Marineland Beluga Whales: What’s Next for Canada’s Captive Cetaceans

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30 Belugas on the edge.

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Canada says no to export.

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Marine land says it

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can't afford to care for them

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and euthanasia has been threatened.

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And what happens when

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the law protects animals

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but the system fails them?

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We're gonna talk about updates.

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This is just gonna be

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a straight up episode.

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No fantasy, semantic editing.

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I want to give you an update

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because so much has been

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commented on on different videos

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and so many little updates and big

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updates have happened.

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The good news is so far the Belugas,

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the 30 Belugas are still alive.

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We're gonna talk about the options

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and what is probably going to

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happen in my opinions on that

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on this episode of the How

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to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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Let's start the show.

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Hey everybody, welcome back

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to another exciting episode

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of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast.

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I'm your host, Andrew Lewin.

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And this is the

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podcast where you find out

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what's happening with the ocean,

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how you can speak up for the ocean

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and what you can do to

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live for a better ocean

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by taking action.

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On today's episode,

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we're gonna be talking about the updates

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surrounding this Marine Land debacle.

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So here is what has happened.

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So Marine Land came out and said,

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hey, by the way, we're out of money.

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We haven't been open for the last year.

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Our parents have died.

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These are the kids that

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have taken over Marine Land

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and the parents owned it for

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decades and decades and decades

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and ran this facility

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in a lot of controversy.

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There's been a lot of

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problems with water quality

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over the last 10 years

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and even before that,

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there've been a lot of

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deaths over the last little bit.

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Since 2019,

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19 beluga whales have passed away.

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One orca has passed away and

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one dolphin has passed away.

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So a lot of stuff has happened

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and bad stuff is

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happening with Marine Land.

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There's a law that

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came into place that says,

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hey, you know what?

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Government of Canada says,

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you cannot bring in

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any new Marine mammals

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to any kind of Marine theme park.

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So you have to and you can't

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really get rid of your other

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emails without permits and it's all going

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to be regulated now.

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And you can't just do

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anything willy nilly.

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You can't use them for entertainment and

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you can't use them for breeding,

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which was a big moneymaker for the Marine

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theme parks in the US

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as well as in Canada,

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as well as around the world.

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If you want more information on that,

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I highly recommend that you watch the

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documentary Blackfish.

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It outlines everything that

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the theme parks were doing,

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including Sea World

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as well as Marine Land.

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So now, you know, this has been a big,

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a big problem in the

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last couple of weeks.

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Marine Land said, hey, you know what?

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We're running out of money.

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We can't take care.

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We can't feed or take care

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of these animals anymore.

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And if we don't get

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them out, we are going to,

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they're going to die.

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We're going to have to euthanize them

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because we can't feed them,

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which is kind of BS in my opinion,

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but we'll talk about that in a minute.

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So essentially what happens is in 2019,

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the ending of captivity

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of whales and dolphins

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that came into play.

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So now they needed like

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Marine Land needs a permit

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to ship them out.

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They had a deal with a

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Marine theme park in China that,

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they worked a year,

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almost a year on that deal.

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They applied for a permit with the

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government of Canada,

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Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

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The minister came

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back said, you know what?

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No, we're not going to

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allow this to happen.

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I've seen a lot on captive whales.

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We don't want to have

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a law here that says,

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hey, we're not going to

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use them for entertainment

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and breeding and then ship

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them off to another facility

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that allows entertainment, the use of

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whales in entertainment

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and breeding because

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that's not what we do.

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That's just, it is, you

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know, a bit hypocritical

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if we start saying, hey,

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we're not going to do it,

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but we're going to

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allow other people to do it.

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So what happens to these whales?

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This first thing when the government

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denied the first thing,

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the deny the permit, the first thing that

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Marine Land did was like,

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hey, by the way, we're just going to,

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we're going to have to

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euthanize them if you don't do this,

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which the minister just came back said

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that response was inappropriate

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because first of all, you

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can't do that in the law.

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The next step was to find out how these

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animals need to be cared for.

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And this is where the updates have to

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have, like have to come, you know,

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and there have been some updates.

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First of all, the animals,

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there was a deadline date of when the

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animals were going to be euthanized.

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That didn't happen.

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Of course, it's not going to happen.

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I think a lot of people

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were worried about that.

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Marine Land can't do it by law.

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It has to have others

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come in through this law,

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this captivity of

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whales and dolphins act.

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You have to have the government.

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The government can

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actually come in and take over,

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whether it's the federal

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or provincial government.

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They could both.

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They all have.

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They both have acts that allows them to

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take over for animal welfare.

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So that would be the

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first step that happens.

