Six captive belugas from Canada are now swimming in the waters of their new homes in the United States.
Marineland and a consortium of U.S. aquariums helped move the first batch of whales in a long, complex process that began Monday afternoon at the former Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction.
Marineland has been closed to the public since 2024 as it looks to sell the park and its sprawling property a short distance from the Horseshoe Falls. It has said it is running out of money and can no longer care for the whales.
The park had 30 belugas and four dolphins before Monday's move. It is the largest complement of captive belugas in the world and also Canada's last remaining captive whales and dolphins.
They are set to make their way, over multiple moves, to five marine parks: Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, SeaWorld San Antonio, another SeaWorld in San Diego, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and Oceanografic Valencia in Spain.
Four female belugas — Sierra, Acadia, Osiris and Lillooet — arrived at Shedd Aquarium's waters in the wee hours Tuesday morning, a spokesperson for the aquarium said. Sierra was first lifted out of the Marineland pool shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
Bertie Botts and Frankie, both males, were hoisted into their tanks by 8 p.m. before a large, police-escorted convoy drove several hours to Toronto Pearson International Airport, where they were loaded on a 777 cargo jet.
Bertie Botts and Frankie remained on the plane while the others were dropped off in Chicago, before the pair headed off to their new home at SeaWorld in San Antonio. They ended up there later Tuesday morning, the U.S. consortium said.
Marineland's adviser, Andrew Burns, said the move went better than expected, with no major hiccups lifting the whales out of their pools and placing them in tanks on transport trucks, and no issues during the convoy ride to the airport.
"The risk is always how the whales react, but that can be moderated by the conduct of the team and because of their experience, because of their handling of the whales, it mitigated all that potential stress," Burns said.
"And as a consequence of how they handled everything, like any kind of professional athlete, they make the incredible look simple."
The whales are doing well after the journey, the U.S. consortium said.
"This moment marks the next chapter for these rescued belugas," said Dr. Karisa Tang, lead veterinarian at Shedd Aquarium. "Now that they are here, the full attention of our care and veterinary teams is on getting to know these whales and providing whatever supplemental support, treatment and care we can to help them acclimate to their new home."
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Marineland has struggled in recent years, first with water problems that led the province to order the park to fix its water system. The province went on to declare all marine mammals there in distress.
Twenty whales, including 19 belugas and one killer whale, and one dolphin have died at the park since 2019, according to internal government documents and records obtained by The Canadian Press.
But there have been no deaths at the park in the last year and the province has said the water was not the reason for the previous deaths. As well, the water has improved in recent years after a significant investment by Marineland.
The first wave of departures this week sparked a range of emotions among some of the park's former whale trainers.
Marineland fired Kristy Burgess in February 2025 shortly after a young beluga at the park, Eos, was euthanized for health reasons.
The park thought Burgess was the source in an article that revealed the death of the young beluga. She went public last fall, saying the whales needed to be moved as soon as possible.
"I spent most of yesterday on and off crying because some of these whales I was incredibly close with, especially Frankie," she said.
Burgess said she didn't like Frankie at first, believing he was a bit too complex, both in terms of personality and health, for her level of experience.
"We started off really not vibing with each other," she said. "He would squirt me and refuse behaviours, but then eventually over time we built such an insanely strong bond."
Still, she wanted the animals out of Marineland.
"They have no future at that park and I know at the receiving facilities they're going to get a lot more attention and care," she said. "And that's no dig at the current staff, but they have so little in resources and there's only so many hours in a day — the standard of care is going to be much higher."
Phil Demers left the park in 2012 and became its loudest critic, alleging animal mistreatment and water problems, which Marineland has denied.
"I don't love it, I'm not going to endorse the facilities," he said. "But I will endorse that the conditions are immediately improved, and standards of care are all better, oversight is better."
Demers said he was grateful the move went well, as he's been part of several moves during his 12 years at the park, beginning at the turn of the millennium.
"That said, I wish it would have been done a long time ago, but progress takes time and it's worth celebrating," he said.
Last year, Marineland struck a deal with Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, a massive aquarium in China that agreed to buy all 30 belugas.
But Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson blocked that move, saying it was not in the best interest of the whales and went against the spirit of a 2019 federal law that banned whale and dolphin captivity, forbade breeding and banned performances.
In response, Marineland threatened to euthanize all the whales if it did not receive emergency funds from the federal government that created the situation.
The park later struck an Ottawa-approved deal with the consortium of U.S. and Spanish aquariums, which co-ordinated a plan to move the whales.
So far, Marineland has not received any federal money, but the Fisheries Department has not ruled that out entirely.
Thompson said Tuesday she was grateful to a number of organizations who helped in the move, but not Marineland.
"The government of Canada took reasonable steps to ensure the safe rescue of the whales," including issuing permits after reviewing the transportation plan, Thompson said. "Fisheries Act authorizations are being issued as the individual health assessments for each whale is completed."
Marineland is hoping to have all the whales and dolphins gone by the end of August.
There are now 24 belugas and four dolphins remaining at Marineland.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2026.
