Marineland says that its Beluga should not go to Nova Scotia’s Whale Sanctuary project

Marineland says that there are more than a dozen reasons that none of its remaining 30 Beluga should be sent to a proposed whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia.

The closed Ontario theme Park, which is trying to sell the whale to avoid bankruptcy, made headlines last week when Federal Fisheries Minister Joan Thomason denied the request of Marinland to the buyers of Canada at an aquarium in China to ship the last captive whale of Canada.

Marineland replied, saying that it does not have money to feed the whale and has been asked to have emergency funding from Ottawa, warning that it may have no option but to eructly ice-white mammals.

Thompson has stated that she would “prefer to see a whale in a sanctuary,” but Marinland has argued that no such sanctuary is currently available for 30 Beluga, including Wine Harbor, NS near the Whale Scholar Project proposed coastal refuge.

A report has been released by the owners of the theme parks at Niagra Falls, Onts, which has been released, alleging that the site is very polluted in Eastern Nova Scotia and has not seen any development as its construction plans were unveiled in 2020.

The report stated, “Marinland thinks that serious environmental issues that remain unresolved, as well as with the total decrease of perfect financial viability, prevents any further idea of ​​WSP as a suitable site,” the report states.

“Depending on the clear lack of progress to date, it is not possible to estimate any date by which the WSP feature may be able to achieve the CETACEANS.”

The proposer defends the project

Charles Vinic, CEO of the Whale Sanctuary Project, said on Tuesday that Marinland raised the allegations in a detailed study released in 2021.

“We have completed all the environmental analysis of the site-on the ground and in the water-which are required by the government,” Vinic said in an interview, saying that 40-hectare floating net enclosure can eventually be eight to 10 Beluga.

In response to Marinland’s complaint about the waste left behind the garbage from gold mining in the 1930s, Vinic said that a mitigation plan has already been approved for the purpose of capping the tailing dump with gravel and concrete, and no contact has been shown to the water sample.

On another front, Marinland says that the WSP has not enough to deal with the toxic arsenic found in the soil on the bottom of the Gulf where underwater shelter will be constructed. Vinic said that experts have told the WSP that arsenic remains locked in soil and it does not bother.

“There are some restrictions on some shellfish fishing,” Vinic said. “(But) lobstering and other fishing leaves in this area all the time. And all catches have been inspected for years, and no problem has been found.”

For the finance of the project, Vinic stated that his US-based non-profit organization continues to raise funds from private donors, and the group has said that it would not demand government funds for the $ 20 million project.

“We don’t have all the funds today,” Vinic said. “(But) we are seeing the public, from other organizations and from those who want to help these specific animals.”

To ensure this, the Whale Sanctuary project would not offer any money to Marinland for Belugas, he said. “We do not believe that the purchase and sale of whales is something that should continue and we are not in a philosophical or financially a position to consider it.”

Resist with landlords

Meanwhile, the project stopped because it is Facilitating a small group of local landlords To allow the sanctuary to move forward, which requires consensual consent. Until this happens, Tory Rashton, Minister of Natural Resources of Nova Scotia, has said that he will not give the WSP a crown lease for 81 hectares of land and water.

The email received by the Canadian press through freedom of information laws indicates that some landlords were worried about losing access to water once the net was established. Others complained about the increased traffic as the WSP had planned to set up an education center nearby, but Vinic’s team has since ended that idea.

And even if the unworthy landslides change their mind, the project will require approval from Transport Canada under the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, as well as permit from the Federal Fisheries Department for transfer of whales.

In January of this year, French government rejected WSP bid To give shelter to two killer whales living in the Marinland Antibase in the south of France. Under the French law, the country’s last two prisoners, orkas – wiki and kijo – should be removed from France by the end of this year.

French officials said the Nova Scotia Sanctuary would not be prepared on time and was worried about the sea temperature from the east coast of the province.

According to data compiled by Canadian Press, 19 Belugas, a killer whale and a dolphin died in Marinland since the end of 2019, but the company has long defended its treatment of animals, saying that deaths were part of the natural cycle of life.

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