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But at this point, one of the major

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updates is that Marine Land has some,

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some type of funny.

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It's restructured.

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It says restructured.

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It's been able to have some

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short term bridge financing,

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but the animals are still at risk.

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This is his short term.

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It's not going to be, it's not going to

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be something that is going to happen.

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Now, a couple of things have come up in

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terms of where can they go?

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All of them have been

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denied by Marine Land.

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So the first one was the whale seaside

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sanctuary in Nova Scotia

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off the coast of Nova Scotia.

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A couple of problems with that one.

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One, there's no facility right now.

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There's no sanctuary at this point.

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It's still a theoretical, unfortunately.

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The nets haven't been put into place

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because the adjacent owners

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who have to have unanimous

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decision, a unanimous agreement that the

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seaside sanctuary could

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come in are not unanimous.

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They don't want to come in because

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they're worried about a few things.

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They're worried about tourists that are

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going to come in

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because there's going to be an

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education center around there and they're

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worried about traffic.

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These are small towns in Nova Scotia.

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These are not Halifax.

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Halifax is the biggest

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city and it's about 300,000.

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The rest, if you've ever been in Nova

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Scotia, all these little

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towns maybe have a couple

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thousand people.

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Some of them 10,000, some of them 30,000,

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but not much more than that.

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A lot of these areas are small.

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They like their local

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traffic the way it is.

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They don't want to

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increase their traffic.

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Then there's a couple of other risks.

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One, they're worried

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about access to the ocean.

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There's going to be a net.

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Will they have access to the ocean?

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Now, there's also going to be different

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whales in their area

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that they're not used to.

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It's a lot of different

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things that are going on.

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They're working with the federal

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government to make sure

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that this is going through.

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The whale seaside sanctuary

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just put up a new response, a new

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update in terms of the mayor of Niagara

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where Marine land is coming in saying,

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"Hey, we have to figure

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out a way to find them."

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So there are updates going through, but

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we'll see how that kind of comes through

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because we're not sure what's going to

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happen to these whales.

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That's the first thing.

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The whale seaside sanctuary,

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unfortunately, is not ready to go.

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There's nothing there at this point.

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They're still locked up in some

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legalities and some regulations.

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This is obviously

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going to take some time.

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So the short term way of trying to keep

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these animals and saying them in the wild

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is not going to happen through the whale

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seaside sanctuary at any

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point in time over the next year.

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This is a long time in the making and the

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whale seaside sanctuary,

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the group has been working with the

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government for a long time

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and hopefully we will

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see something in time.

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Now the whale seaside sanctuary did apply

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to take two French or two

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orcas that were in a French

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Marine thing park as that

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was shutting down last year.

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It got denied because there was no

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facility that was available.

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And it seemed like the government of

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Canada wasn't going to make it easy,

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not to say that's bad for

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the government of Canada,

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01:07:34,083 --> 01:07:35,541
but also nothing was going to happen

284
01:07:35,541 --> 01:07:37,583
within the next year when those orcas had

285
01:07:37,583 --> 01:07:39,708
to be out by law in France.

286
01:07:39,708 --> 01:07:41,791
So that was happening as well.

287
01:07:42,083 --> 01:07:42,750
So that's the first

288
01:07:42,750 --> 01:07:44,375
option of the sanctuary.

289
01:07:44,375 --> 01:07:45,916
There was another option in a

290
01:07:45,916 --> 01:07:48,500
sanctuary that could happen,

291
01:07:49,083 --> 01:07:50,666
although we still haven't

292
01:07:50,666 --> 01:07:52,375
found out at this point.

293
01:07:53,125 --> 01:07:57,583
There is a sanctuary in Nunavik in the

294
01:07:57,583 --> 01:07:59,041
territory of Nunavik,

295
01:07:59,333 --> 01:08:00,958
which is northern Canada.

296
01:08:02,500 --> 01:08:05,416
There was a suggestion, the relocation to

297
01:08:05,416 --> 01:08:06,833
Hudson Bay or Nunavik,

298
01:08:07,166 --> 01:08:09,583
for possible reintegration into natural

299
01:08:09,583 --> 01:08:12,125
habitat where a lot of belugas are found.

300
01:08:12,583 --> 01:08:14,375
But there hasn't been an official Inuit

301
01:08:14,375 --> 01:08:15,916
organization response yet.

302
01:08:16,291 --> 01:08:18,041
So there was somebody in Montreal who's

303
01:08:18,041 --> 01:08:20,250
part of that nation who said,

304
01:08:20,250 --> 01:08:21,291
"Hey, why don't we just put it there?"

