Overview
- Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson blocked a permit to send the belugas to China’s Chimelong Ocean Kingdom under the 2019 law and called Marineland’s emergency funding request inappropriate.
- Marineland set an Oct. 7 deadline warning it would resort to euthanasia without cash or export approval, and the standoff remained unresolved after the cutoff.
- Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged federal action, while animal-welfare organizations pressed the province to use its PAWS authority to seize the whales and arrange care.
- No operational sanctuary or suitable accredited facility in Canada has been identified to accept the 30 belugas, with a proposed Nova Scotia sanctuary not yet ready.
- Roughly 20 whales, including 19 belugas and one orca, have died at Marineland since 2019, and repeated inspections and enforcement actions have intensified calls for intervention.