Another beluga dies at Marineland, Ontario saying little on 4-year probe into park

TORONTO — Another beluga whale has died at Marineland and four years into a provincial probe, Ontario’s solicitor general is saying little about the investigation’s progress.

The latest beluga death is the fourth in the past year, provincial records show. Since 2019, 16 belugas and one killer whale have died at the Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction, the only place in the country that still holds whales in captivity. And three out of five belugas that Marineland sold to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut have died since being moved there in the spring of 2021.

Ontario’s Animal Welfare Services, which is part of the Ministry of the Solicitor General, launched an investigation into Marineland in 2020. The next year, the province declared all marine mammals at Marineland in distress due to poor water quality and ordered the park to fix the issue – the park appealed while denying its animals were in distress, but later dropped that appeal.

The current status of the provincial probe is unclear, with little information available on action Ontario is taking, and the most recent beluga death has opposition politicians and animal welfare advocates questioning what they see as a lack of transparency from the province.

A spokesman for Solicitor General Michael Kerzner, whose department is responsible for animal welfare across the province, said Animal Welfare Services has conducted more than 200 inspections at the park.

“As has been demonstrated in the past, Animal Welfare Services will not hesitate to issue orders or charges for animal welfare violations at Marineland,” spokesman Hunter Kell wrote in a statement.

Kerzner’s office would not elaborate on what the inspections entailed, nor what orders have been issued, and to what effect.

That’s not enough for the local member of provincial parliament.

“It’s awful that these animals are dying at Marineland, but the public has a right to know what’s going on there,” said Wayne Gates, the New Democrat representative for Niagara Falls.

“We need the solicitor general to come to the table and let’s have an intelligent discussion on how we’re going to protect the animals.”

The public is very concerned about the animals at Marineland, said John Fraser, parliamentary leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.

“The government is making claims that they’re visiting frequently, but they’re not telling anybody what they’re doing and the whales keep dying,” he said. “What do they have to hide if they’re doing their job?”

Marineland did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The park has long maintained it treats its animals well. Its website says it has “a strong record” of providing for the welfare of its animals and “will continue to prioritize their health and well-being.”

Concerning the latest death, the Ministry of the Solicitor General would only confirm that the beluga died in July. Spokesman Brent Ross said two Magellanic penguins also died at Marineland in August.

Ross referred questions about the beluga’s cause of death to Marineland, and other followup questions back to the minister’s office. Neither Marineland nor the minister’s office responded to the questions.

Ross also said the province’s chief animal welfare inspector, Melanie Milczynski, declined to be interviewed. Milczynski is the fourth chief animal welfare inspector since Animal Welfare Services began operating in late 2019. Successive chiefs have declined multiple interview requests.

Efforts to learn more about Marineland through the freedom-of-information process have also hit multiple roadblocks.

In February 2023, The Canadian Press filed a request with the government seeking access to inspection reports and orders issued to Marineland, plus a copy of a 65-page government-commissioned report on the state of water at the park.

Two weeks later, the request was denied in full, citing exemptions that said the information could interfere with law enforcement and was subject to solicitor-client privilege. A third exemption said releasing the records would be an “unjustified invasion of personal privacy.”

The Canadian Press appealed the case to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. In September of last year, the government agreed to provide some of the information. Marineland appealed the decision, which meant that the records were not released.

In May, the freedom-of-information office agreed to release more than 500 pages of records. Among those were supposed to be copies of 28 orders issued to Marineland and 12 government reports about the park. Marineland again appealed.

Mediation in the case has failed and it will move to adjudication. It could be months or longer before a resolution allows the documents to be made public.

Marineland’s owner, Marie Holer, died last month. At the time, the park said a succession plan had been put in place, but did not offer details.

The park is up for sale, and has been listed for more than a year. The vast property constitutes some 1,000 acres just a kilometre from Horseshoe Falls and the heart of the tourist district in Niagara Falls.

Marineland has not said what it will do with the animals once the park is sold.

This year, it opened to visitors for just two months, unlike its usual run from the May long weekend until Thanksgiving. There were no rides, and the vast majority of the animals were not on display.

A Canadian Press reporter and photographer visited Marineland in the summer of 2023, and staff said there were 37 beluga whales in the park. Shortly after that visit, the park banned the reporter from its property.

Drone footage shot by advocacy group UrgentSeas, co-founded by a former Marineland whale trainer, indicated 33 belugas at the park in mid-September. The group said more needs to be done to investigate animal deaths at the park.

“Marineland has normalized dead whales,” said the group’s co-founder Phil Demers, who has become an outspoken critic of the park.

“What concerns me is when you normalize things like this, people become apathetic, and the government is guilty of that, too.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2024.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press