305
01:08:21,500 --> 01:08:23,875
This is where a lot of them will be able

306
01:08:23,875 --> 01:08:25,916
to be there and that could be a place

307
01:08:25,916 --> 01:08:26,875
that we can put them there.

308
01:08:27,041 --> 01:08:28,875
We haven't heard back from any of the

309
01:08:28,875 --> 01:08:31,041
indigenous nations up there who will have

310
01:08:31,041 --> 01:08:33,125
pretty much final say as well as the

311
01:08:33,125 --> 01:08:35,041
territorial government will have final

312
01:08:35,041 --> 01:08:36,166
say of where it goes.

313
01:08:36,208 --> 01:08:38,291
Now, of course, there is a potential for

314
01:08:38,291 --> 01:08:39,791
the government of Ontario to be involved

315
01:08:39,791 --> 01:08:42,750
in this because Hudson's Bay does border

316
01:08:42,750 --> 01:08:45,833
along Ontario quite a bit.

317
01:08:46,125 --> 01:08:47,625
So there could be actions there.

318
01:08:48,000 --> 01:08:50,083
Now, again, with putting these into a

319
01:08:50,083 --> 01:08:52,666
population where you have belugas, you're

320
01:08:52,666 --> 01:08:54,000
messing with the genetic

321
01:08:54,000 --> 01:08:55,625
makeup of those belugas.

322
01:08:55,958 --> 01:08:59,458
Now, this beluga population in Hudson's

323
01:08:59,458 --> 01:09:01,875
Bay, as far as I know, correct me if I'm

324
01:09:01,875 --> 01:09:04,083
wrong, is not endangered at this point.

325
01:09:04,125 --> 01:09:05,750
The one in St. Lawrence is, but the one

326
01:09:05,750 --> 01:09:07,166
in Hudson Bay is not endangered.

327
01:09:07,708 --> 01:09:12,000
And so, but if you input or add or

328
01:09:12,000 --> 01:09:15,875
introduce new beluga genetics into that

329
01:09:15,875 --> 01:09:17,750
area, will it have an effect, a negative

330
01:09:17,750 --> 01:09:20,125
effect on the gene

331
01:09:20,125 --> 01:09:21,666
pool of that population?

332
01:09:21,875 --> 01:09:22,750
Or will it make it better?

333
01:09:23,000 --> 01:09:23,666
I don't know.

334
01:09:23,666 --> 01:09:24,625
That's a study that needs

335
01:09:24,625 --> 01:09:26,166
to be done for a long time.

336
01:09:26,166 --> 01:09:27,250
And I don't know if that's going to be

337
01:09:27,250 --> 01:09:30,333
possible to send them there and do that.

338
01:09:30,458 --> 01:09:32,500
With that said, too, there's a sanctuary

339
01:09:32,500 --> 01:09:34,083
up there that could be a

340
01:09:34,083 --> 01:09:35,583
possible location for that.

341
01:09:35,583 --> 01:09:37,541
But we haven't heard anything back from

342
01:09:37,541 --> 01:09:38,708
the people who are

343
01:09:38,708 --> 01:09:40,333
involved in that sanctuary.

344
01:09:40,333 --> 01:09:42,083
But they said it's not there's one person

345
01:09:42,083 --> 01:09:43,500
that came out and said it's not

346
01:09:43,500 --> 01:09:45,041
impossible, but it will be challenging.

347
01:09:45,583 --> 01:09:47,041
And one of the challenges is the

348
01:09:47,041 --> 01:09:48,750
genetics, of course, and how that's going

349
01:09:48,750 --> 01:09:50,000
to mix within the population.

350
01:09:50,375 --> 01:09:52,000
The other one is the care and the money

351
01:09:52,000 --> 01:09:54,666
that goes into feeding these belugas.

352
01:09:54,666 --> 01:09:56,541
These belugas were born in captivity.

353
01:09:57,041 --> 01:09:58,375
They were not born outside.

354
01:09:58,625 --> 01:10:00,125
So they have been fed, hand

355
01:10:00,125 --> 01:10:02,125
fed for their entire lives.

356
01:10:02,416 --> 01:10:03,416
How they're going to be fed.

357
01:10:03,791 --> 01:10:04,833
They're going to have to have someone

358
01:10:04,833 --> 01:10:07,000
there to take care of them, to feed them.

359
01:10:07,208 --> 01:10:08,791
And as long as they want it, if they can,

360
01:10:08,791 --> 01:10:10,000
if they can figure out

361
01:10:10,000 --> 01:10:11,000
how to feed for themselves,

362
01:10:11,375 --> 01:10:12,291
they will figure out how to feed

363
01:10:12,291 --> 01:10:13,125
themselves and they won't

364
01:10:13,125 --> 01:10:14,125
be stopped from doing that.

