Marineland wants to send its remaining dolphins and whales to the US
A proposal is being reviewed by Canada’s fisheries minister
Back in October, Marineland informed Canada’s fisheries minister, Joanne Thompson, that it would have to euthanize 30 beluga whales still in the company’s possession if it did not receive federal funding to relocate them.
Related: Marineland is having a fire sale on belugas
This was shortly after Thompson denied export permits for Marineland, which wanted to send the whales to a theme park in China called Chimelong Ocean Kingdom. Thompson refused on the grounds that she did not want the whales to remain in captivity for entertainment purposes.
Marineland, which has been closed to the public since 2024, has now presented a new plan to the government, seeking to relocate the remaining dolphins and whales to the US, the Canadian Press reports. If the required export permits are not approved, Marineland will go ahead with an alternate plan to euthanize 30 belugas and four dolphins.
CP’s sources said Marineland is working on an agreement to send them to four different marine institutions: SeaWorld, the Georgia Aquarium, the Shedd Aquarium and Mystic Aquarium. The story notes that veterinarians from all four organizations visited Marineland recently to check on the health of the dolphins and whales.
“The survival of these whales depends solely on the swift issuance of these permits,” said the proposal issued by Marineland. Thompson’s office told CP that the minister is reviewing it.
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Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
