Canada’s Marineland, which has threatened to kill its captive whales, wants government approval to sell the belugas to the United States after its China export proposal was rejected, an official and a former trainer said Thursday.
The former tourist attraction near the famed Niagara Falls has been mired in controversy for years. Twenty animals, including 19 belugas, have died at the park since 2019, according to a tally by The Canadian Press.
Marineland, which is closed to visitors and wants to sell off its land, shocked the public last year — after its China proposal was rejected — saying that it was running out of resources to care for its 30 whales and may euthanize them.
Fisheries ministry spokesperson Ira Khedkar told AFP in a statement Thursday that Marineland representatives met with the government on Wednesday.
“The Minister (Joanne Thompson) was presented with new export permit applications. The Minister will review them expeditiously,” Khedkar said.
Phil Demers, a former trainer turned whistleblower at the reportedly bankrupt Marineland, told AFP the park wants to sell the belugas to several institutions in the United States.
The Canadian Press also reported Thursday that Marineland wants to sell the animals to a series of US parks.
Marineland did not immediately reply to a query about a CP report that the park has prepared a euthanasia plan and intends to kill its whales if its US export proposal is rejected.
Thompson has said she rejected Marineland’s 2025 request to sell the whales to the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park in China because that would have perpetuated the whales’ exploitation.
The ministry did not comment on the specifics of Marineland’s latest proposal.
Marineland has said all the beluga deaths at the park have resulted from natural causes, but animal welfare officials from the province of Ontario have been investigating the park for five years.
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