Years of rejected retirement solutions and inadequate government planning left captive whales with no truly humane option
A News Release from the Whale Sanctuary Project in Port Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia
Posted July 23rdd, 2026 on Niagara At Large
As (Niagara Falls, Ontario-based) Marineland Canada’s remaining 30 beluga whales begin their transfer to U.S. marine entertainment parks and aquariums, the Whale Sanctuary Project says the operation marks the latest chapter in the captive cetacean industry’s decades-long practice of moving whales between facilities rather than retiring them.
Rather than signalling a new model for animal welfare, the transfers perpetuate the same system of captivity that created the Marineland crisis in the first place.
“For years, we warned that this day was coming,” said Dr. Lori Marino, President and Founder of Whale Sanctuary Project.
“We first approached Marineland in 2019 with a constructive proposal to retire whales to a seaside sanctuary before the situation became a crisis. That opportunity was rejected. These transfers are not evidence that the system worked. They are evidence that governments and the industry waited until there were virtually no good options left.”
For decades, captive whales have been treated as commercial assets, transferred back and forth for breeding, exhibition and other business purposes. The Marineland transfers should prompt governments to ask whether moving whales from one entertainment facility to another represents meaningful progress or merely prolongs captivity under a more favourable public-relations banner.
The Whale Sanctuary Project is developing North America’s first seaside sanctuary for retired whales in Nova Scotia. It will provide an alternative for whales who cannot return to the wild but deserve far more natural living conditions than those offered by conventional concrete tanks.
Canada has passed legislation bringing an end to the use of whales and dolphins for entertainment purposes, but the law does not provide for what happens to the animals when facilities close.
“Ending captivity is only half of the conversation,” said Charles Vinick, Chief Executive Officer of Whale Sanctuary Project. “Governments also need compassionate, long-term solutions for whales who are already living in captivity. Without credible retirement pathways, they will continue to face impossible choices whenever another marine park fails.”
The Whale Sanctuary Project is calling for greater transparency around the transfers, including public disclosure of the veterinary assessment process, long-term monitoring of the whales’ welfare, and binding assurances that exported whales meet the requirements of Canadian law and will not be used in future breeding or entertainment programs.
The organization says the lessons from Marineland extend well beyond Canada. As aging marine parks close, governments around the world are struggling to determine the future of the whales and dolphins they leave behind.
Similar concerns are unfolding in Europe, where the future of the two surviving orcas at Marineland Antibes remains uncertain following the closing of the park in January 2026.
“If the only answer governments have when a marine park fails is to move whales to another marine park, then we have not solved the problem,” concluded Marino. “We have simply moved it. The next captive whale crisis is not a question of if. It is a question of where.”
About Whale Sanctuary Project – Whale Sanctuary Project is establishing a coastal sanctuary in Nova Scotia, Canada, to provide retired captive orcas and beluga whales with a safe, natural environment and lifelong expert care. The organization is building the infrastructure needed to support humane, legally compliant transitions out of aquariums and entertainment parks.
To read a recent news report along with a commentary by Niagara At Large reporter/publisher Doug Draper on the issue of keeping marine mammals in Captivity at amusement parks like Marineland, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2026/07/20/marineland-has-begun-moving-its-last-30-beluga-whales-to-aquariums-in-out-of-country-locations/
To read another related story on this issue, click on – Nova Scotia sanctuary for captive whales to open 2023 – BBC Newsround
To watch a CBC report aired this past July 21st on the transfer of the first six of 30 remaining beluga whales at the now-defunct Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario to an acquarium in the United States, click on the screen immediately below –
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