30 belugas unless the park received federal aid to continue providing the animals still living at Marineland with care, per The Guardian, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and CBS News. The outlets reported that the shuttered park notified the Canadian government on October 3 that it would need funding or approval to export the whales to another location by October 7.

    Tara Walton/Toronto Star via Getty

    Belugas at Marineland.

    After years of allegations of animal mistreatment, including the death of 20 whales since 2019, per The Guardian, Marineland closed its doors in September 2024 after 60 years in operation. According to CBS, Marineland has been attempting to sell its remaining animals since then.

    PEOPLE reached out to Marineland, but representatives for the closed park did not immediately respond with a comment.

    Earlier in October, Canada’s fisheries minister, Joanne Thompson, denied Marineland’s request to sell the belugas to a theme park in China, citing that the sale would further the animals’ mistreatment.

    Marineland’s Oct. 3 letter, reportedly addressed to Thompson, said that the closed park is in a “critical financial state” and thus cannot “provide adequate care for the whales.” The correspondence also claimed the belugas’ potential euthanization would be “a direct consequence of the minister’s decision” not to approve the export permits necessary to sell the whales.

    CTV Belugas at Marineland.

    CTV

    Belugas at Marineland.

    Thompson denied Marineland’s request for funding. “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,” Thompson wrote in her response, per CBS.

    Erin Ryan, the wildlife campaign manager for World Animal Protection Canada, told CBC that Marineland’s letter was “morally reprehensible,” and that euthanasia should never be used as a way to cut costs.

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    “It should only be seen as an option when independent veterinary assessment deems that it’s in the best interest of the animals,” Ryan said.

    Read the original article on People

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  • Marineland asks Canadian government for emergency cash to feed whales — or euthanasia imminent

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    OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — The Marineland park near Niagara Falls asked the Canadian government on Friday for emergency funding to feed and care for its whales, saying euthanasia is otherwise imminent.

    Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson earlier this week denied Marineland’s request to export 30 belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China. Thompson said then the decision is consistent with a 2019 law making it illegal to use whales and dolphins in entertainment shows or keep them in captivity.

    The tourist attraction says Chimelong was the only option for the belugas as no sanctuary that could help exists and there is no other marine park with enough room.

    Marineland, in a letter to the government, says it’s fully indebted and quickly running out of money, and has asked Thompson if she can help find another place to send the whales.

    The park says the only option is to relocate the whales or else it will be forced to euthanize them.

    Twenty whales — one killer whale and 19 belugas — have died at the park since 2019, according to a database created by The Canadian Press news agency based on internal records and official statements.

    Thompson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Marineland announced it was for sale in early 2023 and closed to the public in late summer 2024. It did not open this year as it looks to sell the park and the vast swath of land it owns near Horseshoe Falls. No sale has yet been announced.

    The law that banned whale captivity did not apply to the existing population of captive whales at Marineland, but the park had to comply with another part of the law that forbade breeding.

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