October 8, 2025 • 14 mins
Marineland Beluga exports have been denied by Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans, igniting national debate over animal welfare, legality, and ethics. In this episode, Andrew Lewin breaks down what the 2019 law banning cetacean captivity means, why DFO refused Marineland’s permit to sell 30 belugas to China, and what options exist for the facility and the animals now caught in limbo.
Marineland Beluga care has become an urgent issue as the park claims it cannot afford to maintain the whales, warning of potential euthanasia without government help. Andrew explores whether Marineland should be required to care for the animals it profited from, or whether public intervention is necessary to ensure the whales’ welfare. This episode blends law, compassion, and marine science to uncover what ethical responsibility looks like when conservation meets crisis.
Shark Docs: https://www.sharkdocs.org/ Chris Malinowski's Website: https://www.chrismalinowski.org/ Brendan Talwar's Website: https://talwarbrendan.wixsite.com/btalwar
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Can a Canadian marine theme park calledMarineland Getaway with euthanizing 30
of its beluga whales after being denieda permit to ship 'em off to China.
That's the big question we're gonnabe talking about today because
it is a big controversial thing.
You know, the government thatrefused the permit has been getting
blamed for refusing the permitbecause marine land is threatening
(00:20):
that they'll have to do euthanasia.
So they'll have to actually,you know, put them down.
but is this really the question here?
Should they not be mandated that marineland that is mandated to be taking care
of these marine mammals as they purchase.
Park a number of years ago.
We're gonna be talking about the law.
We're gonna be going over why it'simportant from an ethical standpoint,
(00:40):
and we're gonna talk about some of theoptions that Marine Land has and the
government has in making sure that theseanimals are taken care of for the future.
That's on today's episode of theHow to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to another exciting episodeof the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, andthis is the podcast where you find
out what's happening with the ocean,how you can speak up for the ocean,
and what you can do to live fora better ocean by taking action.
(01:05):
Now, today's episode, we're gonna betalking about quite a controversial topic.
Now it's controversial because it hasto do with marine mammals in captivity.
Now there are two sides.
To the captivity argument.
There's a side where peoplethink that it's okay to keep
marine mammals in captivity.
And they say it's good for entertainmentand education purposes as long as
the animals are being taken care of.
(01:25):
The other option is likethe other argument side.
The argument is.
No marine mammals should be in captivity.
They should be out free.
And those that are in captivityshould have a plan to put them
free at some point in time.
Now, the big argument against puttingthem out into, say, like a whale seaside
sanctuary, like the Whale SanctuaryProject is doing is that these animals,
(01:45):
a lot of them have been born in captivityand they're not used to the, you know,
the wild and they're not used to theocean and there's a lot of diseases
and bacteria that they're not used to.
They're not used to feedingfor themselves and so forth.
And that's a big deal to a lot of peoplethat everybody wants to make sure that
the marine mammals are treated properly.
And the argument for those whaleseaside sanctuaries is the fact
(02:05):
that no matter what, at some pointthese animals should taste freedom.
They should be able to be taken care of.
You know, if they're already used to beingfed on a regular basis, they still get
that care to be fed, but they're allowedto roam around in a larger seaside pen.
There's an opening that you can open.
There's a great example of caco, youknow, free Willie, that orca that was let
free up in Iceland eventually passed away.
(02:27):
I think it was like six to 10 years later.
I didn't a whole episode.
I'll try and find it and link toit below, but there's a lot of
controversy around it, and it's justbecause there's the each side says.
The science says that it's betterto keep them either captive
or keep them outta captivity.
Everything is new when it comes to outof captivity, but you'll see both sides.
The goal that I'm trying to doright now is present to you.
You know, just the optionsthat are happening and sort
(02:48):
of what actually happened.
So just a couple of days ago, last week,really, there are 30 marine mammals,
belugas that are in captivity, inMarineland, which is in Niagara Falls,
Canada, not too far down the road from me.
So I've been following this story quiteclosely over the last number of years.
Now, over the last five, maybeeven 10 years, Marineland has been
under controversy because it hasn'tbeen taking care of its whales.
(03:11):
Very well.
The orca passed away.
A bunch of belugawhales have passed away.
Those that they've transferredaround or out of the park
have died after the transfer.
It's because the waterquality's not great.
