Liam Casey

Ottawa has endorsed a plan to move Canada’s last remaining captive whales to aquariums in the U.S. and Spain.

There are 30 belugas and four dolphins at Marineland, the shuttered theme park in Niagara Falls, Ont., that still face mass euthanasia should the deal fall through.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has issued the first batch of permits to move the whales and is set to issue different permits closer to the move, which is expected to take place in the next few months.

It recently issued permits for the whales and dolphins under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, otherwise known as CITES permits.

“I think this is a positive step forward,” Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson said Wednesday.

“There’s still more work to be done, but it’s a step forward.”

Her office said the ministry is co-ordinating with the Canada Border Services Agency, Health Canada and other ministries to “ensure all requirements are met for a safe and timely transfer.”

Marineland said it is “fully committed to the safe and timely relocation of our beluga whales, and we want to be clear: this is our top priority.”

“Relocating these animals is an extraordinarily complex undertaking,” Marineland said in a statement. 

“The logistical, regulatory, and financial requirements involved are significant — from securing CITES permits to co-ordinating transportation plans, animal health assessments, and cross-border requirements involving multiple government agencies. We are navigating this process as urgently as possible while ensuring the welfare of the animals remains paramount at every step.”

Ottawa has not decided whether it will provide taxpayer dollars to help move the whales. 

Thompson did not answer questions about federal help for the move when asked Wednesday. “I’m concerned with permits,” she said.

Twenty whales — 19 belugas and one killer whale — have died at Marineand since 2019, according to provincial government data obtained through freedom-of-information laws and official statements.

The former Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction has been closed since the summer of 2024 as the estate works to move the park’s remaining animals and sell the sprawling property near Horseshoe Falls. 

The animals must be moved in order for a massive real estate deal to go through. The belugas and dolphins are set to head to five marine parks: Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, SeaWorld locations in San Antonio and San Diego and Oceanografic Valencia. 

Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, where Marineland sent five belugas to in 2021, will also help with the move, the American consortium said.

The Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, an industry group, has also been helping Marineland organize the rescue, along with its U.S. counterpart, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

“In its review, DFO concluded that moving the belugas to the aquariums — all of which are accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums — is in the best interest of the animals’ well-being,” said Johnny Ford, a spokesman for Shedd Aquarium and the rest of the consortium.

“While this is an important milestone for the whales at the closed park, several additional logistical steps and permits are still required before a rescue can begin.”

The consortium shared its “rescue feasibility and animal transport plan” with Ottawa and Marineland in late March.

The plan, obtained by The Canadian Press, lays out a complex move believed to be unprecedented in scale. 

It will involve a number of staff from Marineland and the American aquariums, specialized containers to hold one whale each, transport trucks and a police escort. 

The finer details will be ironed out in the coming weeks.

“A rescue of this scale is extraordinarily difficult,” the plan notes. 

“The proposed plan was developed with input from experts at several accredited aquariums, drawing on decades of hands‑on care experience, the latest animal‑welfare science, prior beluga rescue efforts, and direct observations of the individual whales and their needs.”

The park’s founder, John Holer, died in 2018. His wife, Marie Holer, took over operations of the park and put it up for sale in 2023, before she died in 2024. 

The estate has been working since to dismantle the park, which features roller-coasters and other rides, and rehome its vast menagerie.

Marineland’s sea lions were moved to the Vancouver Aquarium in February and its last two seals went to a park in Quebec earlier this year.

Two weeks ago, Marineland sent its 12 black bears to the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, a sprawling forested park with about 1,000 large carnivores, including bears, lions and tigers.

Several hundred deer and elk remain at Marineland as it slowly moves those animals out.

Last fall, Marineland applied for export permits to move its cadre of belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China.

Thompson rejected Marineland’s application because she said she did not want to subject the whales to a future of performing in captivity, which is consistent with a law passed in 2019.

Marineland had worked on that deal for years, sources at the park said. Chimelong was set to buy all of the belugas for about $5 million, with the move costing at least another $5 million.

In response to Thompson’s denial, Marineland said it was quickly running out of money and needed an infusion of emergency funds to keep feeding and caring for the whales. 

Without that, Marineland threatened, it would have to kill its belugas through mass euthanasia.

Marineland is now giving the whales to the U.S. consortium.

The park will be out of money within months, the sources said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2026.

–with files from Sarah Ritchie in Ottawa

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