- Roughly 30 beluga whales have been stranded at Marineland, a Niagara Falls theme park that closed in 2024.
- NOAA has authorized their relocation to four US aquariums, with a Spanish aquarium offering to take more.
- The relocation is expected to take several weeks to complete.
Thirty beluga whales who have been stuck for two years at a shuttered Canadian theme park are finally being rescued – after US regulators approved a plan to move them to new homes rather than let them face euthanasia.
Roughly 30 beluga whales, along with four dolphins, are still believed to be alive at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, which closed to the public in 2024. The animals cannot be released into the wild because they were born and raised in captivity, lacking the required skills to survive outside of captivity.
But after desperate please, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration authorized what it called an emergency rescue, joining Canadian authorities in backing a plan led by a group of aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The whales are set to move to four US aquariums – the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, and SeaWorld’s parks in San Diego and San Antonio. An aquarium in Spain, Oceanogràfic València, has also offered to take some too, pending Spanish permits.
The Georgia Aquarium, which has government authorization to bring two of the whales to Atlanta, said it had been working on the plan with other aquariums for months.
“Without this rescue, the whales’ future was unknown,” the aquarium said. “Now, we can care for them and ensure they are given every possible chance to thrive.”
It called the effort “one of the largest, and most complex, beluga rescues in our history” and cautioned it would not happen overnight.
Canada’s Minister of Fisheries, Joanne Thompson, called the development “an encouraging and critical next step for the safe relocation of the whales.” Each animal must pass a health check by a Canadian-accredited veterinarian before it can travel.
But once cleared, aquarium experts will accompany the whales to their new homes, where staff say they will be met with a varied seafood diet, high-quality water and on-site medical care. The full relocation is expected to take several weeks.