365
01:10:14,375 --> 01:10:16,000
But somebody is going to have to take

366
01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:17,750
general care of them.

367
01:10:18,083 --> 01:10:20,416
Now, one thing that I missed on the whale

368
01:10:20,416 --> 01:10:21,458
seed size sanctuary.

369
01:10:21,458 --> 01:10:23,416
Marine land is pushing back on that

370
01:10:23,416 --> 01:10:24,416
sanctuary because they're

371
01:10:24,416 --> 01:10:26,000
saying that the there's a metal.

372
01:10:26,041 --> 01:10:27,125
There's a gold metal mine

373
01:10:27,125 --> 01:10:28,583
in the 1930s that was there.

374
01:10:28,583 --> 01:10:29,875
And there's still a lot of arsenic and a

375
01:10:29,875 --> 01:10:30,625
lot of metals that

376
01:10:30,625 --> 01:10:32,291
could pollute the animals.

377
01:10:32,750 --> 01:10:34,750
According to the government and according

378
01:10:34,750 --> 01:10:36,250
to the marine or the

379
01:10:36,250 --> 01:10:37,708
seaside sanctuary project,

380
01:10:38,041 --> 01:10:40,125
the organization, they said that all that

381
01:10:40,125 --> 01:10:42,375
has been put out in reports and

382
01:10:42,375 --> 01:10:43,375
everything has been fine.

383
01:10:43,750 --> 01:10:46,041
There hasn't been a problem with the

384
01:10:46,041 --> 01:10:47,291
water quality in that area

385
01:10:47,291 --> 01:10:49,083
for belugas or any other type

386
01:10:49,333 --> 01:10:51,000
of marine animal or

387
01:10:51,000 --> 01:10:52,375
cetacean, which is a whale.

388
01:10:52,708 --> 01:10:55,000
So, you know, that is something that, you

389
01:10:55,000 --> 01:10:56,333
know, marine land keeps pushing, but the

390
01:10:56,333 --> 01:10:57,541
government is aware of that.

391
01:10:57,916 --> 01:10:59,083
And they've been working with the marine

392
01:10:59,083 --> 01:11:02,000
seaside as whale sanctuary project for

393
01:11:02,000 --> 01:11:03,958
that time to be able

394
01:11:03,958 --> 01:11:04,708
to put that together.

395
01:11:04,916 --> 01:11:07,583
So two sanctuaries available, one

396
01:11:07,583 --> 01:11:09,208
probably not available for the next year,

397
01:11:09,208 --> 01:11:10,708
at least the Inuit led

398
01:11:10,708 --> 01:11:12,958
proposals might be an option.

399
01:11:13,291 --> 01:11:14,833
Now, the one thing that's interesting and

400
01:11:14,833 --> 01:11:16,958
hasn't really been talked about is that

401
01:11:16,958 --> 01:11:19,041
when the whales were

402
01:11:19,041 --> 01:11:21,208
being proposed to go to China,

403
01:11:21,750 --> 01:11:22,750
the Chinese marine theme

404
01:11:22,750 --> 01:11:24,333
park was going to pay them.

405
01:11:25,000 --> 01:11:27,833
So when you go to a sanctuary, the

406
01:11:27,833 --> 01:11:29,875
seaside sanctuary project is not going to

407
01:11:29,875 --> 01:11:31,000
pay for the whales because they think

408
01:11:31,000 --> 01:11:32,500
that's that's not right.

409
01:11:32,500 --> 01:11:33,666
We shouldn't be paying for whales.

410
01:11:33,875 --> 01:11:34,541
They should just be

411
01:11:34,541 --> 01:11:36,041
going back into the wild.

412
01:11:36,500 --> 01:11:38,708
And of course, the Inuit led proposals,

413
01:11:39,375 --> 01:11:42,000
those probably won't be a situation where

414
01:11:42,000 --> 01:11:42,666
the marine lands going

415
01:11:42,666 --> 01:11:43,791
to get paid for them.

416
01:11:44,041 --> 01:11:46,000
So the real question is like, obviously,

417
01:11:46,000 --> 01:11:47,291
marine land has said no to

418
01:11:47,291 --> 01:11:49,041
each of those sanctuary projects.

419
01:11:49,416 --> 01:11:50,625
Is it because they're not going to get

420
01:11:50,625 --> 01:11:52,625
paid for it or do they actually care

421
01:11:52,625 --> 01:11:55,083
about the whales themselves?

