“These animals must be the last generation to suffer in captivity.” – from a statement by the citizens group, Animal Justice Canada
A Brief News Commentary by Doug Draper
Posted January 27th, 2026 on Niagara At Large
Lives of 30 surviving beluga whales now in limbo at shuttered Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario
The six-and-and-a-half decade old saga of marine mammals held captive in Niagara Falls, at what was once one of Canada’s, if not all of North American’s most well-known amusement park, may soon be over.
The current owners of the now-defunct Marineland Park and Canada’s Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Joanne Thompson have confirmed this January 26th that the federal government is prepared to sign off on conditional approval to ship the park’s last 30 beluga whales and four remaining dolphins to aquariums owned by SeaWorld and other accredited aquariums and zoos in the United States
“I provided conditional approval for export permits, pending receipt of final information from Marineland,” Thompson said in a statement she circulated on social media.
A copy of that statement, included immediately below, offers no meaningful information on what conditions Thompson and the government are requiring Marineland to meet before it is allowed to move ahead with shipping the mammals away.
According to a CBC report, at least one government source says Thompson’s ministry wants to a transportation plan from Marineland and a report from a veterinarian qualified to examine marine mammals to make sure the whales and dolphins can make the trip to their new facilities in good health and safely.
Feeding time for beluga whales at Marineland. file photo
Some animal activist groups, including Animal Justice Canada, are decrying the plan to move the mammals to aquariums and zoos in the United States. They want to see the whales and dolphins moved to a walled-off sanctuary off the shores of Atlantic Canada where they can possibly one day be released to the wild.
However, that sanctuary may be several months away from being ready to receive them and Marineland has been claiming that it has run out of money to look after them at its park and may soon have to euthanize them.
All of this handwringing over what to do now with these mammals is at play because we have been living in a world where a significant number of humans find it interesting and even entertaining to view great animals like this in captivity.
Blame John Holer, the late founder of Marineland, and others who have operated this park and others like it all you want. The real blame should go to all of the countless millions of people who have purchased ticket to visit these parks over the years.
So here we are in a situation now where for these 30 belugas and four dolphins, it appears to be a choice between euthanasia at Marineland or living out whatever is left of their lives in captivity in the United States.
For this news person, who has covered the controversy around keeping these amazing animals in captivity at Marineland for decades, and for many others, I’m sure, who have fought to have the ones in captivity freed and to make sure that no more mammals are either brought to our bred in places like this, it is depressing to say the least, to watch how all of this is going down.
More on this later. Stay tuned.
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Doug Draper, Niagara At Large
What follows is a statement, circulated this January 26th, 2026, by the citizens group Animal Justice Canada –
TORONTO—Today’s news that conditional federal permits have been granted to relocate Marineland’s whales and dolphins to four US aquariums marks another disappointing turn in the Niagara Falls theme park’s saga of abuse and neglect. Disturbingly, Marineland had again threatened to kill the animals if the Fisheries Minister did not approve export permits on short order.
A proposed sanctuary for Marineland’s whales and dolphns off the shores of Nova Scotia in Atlantic Canada.
“Marineland made millions of dollars by keeping these whales and dolphins in tiny tanks. It has been obvious for years that public opinion has soured on aquariums and that Marineland would one day close, so it’s shocking that they didn’t bother to save a cent to give the whales the happier retirement they deserve,” said lawyer Camille Labchuk, executive director at Animal Justice.
“Given Marineland’s appalling threat to execute the 30 belugas and four dolphins, the Minister had little choice but to offer these conditional approvals.
“However, we fully expect that the Minister will require individual health assessments for each whale and dolphin to determine whether they are healthy enough to be moved. It is also essential to ensure the whales will not be bred in the US—which is illegal in Canada. These animals must be the last generation to suffer in captivity.
“It is absolutely heartbreaking that due to Marineland’s complete lack of care, these whales may never get to experience life in a sanctuary, as Marineland has repeatedly refused to engage with the Whale Sanctuary Project in Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, which could have provided many of the whales a chance to live out their lives in a 100-acre seaside sanctuary.”
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Camille Labchuk, Executive Director, Animal Justice Canada
To read a CBC story on this issue, click on – Marineland gets ‘conditional approval’ from Ottawa to ship 30 belugas, 4 dolphins to U.S. | CBC News
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