There's been a number of inspections bythe Ontario government, the provincial
government, where the marine park is,like where marine land is, as well
as since that time, there's been anact passed to protect marine mammals
(03:33):
from captivity in that you are notallowed to import or export any marine
mammals without any kind of permit.
And so this year, the park wasn't open.
It didn't open at all as it did last year.
And so they weren't making a lot ofmoney or weren't making any money at
all from people coming to the park.
And even though Li tens was going downanyway, and they weren't able to take
care just as usual, they haven't beenable to take care of these 30 beluga
(03:56):
whales, which they have left over.
And so they wanted to get rid of themand put them in a marine park in China.
Now marine parks in Asia are blowing up.
That means they're popping up all over theplace and we're seeing them everywhere.
There is a concern on the US Canadianside and advocate side, even in
Europe, because we don't knowhow animals are treated in China.
(04:17):
We've seen some really bad treatmentsof animals in the past, marine
mammals as well as other mammals.
We've seen polar bears be stuck in amall, like in a little box essentially,
and not having a lot of Not a lot ofstuff to, you know, provide enrichment
in that area or movement in that area.
So a lot of people are concerned, alot of advocates for the anti captivity
advocates are worried that if we shipa lot of these belugas, offer all
(04:40):
these belugas off to China, we'llnever see or hear from them again.
They'll be put back into entertainmentpositions where there'll be pet or
You know, they'll have one-on-oneswith people, which is not good for
them as well as this is according tothem and according to the science.
It's not good for themoverall to be in shows.
The whole point of the ProtectionAct here in Canada was to make
sure that they aren't bred and theyaren't put into positions where
(05:01):
they are gonna be for entertainment.
And so there's research permissions,they're allowed, and we'll
go through that in a second.
but there's a lot of worry about that.
So what happened was Marine Landapplied for a permit to export it
based on this new protection act.
And they got denied by the FisheriesOceans Canada because they were
like, this is against what we want.
We don't want these animals to go intocaptivity forever, and so we need to find
(05:22):
something that is different for that.
And so that's what they're looking forNow is a different avenue towards making
these animals free or devoid of havingto do entertainment or any kind of theme
park related show or even breeding.
So.
That's where we're at right now.
And now because the application gotdenied, the marine land is like, well,
(05:43):
We can't afford to take care of this.
So either provide us funding sowe can take care of these animals,
or we might have to lean towardseuthanization, which is basically
putting these animals down one by one,all 30 of them Now that's blown up.
The government of Canada.
who gives the permits, so whether it'sDepartment of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
is taking a lot of flack from people.
'cause nobody wants to seethese animals die for no reason.
(06:04):
Just the fact that theycan't take care of it.
And I've had a couple ofpeople ask me some questions.
I was at a dinner last night, somebodyasked me questions about it and I
was like, nobody's actually said,Hey, Marine Land owns these animals.
It is up to them.
It is the ethical nature of people whoown, or companies who own these marine
parks to take care of their animals.
They haven't been takingcare of these animals.
(06:24):
At all.
And the risk you take when you have theseanimals knowing what's coming and the
new laws that's in place and everythingis that you still have to take care of
these animals, even if you're shut down,even if you're not getting any income
in your ethical, I guess, mandate isto take care of these animals at the
best health as possible, meaning theyare fully healthy and not in degraded
(06:45):
water quality, which is what we'refinding them in over the last 10 years.
That's a big problem that I have with it.
That's a huge thing of whatwe are looking at before.
So a lot of people are like,okay, so what happens now?
What are these animals goingto be, you know, killed?
Are they gonna be euthanized?
What do we do?
So the first thing is,here's the federal framework.
You have the captivity ofWhales and Dolphins Act.
It was established in 2019, so itwas amended to the criminal code.
(07:09):
The Fisheries Act and an actcalled, the acronym is wata,
I think is what it's called.
It's a pretty long one.
I'll, look for it if I haveit, but it's a pretty big one.
and so that's what we're looking at.
So we're also looking at capturingany new citations or breeding are
prohibited with limited exceptions.
Trade requires permits and must meetstrict welfare, scientific standards.
(07:30):
So just to take it back a number of yearsbefore COVID, I think it was like five
beluga whales were transferred over downinto Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.
Now, with those animals that weretransferred, many of them passed away.
