The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has approved plans to relocate 28 beluga whales from a closed Canadian theme park.
A population of 30 belugas has continued to live at Marineland of Canada in Niagara Falls, 40 miles southeast of Toronto, since the park’s closure in 2024.
On Wednesday, SeaWorld announced that U.S. authorities, working with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, approved the transfer of the whales.
Marineland, which is no longer able to take care of the whales almost two years removed from the park’s closure to the public, said that “we recognize we can no longer provide the long-term care these animals require, and we believe this rescue … is in the whales’ best interest,” according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
Park officials previously indicated that, if the transfers were not approved, the 30 belugas would have to be euthanized, according to People.
The whales will be split up between SeaWorld San Antonio, SeaWorld San Diego, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, SeaWorld said on social media Wednesday.
The Mystic Aquarium, located in the Connecticut town of the same name about 80 miles southwest of Boston, will provide support.
Two of the 30 beluga whales are due to be sent to Oceanografic Valencia in Spain. The U.S. aquariums said in a statement that Spanish authorities had not yet approved the transfer, according to the CBC.
The Georgia Aquarium said on social media that it’s receiving two beluga whales, and the Shedd Aquarium said on its website that it will be taking “up to 10” of the white whales.
The remaining 16 will be split between the SeaWorld facilities, with 13 going to SeaWorld San Antonio and three to SeaWorld San Diego, according to an NOAA document.
