A MARINE park is threatening to kill 30 beluga whales unless the Canadian government sends them emergency cash.
Marineland, in Niagara Falls, issued a stark ultimatum saying it will forced to euthanize all of their whales if they aren’t given help to rehome them.
Marineland, in Niagara Falls, has issued a stark ultimatum saying it will forced to euthanize all of their beluga whales if they aren’t given help to rehome them by the governmentAP
A beluga whale at Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, CanadaAP
The owners reportedly warned it can no longer afford to pay for their feeding or care.
In a last-minute plea they also tried to send the belugas to China where they could be looked after.
But Canada‘s country’s fisheries minister, Joanne Thompson, denied the request for a permit to export the belugas.
She said it would only cause “further exploitation” of the animals as they would likely be made to live in “tanks for entertainment”.
This prompted the park to impose a deadline on the government to either grant the permit or send them money to support the whales.
A letter sent on Friday saw Marineland say it is in “a critical financial state” and can no longer properly care for the whales, according to CBC.
If they hadn’t heard back then all 30 of the belugas would be euthanized, the letter warned.
The park said the animals’ demise would be “a direct consequence of the minister’s decision”.
The deadline to help out the cash-strapped sea life park ended Tuesday evening.
A line in the letter read: “If we do not receive a response by that date, we will have no choice to presume that the answers to our inquiries are negative.”
There has been no comment on if the government reached out to Marineland.
Doug Ford, the premier of Ontario province, says he is disappointed with the government’s decision.
He said: “We need a proper home for them, simple as that.
“We gotta [sic] save the whales.”
The park wants all of the 30 belugas to go to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, in China‘s Guangdong province.
They believe it is now the “only viable option” after closing down last summer.
Marineland put itself up for sale in 2023 before officially locking its gates a year later when no buyer came forward.
The park has been criticised in the past over how it homes the aquatic animals.
One orca whale and 19 beluga whales have died at Marineland since 2019, according to The Canadian Press news agency.
The park also had to close due to a falling attendance as many boycotted sea life parks.
It also struggled to survive due to a new law imposed in 2019.
Known as the “Free Willy” bill, it banned breeding whales and dolphins, keeping them in captivity, or using them for entertainment.
The park was later fined in August 2024 for keeping three black bears in cramped cages for months on end without adequate water, according to The New York Times.
Melissa Matlow, a Toronto-based animal welfare activist, told the Times that the government’s decision was correct.
She said: “Threatening to kill all their animals if they don’t get emergency funding is just repugnant.
“We need to take comfort that this is the last generation of whales and dolphins that will ever have to suffer again in Canada.”
Marineland was forced to close down last summer after poor attendance and a number of controversiesgoogle maps
Visitors watch as a beluga whale swims in a tank at MarinelandAP
In a last-minute plea the park also tried to send the belugas to China where they could be looked afterAP