TORONTO—A third beluga whale exported from Marineland has died, raising further concerns about the rushed mass transfer of the 30 whales from the shuttered Niagara Falls theme park. The tragic loss comes just as the conditional multi-million dollar sale of the disgraced Niagara Falls theme park’s property has reportedly gone through.
Oceanogràfic València, in Spain, confirmed that Jelly Bean died suddenly on Friday. Jelly Bean and another beluga, Cleopatra, arrived at the Spanish aquarium in late August. Jelly Bean was 19 years old and spent her entire life in captivity at Marineland before her transfer to Spain last month. Her death follows those of Peekachu and Rain, two belugas who died within weeks of arriving at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium this summer.
In total, 30 beluga whales were part of a rushed mass export after Marineland threatened to kill them all, clearing the way for a real estate deal potentially worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Over its decades of operation, Marineland profited millions from exploiting whales and dolphins—many of whom were stolen from the wild.
“Marineland created its own emergency, and now whales are paying with their lives, a final tragic insult after years of exploitation,” said lawyer Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice, Canada’s leading national animal law organization. “Thirty sensitive, highly intelligent animals were removed from Marineland in a matter of weeks under a timeline that appeared to prioritize Marineland’s real estate plans over these whales’ lives.”
Transport is extremely risky for belugas, particularly if they are in poor health. After Marineland exported five belugas to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut in 2021, the facility acknowledged that the animals had pre-existing health conditions. Three of those animals later died.
While Marineland is primarily responsible for this disastrous outcome, both levels of government could have played a role in putting the brakes on Marineland’s fast-tracked export plan and actively improving the health and well-being of these animals.
“Above all, these whales were failed by Marineland, but it’s important to note the Ontario government had the legal authority to ensure the whales received appropriate care—while sending Marineland the bill,” said Ms. Labchuk. “And while there’s no doubt that Marineland’s threats to kill all the whales played a role in its decision, the federal government was under no obligation to issue export permits before verifying each of these 30 whales was truly in healthy enough condition to travel.”
Animal Justice is continuing to call on all receiving aquariums to commit to never breeding Marineland’s surviving belugas to honour the spirit of the law they helped inspire, which banned captive breeding in 2019.
Contact:
Josh Lynn
Public Relations Manager
[email protected]
Camille Labchuk
Executive Director
[email protected]