422
01:11:55,416 --> 01:11:58,500
It sounds to me like they just want to

423
01:11:58,500 --> 01:12:00,000
get paid for these whales and get out of

424
01:12:00,000 --> 01:12:01,625
the business as much as possible and

425
01:12:01,625 --> 01:12:02,791
recoup as much as possible.

426
01:12:02,791 --> 01:12:04,833
Because they said they are indebted quite

427
01:12:04,833 --> 01:12:06,083
a bit already and they

428
01:12:06,083 --> 01:12:07,708
just want to get rid of this.

429
01:12:07,916 --> 01:12:09,083
Now, I'm sure there are some financial

430
01:12:09,083 --> 01:12:11,625
ways to get rid of the debt and say, hey,

431
01:12:11,625 --> 01:12:12,291
look, we're trying to

432
01:12:12,291 --> 01:12:13,166
get rid of these whales.

433
01:12:13,458 --> 01:12:14,500
But I would love to see

434
01:12:14,500 --> 01:12:16,750
these animals go to a sanctuary.

435
01:12:17,500 --> 01:12:19,875
But it's still a lot of problems because

436
01:12:19,875 --> 01:12:20,708
it hasn't really been

437
01:12:20,708 --> 01:12:22,000
done too many times.

438
01:12:22,458 --> 01:12:24,250
There is one where a couple of blue guys

439
01:12:24,250 --> 01:12:26,166
have been put out into the wild, but

440
01:12:26,166 --> 01:12:29,000
they're always into their pools that they

441
01:12:29,000 --> 01:12:30,500
have, like indoors, that they have

442
01:12:30,500 --> 01:12:32,666
options to go in and out in their note

443
01:12:32,666 --> 01:12:33,583
that they want to go into the wild,

444
01:12:33,583 --> 01:12:35,416
which, to be honest, is up to them.

445
01:12:35,416 --> 01:12:37,125
They have a choice of whether they want

446
01:12:37,125 --> 01:12:38,500
to stay in a pool or they

447
01:12:38,500 --> 01:12:39,500
want to go out in the wild.

448
01:12:39,500 --> 01:12:41,125
If they have that choice and they want to

449
01:12:41,125 --> 01:12:42,125
make that choice to go out to

450
01:12:42,125 --> 01:12:43,416
the wild, that's up to them.

451
01:12:43,458 --> 01:12:44,208
If they want to come in

452
01:12:44,208 --> 01:12:46,250
closer, that's up to them as well.

453
01:12:46,500 --> 01:12:48,583
At least they have the choice.

454
01:12:49,166 --> 01:12:49,875
And so that's a big

455
01:12:49,875 --> 01:12:51,125
thing, but it does cost money.

456
01:12:51,583 --> 01:12:54,500
And although the marine seasank the whale

457
01:12:54,500 --> 01:12:56,500
seaside sanctuary project has been

458
01:12:56,500 --> 01:12:58,000
raising money, it hasn't

459
01:12:58,000 --> 01:12:59,958
had any money at this point.

460
01:13:00,916 --> 01:13:02,833
It's getting more money as these projects

461
01:13:02,833 --> 01:13:04,500
go on and as these get closer and closer,

462
01:13:04,500 --> 01:13:05,208
but it's not asking

463
01:13:05,208 --> 01:13:06,500
the government for money.

464
01:13:07,041 --> 01:13:09,125
So I think a long term solution, like a

465
01:13:09,125 --> 01:13:11,291
long term Canadian sanctuary is still

466
01:13:11,291 --> 01:13:12,416
years away from being

467
01:13:12,416 --> 01:13:14,250
fully, fully operational.

468
01:13:14,666 --> 01:13:16,041
So here are the questions

469
01:13:16,041 --> 01:13:17,708
now going forward is one.

470
01:13:18,791 --> 01:13:21,000
If the marine land is actually out of

471
01:13:21,000 --> 01:13:23,333
money, what happens to these animals?

472
01:13:23,541 --> 01:13:25,416
The big thing from the law is that the

473
01:13:25,416 --> 01:13:26,875
government will arrange

474
01:13:26,875 --> 01:13:28,291
for them to be taken over.

475
01:13:28,541 --> 01:13:29,875
So the animal, the care for the animals

476
01:13:29,875 --> 01:13:31,833
will be taken over, whether it's in

477
01:13:31,833 --> 01:13:33,458
marine land itself or it's

478
01:13:33,458 --> 01:13:34,666
at a different care facility.

479
01:13:35,333 --> 01:13:36,333
That is up.

480
01:13:36,333 --> 01:13:37,666
We don't know where that's going to

481
01:13:37,666 --> 01:13:39,041
happen at this point.

