A sea life park has reportedly threatened to euthanise 30 whales unless the Canadian government allows it to send them to China or provides emergency funding.
Marineland, in Niagara Falls, is said to have made the warning in a letter to the country’s fisheries minister, Joanne Thompson, after its request for a permit to export the belugas was denied.
The minister denied the export licence as she said it was against the fisheries act and she was concerned it would mean them being condemned to “further exploitation”.
“All whales belong in the ocean, not in tanks for entertainment purposes,” Ms Thompson told reporters last week.
CBC says it has seen a letter, sent on Friday, in which Marineland pleads that it is in “a critical financial state” and can no longer properly care for the whales.
It reportedly warns it can no longer afford to pay for their feeding or care and faces “the devastating decision of euthanasia” if the export licence or emergency cash isn’t provided.
One orca whale and 19 belugas have died at Marineland since 2019, according to a database by The Canadian Press news agency.
The park wants the 30 belugas to go to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, in China’s Guangdong province, which it says is the “only viable option”.
It argues it would be a “humane relocation to an accredited facility”.
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario province, has said he is disappointed with the government’s decision.
“We need a proper home for them, simple as that,” he said. “We gotta save the whales.”
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Marineland put itself up for sale in 2023 and closed to visitors last summer – but no buyer has been announced so far for the vast site near the Horseshoe Falls.
Beluga whales live in the Arctic in the wild and are famed for their pale skin and bulbous foreheads.
The World Wildlife Foundation describes them as “extremely sociable mammals”, known as “the canary of the sea” due to their chirps, clicks, whistles and squeals.
