this post was submitted on 07 Oct 2025

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Marineland asks Canadian government for emergency cash to feed whales — or euthanasia imminent (apnews.com)

submitted 10 months ago by robocall@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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[–] robocall@lemmy.world 17 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson earlier this week denied Marineland’s request to export 30 belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China. Thompson said then the decision is consistent with a 2019 law making it illegal to use whales and dolphins in entertainment shows or keep them in captivity.

It's sad to think that euthanizing them may be the most humane option. But sending them to a new place in China, where they would be in entertainment shows, and bred to continue the captivity of future generations has it's own ethical dilemma.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 4 points 10 months ago

Thirty? Why the fuck would the need thirty whales to begin with.

[–] ceph@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Indeed. China's social environment is not conducive to good health and care for most animals.

[–] PoliteDudeInTheMood@lemmy.ca 4 points 10 months ago

Panda's being the exception there. My wife is Chinese and it's in their DNA that they have to love Panda's. We have so many stuffed animal Panda's and she has unique names for them all and I've been forced to create unique voices for every one of them. Her friend gave her a big panda stuffy and she named him snuggles and since we're not planning to have kids, and she doesn't like dogs or cats. I'm forced to provide voiceover for the panda named Snuggles.

[–] whiwake@lemmy.cafe 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

They should make a gofundme or whatever

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I don't think whales can use the internet.

[–] whiwake@lemmy.cafe 4 points 10 months ago

They’re afraid of the net.

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Why not just release them to the wild and let them give it a shot? They trust humans too much and just get hunted? Throw off the ecosystem?

[–] robocall@lemmy.world 9 points 10 months ago (2 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keiko_(orca)

They tried this with the whale from Free Willy, and the whale failed to adapt to the wild before dying. They tried preparing him for years prior to his release and his trainer moved to Iceland where they released him to continue his transition into the wild.

[–] x_pikl_x@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I'd rather die free than someone sticking me with a needle in my sleep and never having tasted said freedom.

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 3 points 10 months ago

I'd rather die in my sleep than slowly starving to death in the wilderness.

[–] robocall@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

But we can't ask these animals what they would prefer. Not everyone would chose the same as you.

Even if we could communicate with them, it would be much more expensive to train them to be reintegrated into the wild (with a high chance of failure), rather than just feed them.

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Damn. They’re pack animals tho. Maybe better chance in a group?

[–] HellsBelle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Intigration into a pod is almost impossible tho. You can't force a pod to accept a new member.

[–] Drusas@fedia.io 2 points 10 months ago

Your second sentence is correct, but your first sentence is incorrect. Particularly for males, leaving their birth pod and joining a new one is standard orca practice.

[–] village604@adultswim.fan 1 points 10 months ago

There's 30 of them, though.

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

Aren’t they already a pod?

[–] robocall@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I believe belugas have tendencies to move to different pods. They would interact with wild belugas, and how could they possibly understand the consequences/differences of interacting or following other belugas?

[–] venusaur@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Is it crueler than euthanizing them? They don’t have a chance of survival?

[–] robocall@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

The odds of their survival in the wild are against them. Marineland can't afford to feed them, it would be more than 10x that cost to train them to have a chance of survival in the wild. Marineland can't afford to humanely release them into the wild.

[–] Hozerkiller@lemmy.ca 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Cant they just release them? Whats the worse that happens? They die?

[–] robocall@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

They would most definitely die. It may be more ethical and humane to simply euthanize them.

Whales in captivity are trained to eat dead fish, and can struggle to recognize living fish as food. They are trained to look for their human trainers for their meals and everything. They do not know how to hide and defend themselves. The wild is a foreign environment to them. While I understand the aspect of giving free meat to the wild, there is an argument that this is cruel, it's a disruption to the wild, and the captive whales are our responsibility.