482
01:13:39,250 --> 01:13:41,166
The easy question is the easy answer

483
01:13:41,166 --> 01:13:43,000
would be at marine land itself where it's

484
01:13:43,000 --> 01:13:44,250
staying close and they would

485
01:13:44,250 --> 01:13:46,166
have to be cared for there.

486
01:13:46,666 --> 01:13:47,291
And I don't know who

487
01:13:47,291 --> 01:13:48,500
would put the bill for that.

488
01:13:48,500 --> 01:13:49,791
If marine land says it's out of money,

489
01:13:49,791 --> 01:13:50,791
it's totally out of money.

490
01:13:51,208 --> 01:13:52,083
I don't know what would happen.

491
01:13:52,333 --> 01:13:53,583
That could be taxpayers money.

492
01:13:53,958 --> 01:13:55,041
Do Canadians want

493
01:13:55,041 --> 01:13:56,250
taxpayer money to go there?

494
01:13:56,250 --> 01:13:56,916
Do they have a choice?

495
01:13:57,375 --> 01:13:59,500
The law probably says no and somebody

496
01:13:59,500 --> 01:14:00,541
will have to put that bill

497
01:14:00,541 --> 01:14:01,708
provincial and Canadians.

498
01:14:01,708 --> 01:14:03,041
The province, the premiers already said

499
01:14:03,041 --> 01:14:03,750
they don't want to put the

500
01:14:03,750 --> 01:14:05,208
bill, but they have to be moved.

501
01:14:05,208 --> 01:14:07,083
They just don't know how to move them.

502
01:14:07,500 --> 01:14:08,958
Also, in some of the sanctuaries, they

503
01:14:08,958 --> 01:14:09,958
can only probably take about

504
01:14:09,958 --> 01:14:11,166
eight to 10 of the belugas.

505
01:14:11,166 --> 01:14:12,166
They can't take the full 30.

506
01:14:12,166 --> 01:14:12,791
So something's going to

507
01:14:12,791 --> 01:14:14,125
have to be done at some point.

508
01:14:14,583 --> 01:14:16,000
So the other the ethical question here is

509
01:14:16,000 --> 01:14:19,000
whales welfare has to come first, but

510
01:14:19,000 --> 01:14:20,458
finances and politics should

511
01:14:20,458 --> 01:14:21,875
not be an excuse for cruelty.

512
01:14:22,458 --> 01:14:22,583
Right.

513
01:14:22,583 --> 01:14:24,875
This is the marine land has been taken

514
01:14:24,875 --> 01:14:28,000
care of these animals for decades and all

515
01:14:28,000 --> 01:14:29,208
of a sudden they're out of money and

516
01:14:29,208 --> 01:14:29,708
they're saying, well, we

517
01:14:29,708 --> 01:14:30,416
can't take care of them.

518
01:14:30,458 --> 01:14:31,666
They have an ethical responsibility.

519
01:14:31,666 --> 01:14:32,916
I said this in my last episode.

520
01:14:33,333 --> 01:14:35,791
We have an ethical responsibility to take

521
01:14:35,791 --> 01:14:37,000
care of these animals.

522
01:14:37,250 --> 01:14:38,000
If you are going to

523
01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:39,500
have a marine theme park.

524
01:14:39,500 --> 01:14:41,083
Now, they also have dolphins.

525
01:14:41,333 --> 01:14:43,208
They had an orca that passed away earlier

526
01:14:43,208 --> 01:14:44,708
this or within the last year.

527
01:14:45,458 --> 01:14:47,000
Obviously these belugas, they have deer

528
01:14:47,000 --> 01:14:48,833
and they also have bears, but they have

529
01:14:48,833 --> 01:14:50,041
to look after as well.

530
01:14:50,375 --> 01:14:52,083
So yes, yes, it's expensive, but that's

531
01:14:52,083 --> 01:14:53,083
the business that they're in.

532
01:14:53,333 --> 01:14:55,625
And that's the the ethical questions that

533
01:14:55,625 --> 01:14:56,833
they kind of took on an

534
01:14:56,833 --> 01:14:58,083
ethical responsibility.

535
01:14:58,375 --> 01:14:58,958
So the responsibility

536
01:14:58,958 --> 01:15:00,000
should not be outsourced.

537
01:15:00,041 --> 01:15:01,875
You should not just be able to like take

538
01:15:01,875 --> 01:15:03,333
a take a pen and say, hey, we're going to

539
01:15:03,333 --> 01:15:05,166
ship them off to somewhere else, whether

540
01:15:05,166 --> 01:15:06,125
the sanctuary government

541
01:15:06,125 --> 01:15:07,500
or other animals themselves.

