Beluga & Bottlenose Dolphin Die AT MarineLand ON. - It's Time to Shut This Place Down

​www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/marineland-deaths-1.6836189

A month and a half or so ago, the world's loneliest orca, Kiska, died at Marineland, Ontario, after years of advocating to release her from her concrete prison. Now, less than two months later, a beluga whale and bottlenose dolphin have also died at the amusement park, sending shockwaves throughout the community and prompting calls from animal welfare advocates to investigate the park and the care provided. One innocent mammal dying is concerning, but 3 is alarming and suggests that the park is in no condition to house these creatures adequately. 

Not my photo. Photo taken from CBC.ca news.

Kiska's story was one that left a stain on Marineland's already piss poor reputation. Kiska was seen in her tank displaying signs of loneliness, depression, sadness, and boredom, a highly social creature left in solitary for onlookers to pay to witness. Her story was one that reminded us that these parks care more for profit than they do for the well-being of the species they claim to care so much for. Kiska was begging for help with her displays of distress, calls that were left unheard until her passing at the park. She died alone, finally free from the confinement imposed upon her for profit by Marineland.

One whale dying is concerning, but now we've got a beluga and dolphin who have also now passed away at the park. Marineland has skirted responsibility over and over again, facing multiple lawsuits over its lifetime. Most recently, the park was sued for utilizing dolphins for entertainment, a charge they adamantly denied. Despite a ban on cetacean captivity that passed in 2019, cetaceans that were already captive were grandfathered in, allowing places like Marineland to continue to generate profits off of the obvious suffering of their cetaceans.

Now, with 3 innocent creatures dead in less than 3 months, it's time to investigate Marineland for welfare issues / cruelty. There should have never been a grandfathering in of captive cetaceans / porpoises to begin with. If we're putting out a ban on new captivity, that suggests that we do not agree with it in its entirety, so why would we have left innocent porpoises / cetaceans to continue to live in concrete prisons? It's ridiculous that we pandered to these amusement parks instead of making that ban on cetacean captivity effective immediately, freeing the park's captive residents.

Marineland needs to be shut down. It's obvious they cannot care for their cetaceans adequately. How many innocent, captive whales / dolphins have to die before we get the message? Our inactivity is complicity in situations like this, investigate Marineland and free the remaining captive dolphins / whales before they too face an untimely death.

HAPPY VEG