A spokesperson for Solicitor General Michael Kerzner says they can confirm that the 30 beluga whales at Marineland are alive and remain in the care of the now closed marine amusement park.
Kerzner’s office did not provide any further details.
Marineland closed its doors to the public more than a year ago, and has been trying to sell its large property near Horseshoe Falls.
After Canada’s fisheries minister denied a permit to allow Marineland to send the belugas to an aquarium in China, Marineland said it could no longer feed and care for the whales without emergency financial help from the federal government. If that was not forthcoming, it said it had no choice but to euthanize the whales.
Marineland had set a deadline of Tuesday for federal financial help or it would begin euthanizing the whales.
That deadline has come and gone.
Ottawa and the Ontario government have each said the other should help. But Melissa Matlow of World Animal Protection Canada suggests the onus is on Marineland.
“It’s grotesque manipulation what Marineland’s doing, threatening to kill their animals if they don’t get funding,” she said. “They had years to plan ahead for the future care of these whales and they didn’t.And they’re also sitting on very valuable real estate in Niagara Falls, worth hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Matlow says Ontario premier Doug Ford’s government can step in and seize the whales, care for them and send Marineland the bill.
Marineland has maintained that there is no viable alternative for the whales other than the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China.