542
01:15:08,166 --> 01:15:09,416
Where do we go with this?

543
01:15:09,416 --> 01:15:10,458
I'd love to hear your

544
01:15:10,458 --> 01:15:12,958
your your opinions on this.

545
01:15:12,958 --> 01:15:13,541
Where do you think

546
01:15:13,541 --> 01:15:14,666
these animals should go?

547
01:15:15,208 --> 01:15:16,500
I actually think they're going to stay in

548
01:15:16,500 --> 01:15:17,125
marine land,

549
01:15:17,125 --> 01:15:18,625
unfortunately, until they pass away.

550
01:15:19,041 --> 01:15:20,458
Some people think that they should be

551
01:15:20,458 --> 01:15:22,500
euthanized just because they can't, you

552
01:15:22,500 --> 01:15:24,166
know, it's it's cruel to keep them in

553
01:15:24,166 --> 01:15:25,958
that in that tank for

554
01:15:25,958 --> 01:15:27,083
the rest of their lives.

555
01:15:27,750 --> 01:15:30,000
But, you know, is it better just to put

556
01:15:30,000 --> 01:15:31,916
them out into the wild in a sanctuary

557
01:15:31,916 --> 01:15:33,958
where they actually have a chance and

558
01:15:33,958 --> 01:15:35,625
maybe live free for just a little bit

559
01:15:35,625 --> 01:15:36,750
longer or somewhat free

560
01:15:36,750 --> 01:15:37,750
for a little bit longer?

561
01:15:38,083 --> 01:15:40,291
These animals have been, you know, abused

562
01:15:40,291 --> 01:15:43,041
just in terms of the actual case that

563
01:15:43,041 --> 01:15:44,416
they've been in, like the the tank that

564
01:15:44,416 --> 01:15:46,083
they've been in for their entire lives.

565
01:15:46,458 --> 01:15:47,916
They've been fed, they've been taken to

566
01:15:47,916 --> 01:15:51,083
like their wild sort of abilities have

567
01:15:51,083 --> 01:15:53,166
been taken away from them without, you

568
01:15:53,166 --> 01:15:54,916
know, their their say

569
01:15:54,916 --> 01:15:56,208
or choice in the matter.

570
01:15:56,250 --> 01:15:58,083
And that's a tough thing to sell.

571
01:15:58,416 --> 01:16:00,291
So this is a big thing.

572
01:16:00,291 --> 01:16:02,458
But what I want you to all do if you

573
01:16:02,458 --> 01:16:03,208
listen to this is

574
01:16:03,208 --> 01:16:05,291
really listen to the facts.

575
01:16:05,291 --> 01:16:07,166
This is not a government problem.

576
01:16:07,375 --> 01:16:09,041
This is not a government's fault for

577
01:16:09,041 --> 01:16:10,625
denying the permit for

578
01:16:10,625 --> 01:16:11,750
these animals to go to China.

579
01:16:11,750 --> 01:16:12,583
They're actually doing a

580
01:16:12,583 --> 01:16:13,375
really good thing here.

581
01:16:13,708 --> 01:16:15,833
They put in the law because of this.

582
01:16:15,833 --> 01:16:16,500
They knew this was

583
01:16:16,500 --> 01:16:17,541
going to start to happen.

584
01:16:17,541 --> 01:16:18,291
They knew marine land was

585
01:16:18,291 --> 01:16:19,375
going to suffer at some point.

586
01:16:19,625 --> 01:16:20,625
They've been suffering for years.

587
01:16:20,625 --> 01:16:21,833
They haven't been able to take care of

588
01:16:21,833 --> 01:16:23,208
these belugas for a long time.

589
01:16:23,250 --> 01:16:24,916
And when they've tried to ship some of

590
01:16:24,916 --> 01:16:26,916
these belugas off, the belugas have died.

591
01:16:27,583 --> 01:16:29,541
So this has been an ongoing issue.

592
01:16:29,541 --> 01:16:31,208
The law is there for a reason.

593
01:16:31,208 --> 01:16:32,333
It's not the government's fault just

594
01:16:32,333 --> 01:16:33,375
because they denied a permit.

595
01:16:33,666 --> 01:16:35,416
Obviously, everybody wants these animals

596
01:16:35,416 --> 01:16:37,541
to be healthy, to be happy.

597
01:16:38,083 --> 01:16:39,708
Unfortunately, in this situation, I just

598
01:16:39,708 --> 01:16:42,166
don't think it's going to happen, whether

599
01:16:42,166 --> 01:16:43,416
they're going to be happy, healthy and

600
01:16:43,416 --> 01:16:44,416
happy in a tank for

601
01:16:44,416 --> 01:16:45,083
the rest of their lives.

