Marineland belugas begin move to aquariums across the U.S. and Spain

After receiving final approvals from the U.S. and an independent veterinary exam, six belugas were moved to their new homes at U.S. aquariums. The whales are set to go to five facilities: Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, SeaWorld San Antonio, SeaWorld San Diego and Oceanogràfic Valencia in Spain. 

In January, only the four U.S. aquariums were identified, but a facility in Spain was later added to accommodate two belugas and the four remaining dolphins.  

Watch Wildlife Campaign Manager, Erin Ryan, speak on the move:

The fact that multiple facilities across different countries are needed to appropriately re-home these animals shows just how irresponsible Marineland has been in amassing these animals.  

While a seaside sanctuary would have been our ‘gold standard’, they require time to build responsibly. With Marineland persistently threatening to euthanize the whales, the timeline for the Nova Scotia sanctuary simply didn’t align.  

However, the Nova Scotia sanctuary, and others around the world, are still desperately needed. We hope this moment can accelerate government support for sanctuaries, so we are never forced into emergency decisions like this again. 

With the passage of Bill S-203 in 2019, Canada promised that this would be the last generation of whales and dolphins in captivity.  

We urge the receiving accredited facilities to uphold the spirit of Canada’s Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act by ensuring these whales and dolphins are not bred or used for entertainment again. Whether or not the receiving facilities will commit to this remains unclear.  

What is clear is that Ontario must finally introduce province-wide licensing and oversight legislation to ensure another Marineland can never happen again.