I think maybe all of all, but one, andmaybe all of them passed away when they,
by the time, like maybe three or fourmonths after they got to mystic Aquarium.
It wasn't necessarilyMystic Aquarium's problem.
(07:52):
But the problem is, is the way thatthe assessment was done is marine land.
Veterinarians look over thebelugas and then mystic looks
over the belugas as well, and theydeem, oh yeah, these are healthy.
And then we're gonna go through.
But there's a conflict of interest there.
There's no third party veterinarianthat's saying, Hey, you know what,
there's actually a problem here.
We're gonna call both of youout because you guys, you know,
mystic just wanted the belugas.
(08:12):
The marine land just wanted toget rid of the belugas and they
want to get money for that.
So, you know, there's obviouslya problem there that needs to
be solved at some point in time.
And so I want to make sure that wegot that out there, like that history.
And so those animals ended up dying.
There's obviously a problem with that.
And so now these new laws and permits,people are gonna be more strict because
we don't want these animals dyingin the transfer plus everything with
(08:33):
China that we don't know what happens.
We're not familiar with the laws.
We know what they do with marine themeparks, but still kind of, we're not too,
too familiar with what's happening or I'mnot too familiar with what's happening.
So there's a bit of a worry about theseanimals going across the world to go
to China and be put in entertainmentsituations, put in breeding situations,
and we're not allowed to do that.
So why are we letting othercountries do it as well to the
(08:54):
marine mammals that were found here.
Now, when you put them back out into theocean, into whale seaside sanctuaries.
That's a possibility.
but we just don't know where.
It's never been done before, or ithasn't been done in a long time.
there's actually a story of a belugawhale in Russia that either escaped or
got let go in a pen and actually interactswith fishers in Bo in like in Russia.
(09:15):
And we'll actually go fetch a ball anddo all these tricks and stuff like that.
That survived.
So there's a little bit of an anecdotalevidence that says, Hey, you know what?
These animals could survive outat sea, but we just don't know.
So that's the thing.
So here are the options that are next.
I wanted you guys toget that information so.
Marineland can submit a new,narrowly tailored transfer plan
(09:36):
that meets the federal Welfare Test.
So DFO Signal, it would considerproposals under the Fisheries Act.
It's a compliant plan would need toshow that any transfer is clearly
in the animal's best interest, notfor the entertainment or breeding.
And that the destination meetshigh welfare standards with
independent veterinary oversightand lifetime care guarantees.
(09:56):
Potential candidates include US accreditedfacilities or non entertainment research
and rehab settings subject to bothFisheries Act and Society permits.
Cities is like a trade, a convention tradeof animals across different, like certain
animals can't go across certain borders
You know, without being consideredor without being managed properly.
Now the government assistedplacement in North America, there
(10:17):
could be government assistance.
So Ottawa and Ontario, the provincewhere marine land is where I live
could coordinate with accreditedaquariums or sanctuaries that could
take some of the animals possiblyin phases with monitored transport
and individualized welfare plans.
Ontario's paw, PAWS Powers, couldbe used to enforce interim care
standards or appoint custodians ifthe distress thresholds are met.
(10:40):
So there are ways that we can do it.
From Canada and Ontario toactually put people in place that
will take care of this and offersome funding that will do that.
There's also interim stabilizationfunding tied with strict conditions.
So temporary public support is possibleas a bridge, but expect the third party
management escrow funds restrictedto feed medical care, water systems,
(11:00):
enrichment, and daily veterinary coverage.
Plus transparent reporting.
So Marineland has publicly asked forfederal help, which creates space
for a conditional arrangement whilepermanent placements are arranged.
You can also transfer to theC pen sanctuary when ready.
Now the sanctuary is not ready yet.
It's taken a while to put together.
obviously it's very, very new.
Within the taking out of captive animals.
(11:21):
And it was more designedfor orcas at this point.
so having that, I don't seeit happening anytime soon.
I would like to see at least some of thoseanimals go out and just as a, pilot study.
some people are not too happy about it.
Some people are happy about it.
It's a bit of controversial, but.
Really, we won't know until westart letting some of those animals
go to those seaside sanctuaries.
so that'll be interesting to see.
Now, as I said before, theseanimals could be fed by caretakers
(11:44):
and taken care of managed.
They're not just gonna be let go,and that's the end of them, and
that's the last time we'll seeit unless they're ready to do so.
