A beluga whale has died in Marineland, Ontario. This would be the 20the Since January 2020, an animal from the amusement park has died, a worrying situation according to marine animal protection organizations advocating for their release.
The sad news was initially announced by the UrgentSeas organization before it was finally confirmed by the government.
“We posted a video of the sick beluga and filmed it again shortly afterwards and the whale was no longer in the tank. There is a burial site nearby and we confirmed via video that it had recently been filled with other animals. The government has now confirmed the death,” said Phil Demers, a former trainer at Marineland and co-founder of UrgentSeas.
The latter told QMI Agency that this news was hardly surprising. According to him, there are numerous deaths of animals in Marineland as well as animals sold at Mystic Aquarium in the USA.
“Captivity will always endanger whales and dolphins, no matter what concrete tank they are in. They need to be released into their natural environment,” Mr Demers added.
According to Global News, 14 beluga whales, an orca, a bottlenose dolphin, a harbor seal, a gray seal and two California sea lions have died at Niagara Falls amusement park since January 2020.
For his part, Phil Demers estimated last May that more than 25 whales and dolphins had died at Marineland since 2020.
BREAKING: MarineLand has confirmed the death of Sonar, a female bottlenose dolphin. Here she is swimming among the four remaining in this video from April 23rd. Since 2020, more than 25 whales and dolphins have died at MarineLand. #REST IN PEACE pic.twitter.com/XroD5IEhqG
— Phil Demers (@walruswhisperer) May 8, 2023