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In February of 2025, a 7-year-old beluga whale, Eos, died at Marineland Canada, which cited a long battle with several medical conditions as the reason for euthanizing her. Eos is the 18th beluga whale to die at Marineland Canada in just the past five years. Demand that Marineland be shut down for good!

Marineland Canada has a well-earned reputation for being a horrible place for animals. In 2020, Ontario's Animal Welfare Services launched an investigation into the marine park, and inspectors have visited it over 200 times and issued multiple orders. Animal Welfare Services declared that all marine mammals at the park were in distress due to poor water quality in 2021. Marineland claims these deaths are part of the natural cycle of life, but there is nothing natural about the number of deaths at young ages. Belugas in the wild can live up to 60 years of age, but the belugas at Marineland die much younger.

Beluga whales are highly intelligent animals with distinct personalities. In the wild, they are born and raised as part of a large extended family and are able to choose their mating partners. In captivity, they are often stripped away from their family, artificially inseminated, and put with strange whales who often don't get along.

One tragic death at Marineland illustrates how dangerous captivity can be. In 2012, 1-year-old beluga, Skoot, died after being attacked by two older males. The older belugas continually bit Skoot's head and body and pushed her around the pool, spinning her around and slamming her hard into a rock wall in the tank. One of the trainers who was present and tried to intervene wrote, “(We) held her through her convulsions and mini seizures until she finally died in our arms.” In the wild, belugas can swim away from threats, but in captivity there is nowhere to go.

Belugas aren't the only animals to suffer at Marineland. Since 2019, 24 animals have died at Marineland including 18 beluga whales, Canada's last captive orca, Kiska, a dolphin, a gray seal, a harbor seal, and two California sea lions. In 2024, Marineland Canada was ordered to pay almost $85,000 in fines after being found guilty of animal cruelty charges related to its three black bears. Marineland is currently seeking new ownership which means the animals might be moved. Demand that Marineland be shut down and that the animals be moved to sanctuaries!

Letter to Decision Maker(s) for reference:

Subject: Shut Down Marineland and Retire the Belugas to a Sanctuary!

As someone who is concerned with animal welfare and one of over 250,000 In Defense of Animals supporters, I urge you to shut down Marineland for good and send the belugas to a sanctuary! With 18 beluga whales dying at Marineland in the past five years, it is well over time to put an end to the abuse. 

Beluga whales are highly intelligent animals with distinct personalities. In the wild, they are born and raised as part of a large extended family and are able to choose their mating partners. In captivity, they are often stripped away from their family, artificially inseminated, and put with strange whales who often don’t get along. In the wild, belugas can live to 60 years of age, but at Marineland, they die much younger. It is time for society to move away from keeping these intelligent animals in tiny tanks for entertainment.

One tragic death at Marineland illustrates how dangerous captivity can be. In 2012, 1-year-old beluga, Skoot, died after being attacked by two older males. The older belugas continually bit Skoot’s head and body and pushed her around the pool, spinning her around and slamming her hard into a rock wall in the tank. One of the trainers who was present and tried to intervene wrote, “(We) held her through her convulsions and mini seizures until she finally died in our arms.” In the wild belugas can swim away from threats but in captivity, there is nowhere to go.

Belugas aren’t the only animals to suffer at Marineland. Since 2019, 24 animals have died at Marineland including 18 beluga whales, Canada’s last captive orca, Kiska, a dolphin, a gray seal, a harbor seal, and two California sea lions. In 2024 Marineland Canada was ordered to pay almost $85,000 in fines after being found guilty of animal cruelty charges related to its three black bears. Marineland is currently seeking new ownership which means the animals might be moved. 

I strongly urge you to shut down Marineland and retire the animals to sanctuaries!

Thank you for your attention to this important issue.

Sincerely,

Signed

This alert is no longer active, but here for reference. Please take action on our new alert on this topic here.