Now, provincial enforcement canalso be put in up to a seizure and
custodianship if distress is critical.
So if inspectors determinethat there's critical distress.
The Pause Act of Ontario allowsintervention, including removing animals
(12:04):
or mandating care by a third party.
I can't see the removal ofanimals at this point, but I
can see a third party coming in.
This could be triggered by afailure to provide food, veterinary
care, or safe water systems.
Now, I assume that a lot of theseplaces aren't going to allow euthanasia,
but the last one is euthanasia onlyfor legitimate medical reasons.
So humane euthanasia belongs toveterinary decisions for individual
(12:25):
animals with intractable suffering.
These animals aren'tsuffering necessarily.
They're suffering because oftheir water quality conditions,
but that can be improved.
So euthanasia is probablythe last case scenario.
And because it makes headlines andit triggers, you know, clicks, I
think that's being used a lot andit's scaring the hell out of people.
So that's where we're atreally is with these animals.
(12:46):
It looks like thegovernment's gonna step in.
They're gonna put people in place that canhappen, that can make this happen a little
easier and take care of these animals.
The biggest thing, like at, atvery least, these animals should
remain in captivity and being takencare of until they, they pass.
That's probably thesafest thing for them Now.
Not my opinion, but I'm sure that's whata lot of people are thinking, just because
(13:06):
we don't know how the transfer's gonna go.
However, it would be more ideal, inmy opinion, my scientific opinion, to
put them out, or at least some of themout in a pilot study into the whale
seaside sanctuary that is actually beingdeemed in the coast of Nova Scotia.
Will that be ideal waters for them?
Not really, because there haven'treally been belugas in those areas,
but at least they'll be monitored.
By a team that can care, that can feed,that can look after its medical stability.
(13:30):
And so that will be really helpful.
So that's it for today's episode.
I would love to hearyour thoughts on this.
Do you think that these animals shouldbe released out to the ocean, into
these whale seed size sanctuaries?
Do you think they should be keptwhere they are or do you agree
that they should go to China?
I would love to hear your opinion.
Let me know in the comments below ifyou're watching this on YouTube or
you can let me know through email.
Just go to speak up forblue.com/contact, fill out the form.
(13:52):
It goes right to my email.
If you want to connect me rightaway, you can do so through dms on
Instagram at how to protect the ocean,that's at how to protect the ocean.
That's it for today's episode of theHow to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
Have a great day.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin fromthe True North Strong and Free.
Have a great day.
We'll talk to you next timeand happy conservation.
Can a Canadian marine theme park calledMarineland Getaway with euthanizing 30
of its beluga whales after being denieda permit to ship 'em off to China.
That's the big question we're gonnabe talking about today because
it is a big controversial thing.
You know, the government thatrefused the permit has been getting
blamed for refusing the permitbecause marine land is threatening
(00:20):
that they'll have to do euthanasia.
So they'll have to actually,you know, put them down.
but is this really the question here?
Should they not be mandated that marineland that is mandated to be taking care
of these marine mammals as they purchase.
Park a number of years ago.
We're gonna be talking about the law.
We're gonna be going over why it'simportant from an ethical standpoint,
(00:40):
and we're gonna talk about some of theoptions that Marine Land has and the
government has in making sure that theseanimals are taken care of for the future.
That's on today's episode of theHow to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
Let's start the show.
Hey everybody.
Welcome back to another exciting episodeof the How to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin, andthis is the podcast where you find
out what's happening with the ocean,how you can speak up for the ocean,
and what you can do to live fora better ocean by taking action.
(01:05):
Now, today's episode, we're gonna betalking about quite a controversial topic.
Now it's controversial because it hasto do with marine mammals in captivity.
Now there are two sides.
To the captivity argument.
There's a side where peoplethink that it's okay to keep
marine mammals in captivity.
And they say it's good for entertainmentand education purposes as long as
the animals are being taken care of.
(01:25):
The other option is likethe other argument side.
The argument is.
No marine mammals should be in captivity.
They should be out free.
And those that are in captivityshould have a plan to put them
free at some point in time.
Now, the big argument against puttingthem out into, say, like a whale seaside
sanctuary, like the Whale SanctuaryProject is doing is that these animals,
(01:45):
a lot of them have been born in captivityand they're not used to the, you know,
the wild and they're not used to theocean and there's a lot of diseases
and bacteria that they're not used to.
