Marineland has begun shipping its surviving belugas to aquariums in the US. This week, shocking drone footage showed six belugas being loaded into trucks bound for Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and SeaWorld San Antonio.
In the coming weeks, the remaining whales and dolphins will be shipped to SeaWorld San Diego and Georgia Aquarium in the US, and Oceanogràfic València in Spain.
Canadian and US officials approved these permits after Marineland threatened to otherwise kill all of its whales.
But instead of working together to move these long-suffering animals to a seaside sanctuary, Marineland and the government are simply moving them from one tank to another.
For years, advocates have pushed to relocate these animals to coastal sanctuaries, such as the Whale Sanctuary Project site currently under construction in Nova Scotia.
The Canadian government and Marineland failed these animals. It’s incredibly disappointing that likely none of Marineland’s survivors will ever experience life in the ocean.
To make matters even worse, some of these animals will be used for breeding—condemning future generations to captive cruelty and undermining Canada’s laws to end whale and dolphin captivity.
Whale Breeding Contradicts Canada’s Anti-Captivity Laws
In 2019, Canada passed landmark legislation banning the breeding of whales and dolphins to end their suffering in captivity. The Marineland belugas were supposed to be among the last generation forced to live in tanks.
However, the Canadian government failed to prohibit breeding as a mandatory permit condition, and some receiving aquariums plan to use these belugas for breeding programs.
We must ensure these animals do not become the foundation for another generation born into a life of misery in a tiny tank. Send a message to the receiving aquariums demanding a commitment to never breed Marineland’s belugas and dolphins!
