Overview

• The closed Niagara Falls park set an Oct. 7 deadline, saying it will euthanize its remaining belugas if no government funding or transfer approval is granted.
• Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson rejected a bailout, writing that the government is not responsible for covering Marineland’s costs.
• Ottawa also blocked a requested export of 30 belugas to China’s Chimelong Ocean Kingdom under welfare concerns shaped by Canada’s 2019 cetacean law.
• About 30 belugas and four dolphins remain at the site, which shut in 2024, with media reporting a beluga and a seal died late this summer.
• Animal welfare groups and local politicians accuse Marineland of using coercion, while former trainer Phil Demers calls the euthanasia threat a bluff.