They're not used to feedingfor themselves and so forth.
And that's a big deal to a lot of peoplethat everybody wants to make sure that
the marine mammals are treated properly.
And the argument for those whaleseaside sanctuaries is the fact
(02:05):
that no matter what, at some pointthese animals should taste freedom.
They should be able to be taken care of.
You know, if they're already used to beingfed on a regular basis, they still get
that care to be fed, but they're allowedto roam around in a larger seaside pen.
There's an opening that you can open.
There's a great example of caco, youknow, free Willie, that orca that was let
free up in Iceland eventually passed away.
(02:27):
I think it was like six to 10 years later.
I didn't a whole episode.
I'll try and find it and link toit below, but there's a lot of
controversy around it, and it's justbecause there's the each side says.
The science says that it's betterto keep them either captive
or keep them outta captivity.
Everything is new when it comes to outof captivity, but you'll see both sides.
The goal that I'm trying to doright now is present to you.
You know, just the optionsthat are happening and sort
(02:48):
of what actually happened.
So just a couple of days ago, last week,really, there are 30 marine mammals,
belugas that are in captivity, inMarineland, which is in Niagara Falls,
Canada, not too far down the road from me.
So I've been following this story quiteclosely over the last number of years.
Now, over the last five, maybeeven 10 years, Marineland has been
under controversy because it hasn'tbeen taking care of its whales.
(03:11):
Very well.
The orca passed away.
A bunch of belugawhales have passed away.
Those that they've transferredaround or out of the park
have died after the transfer.
It's because the waterquality's not great.
There's been a number of inspections bythe Ontario government, the provincial
government, where the marine park is,like where marine land is, as well
as since that time, there's been anact passed to protect marine mammals
(03:33):
from captivity in that you are notallowed to import or export any marine
mammals without any kind of permit.
And so this year, the park wasn't open.
It didn't open at all as it did last year.
And so they weren't making a lot ofmoney or weren't making any money at
all from people coming to the park.
And even though Li tens was going downanyway, and they weren't able to take
care just as usual, they haven't beenable to take care of these 30 beluga
(03:56):
whales, which they have left over.
And so they wanted to get rid of themand put them in a marine park in China.
Now marine parks in Asia are blowing up.
That means they're popping up all over theplace and we're seeing them everywhere.
There is a concern on the US Canadianside and advocate side, even in
Europe, because we don't knowhow animals are treated in China.
(04:17):
We've seen some really bad treatmentsof animals in the past, marine
mammals as well as other mammals.
We've seen polar bears be stuck in amall, like in a little box essentially,
and not having a lot of Not a lot ofstuff to, you know, provide enrichment
in that area or movement in that area.
So a lot of people are concerned, alot of advocates for the anti captivity
advocates are worried that if we shipa lot of these belugas, offer all
(04:40):
these belugas off to China, we'llnever see or hear from them again.
They'll be put back into entertainmentpositions where there'll be pet or
You know, they'll have one-on-oneswith people, which is not good for
them as well as this is according tothem and according to the science.
It's not good for themoverall to be in shows.
The whole point of the ProtectionAct here in Canada was to make
sure that they aren't bred and theyaren't put into positions where
(05:01):
they are gonna be for entertainment.
And so there's research permissions,they're allowed, and we'll
go through that in a second.
but there's a lot of worry about that.
So what happened was Marine Landapplied for a permit to export it
based on this new protection act.
And they got denied by the FisheriesOceans Canada because they were
like, this is against what we want.
We don't want these animals to go intocaptivity forever, and so we need to find
(05:22):
something that is different for that.
And so that's what they're looking forNow is a different avenue towards making
these animals free or devoid of havingto do entertainment or any kind of theme
park related show or even breeding.
So.
That's where we're at right now.
And now because the application gotdenied, the marine land is like, well,
(05:43):
We can't afford to take care of this.
So either provide us funding sowe can take care of these animals,
or we might have to lean towardseuthanization, which is basically
putting these animals down one by one,all 30 of them Now that's blown up.
The government of Canada.
who gives the permits, so whether it'sDepartment of Fisheries and Oceans Canada
is taking a lot of flack from people.
'cause nobody wants to seethese animals die for no reason.