602
01:16:45,083 --> 01:16:45,916
I don't know.

603
01:16:46,458 --> 01:16:48,083
But that this point is like not moving

604
01:16:48,083 --> 01:16:49,375
them might be the best way and just

605
01:16:49,375 --> 01:16:50,791
trying to provide the

606
01:16:50,791 --> 01:16:52,208
best care possible for them.

607
01:16:52,250 --> 01:16:53,666
That is the more

608
01:16:53,666 --> 01:16:55,458
realistic answer in my opinion.

609
01:16:55,458 --> 01:16:56,875
But I'd love to hear your opinions.

610
01:16:57,583 --> 01:17:00,083
You know, this is no judgment on anybody.

611
01:17:00,083 --> 01:17:02,250
This is no judgment on whether you want

612
01:17:02,250 --> 01:17:05,166
this these belugas to go out and at sea

613
01:17:05,166 --> 01:17:07,958
and like, you know, good luck to them or

614
01:17:07,958 --> 01:17:09,541
if you want them to be cared for or if

615
01:17:09,541 --> 01:17:11,416
you want them to stay in captivity.

616
01:17:12,208 --> 01:17:14,291
This is a difficult, difficult and

617
01:17:14,291 --> 01:17:17,583
complex situation that is one of those

618
01:17:17,583 --> 01:17:18,416
things where it's sad

619
01:17:18,416 --> 01:17:19,208
to see these belugas.

620
01:17:19,250 --> 01:17:21,791
But it's also something that we, you

621
01:17:21,791 --> 01:17:22,708
know, we need to take care of

622
01:17:22,708 --> 01:17:24,666
them in the best way possible.

623
01:17:25,125 --> 01:17:27,833
And unfortunately, no way is going to be

624
01:17:27,833 --> 01:17:30,666
the best way or the ideal way.

625
01:17:30,666 --> 01:17:31,958
It's just what's best for

626
01:17:31,958 --> 01:17:33,416
these belugas at this point.

627
01:17:33,916 --> 01:17:35,333
But to be honest, I'm a

628
01:17:35,333 --> 01:17:37,041
little angry at Marine land.

629
01:17:37,041 --> 01:17:38,125
I don't think they should have been doing

630
01:17:38,125 --> 01:17:39,083
what they've been doing.

631
01:17:39,250 --> 01:17:42,875
They've been just disappointing these

632
01:17:42,875 --> 01:17:45,500
belugas and orcas and dolphins and other

633
01:17:45,500 --> 01:17:46,250
animals that they take

634
01:17:46,250 --> 01:17:47,208
care of for the last decade.

635
01:17:47,250 --> 01:17:50,416
And it's really sad to see that it's

636
01:17:50,416 --> 01:17:51,166
something that should have

637
01:17:51,166 --> 01:17:52,500
been done a long time ago.

638
01:18:13,250 --> 01:18:14,833
That's it. If you have an opinion, put

639
01:18:14,833 --> 01:18:15,500
them in the comments below.

640
01:18:15,500 --> 01:18:17,166
If you're watching this on YouTube, if

641
01:18:17,166 --> 01:18:18,333
you're listening to this through your

642
01:18:18,333 --> 01:18:21,250
favorite podcast app like Apple, Spotify,

643
01:18:21,250 --> 01:18:22,875
Amazon music, whatever that might be.

644
01:18:23,166 --> 01:18:24,791
I'd love to hear from you can DM me on

645
01:18:24,791 --> 01:18:26,583
Instagram at how to protect the ocean.

646
01:18:26,583 --> 01:18:29,333
That's at how to protect the ocean or you

647
01:18:29,333 --> 01:18:30,791
can hit me up on our website.

648
01:18:30,791 --> 01:18:32,500
Go to speak up for blue dot com forward

649
01:18:32,500 --> 01:18:34,500
slash contact and just fill out the form

650
01:18:34,500 --> 01:18:36,083
goes right to my personal email.

651
01:18:36,375 --> 01:18:37,375
I want to thank you so much for joining

652
01:18:37,375 --> 01:18:38,833
me on today's episode of the how to

653
01:18:38,833 --> 01:18:39,833
protect the ocean podcast.

654
01:18:40,250 --> 01:18:41,583
I'm your host, Andrew Lewin from the true

655
01:18:41,583 --> 01:18:42,500
North strong and free.

656
01:18:43,250 --> 01:18:43,916
Today, we'll talk to you next

657
01:18:43,916 --> 01:18:45,250
time and happy conservation.