(06:04):
Just the fact that theycan't take care of it.
And I've had a couple ofpeople ask me some questions.
I was at a dinner last night, somebodyasked me questions about it and I
was like, nobody's actually said,Hey, Marine Land owns these animals.
It is up to them.
It is the ethical nature of people whoown, or companies who own these marine
parks to take care of their animals.
They haven't been takingcare of these animals.
(06:24):
At all.
And the risk you take when you have theseanimals knowing what's coming and the
new laws that's in place and everythingis that you still have to take care of
these animals, even if you're shut down,even if you're not getting any income
in your ethical, I guess, mandate isto take care of these animals at the
best health as possible, meaning theyare fully healthy and not in degraded
(06:45):
water quality, which is what we'refinding them in over the last 10 years.
That's a big problem that I have with it.
That's a huge thing of whatwe are looking at before.
So a lot of people are like,okay, so what happens now?
What are these animals goingto be, you know, killed?
Are they gonna be euthanized?
What do we do?
So the first thing is,here's the federal framework.
You have the captivity ofWhales and Dolphins Act.
It was established in 2019, so itwas amended to the criminal code.
(07:09):
The Fisheries Act and an actcalled, the acronym is wata,
I think is what it's called.
It's a pretty long one.
I'll, look for it if I haveit, but it's a pretty big one.
and so that's what we're looking at.
So we're also looking at capturingany new citations or breeding are
prohibited with limited exceptions.
Trade requires permits and must meetstrict welfare, scientific standards.
(07:30):
So just to take it back a number of yearsbefore COVID, I think it was like five
beluga whales were transferred over downinto Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.
Now, with those animals that weretransferred, many of them passed away.
I think maybe all of all, but one, andmaybe all of them passed away when they,
by the time, like maybe three or fourmonths after they got to mystic Aquarium.
It wasn't necessarilyMystic Aquarium's problem.
(07:52):
But the problem is, is the way thatthe assessment was done is marine land.
Veterinarians look over thebelugas and then mystic looks
over the belugas as well, and theydeem, oh yeah, these are healthy.
And then we're gonna go through.
But there's a conflict of interest there.
There's no third party veterinarianthat's saying, Hey, you know what,
there's actually a problem here.
We're gonna call both of youout because you guys, you know,
mystic just wanted the belugas.
(08:12):
The marine land just wanted toget rid of the belugas and they
want to get money for that.
So, you know, there's obviouslya problem there that needs to
be solved at some point in time.
And so I want to make sure that wegot that out there, like that history.
And so those animals ended up dying.
There's obviously a problem with that.
And so now these new laws and permits,people are gonna be more strict because
we don't want these animals dyingin the transfer plus everything with
(08:33):
China that we don't know what happens.
We're not familiar with the laws.
We know what they do with marine themeparks, but still kind of, we're not too,
too familiar with what's happening or I'mnot too familiar with what's happening.
So there's a bit of a worry about theseanimals going across the world to go
to China and be put in entertainmentsituations, put in breeding situations,
and we're not allowed to do that.
So why are we letting othercountries do it as well to the
(08:54):
marine mammals that were found here.
Now, when you put them back out into theocean, into whale seaside sanctuaries.
That's a possibility.
but we just don't know where.
It's never been done before, or ithasn't been done in a long time.
there's actually a story of a belugawhale in Russia that either escaped or
got let go in a pen and actually interactswith fishers in Bo in like in Russia.
(09:15):
And we'll actually go fetch a ball anddo all these tricks and stuff like that.
That survived.
So there's a little bit of an anecdotalevidence that says, Hey, you know what?
These animals could survive outat sea, but we just don't know.
So that's the thing.
So here are the options that are next.
I wanted you guys toget that information so.
Marineland can submit a new,narrowly tailored transfer plan
(09:36):
that meets the federal Welfare Test.
So DFO Signal, it would considerproposals under the Fisheries Act.
It's a compliant plan would need toshow that any transfer is clearly
in the animal's best interest, notfor the entertainment or breeding.
And that the destination meetshigh welfare standards with
independent veterinary oversightand lifetime care guarantees.
(09:56):
Potential candidates include US accreditedfacilities or non entertainment research
and rehab settings subject to bothFisheries Act and Society permits.
Cities is like a trade, a convention tradeof animals across different, like certain
animals can't go across certain borders
You know, without being consideredor without being managed properly.
Now the government assistedplacement in North America, there
(10:17):
could be government assistance.
So Ottawa and Ontario, the provincewhere marine land is where I live
could coordinate with accreditedaquariums or sanctuaries that could
take some of the animals possiblyin phases with monitored transport
and individualized welfare plans.
Ontario's paw, PAWS Powers, couldbe used to enforce interim care
standards or appoint custodians ifthe distress thresholds are met.
(10:40):
So there are ways that we can do it.
From Canada and Ontario toactually put people in place that
will take care of this and offersome funding that will do that.
There's also interim stabilizationfunding tied with strict conditions.
So temporary public support is possibleas a bridge, but expect the third party
management escrow funds restrictedto feed medical care, water systems,
(11:00):
enrichment, and daily veterinary coverage.
Plus transparent reporting.
So Marineland has publicly asked forfederal help, which creates space
for a conditional arrangement whilepermanent placements are arranged.
You can also transfer to theC pen sanctuary when ready.
Now the sanctuary is not ready yet.
It's taken a while to put together.
obviously it's very, very new.
Within the taking out of captive animals.
(11:21):
And it was more designedfor orcas at this point.
so having that, I don't seeit happening anytime soon.
I would like to see at least some of thoseanimals go out and just as a, pilot study.
some people are not too happy about it.
Some people are happy about it.
It's a bit of controversial, but.
Really, we won't know until westart letting some of those animals
go to those seaside sanctuaries.
so that'll be interesting to see.
Now, as I said before, theseanimals could be fed by caretakers
(11:44):
and taken care of managed.
They're not just gonna be let go,and that's the end of them, and
that's the last time we'll seeit unless they're ready to do so.
Now, provincial enforcement canalso be put in up to a seizure and
custodianship if distress is critical.
So if inspectors determinethat there's critical distress.
The Pause Act of Ontario allowsintervention, including removing animals
(12:04):
or mandating care by a third party.
I can't see the removal ofanimals at this point, but I
can see a third party coming in.
This could be triggered by afailure to provide food, veterinary
care, or safe water systems.
Now, I assume that a lot of theseplaces aren't going to allow euthanasia,
but the last one is euthanasia onlyfor legitimate medical reasons.
So humane euthanasia belongs toveterinary decisions for individual
(12:25):
animals with intractable suffering.
These animals aren'tsuffering necessarily.
They're suffering because oftheir water quality conditions,
but that can be improved.
So euthanasia is probablythe last case scenario.
And because it makes headlines andit triggers, you know, clicks, I
think that's being used a lot andit's scaring the hell out of people.
So that's where we're atreally is with these animals.
(12:46):
It looks like thegovernment's gonna step in.
They're gonna put people in place that canhappen, that can make this happen a little
easier and take care of these animals.
The biggest thing, like at, atvery least, these animals should
remain in captivity and being takencare of until they, they pass.
That's probably thesafest thing for them Now.
Not my opinion, but I'm sure that's whata lot of people are thinking, just because
(13:06):
we don't know how the transfer's gonna go.
However, it would be more ideal, inmy opinion, my scientific opinion, to
put them out, or at least some of themout in a pilot study into the whale
seaside sanctuary that is actually beingdeemed in the coast of Nova Scotia.
Will that be ideal waters for them?
Not really, because there haven'treally been belugas in those areas,
but at least they'll be monitored.
By a team that can care, that can feed,that can look after its medical stability.
(13:30):
And so that will be really helpful.
So that's it for today's episode.
I would love to hearyour thoughts on this.
Do you think that these animals shouldbe released out to the ocean, into
these whale seed size sanctuaries?
Do you think they should be keptwhere they are or do you agree
that they should go to China?
I would love to hear your opinion.
Let me know in the comments below ifyou're watching this on YouTube or
you can let me know through email.
Just go to speak up forblue.com/contact, fill out the form.
(13:52):
It goes right to my email.
If you want to connect me rightaway, you can do so through dms on
Instagram at how to protect the ocean,that's at how to protect the ocean.
That's it for today's episode of theHow to Protect the Ocean Podcast.
Have a great day.
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin fromthe True North Strong and Free.
Have a great day.
We'll talk to you next timeand happy conservation.
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