Another beluga and a seal die at Niagara Falls’ Marineland

Another beluga whale and a harbour seal have died at Marineland, and those deaths have caught the attention of Ontario Premier Doug Ford.

The beluga death marks the 20th whale — 19 belugas and one killer whale — to die at the Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction since 2019. The province said in mid-August that the deaths had occurred recently, but on different days.

Marineland has not opened its doors to the public since last summer, has not said when or if it will reopen and is in the midst of trying to sell the park, though nothing has yet been announced.

Two sources with knowledge of the latest beluga death say it happened after trespassers broke into the park in mid-August.

One of the sources works at Marineland and the other for the provincial government. Both asked not to be named because they were not permitted to share the information publicly.

The sources said the group of trespassers made their way to Friendship Cove, which houses the park’s male belugas. The group stirred the belugas into a frenzy, the sources said, which led to several younger belugas attacking an older one. The older beluga died a few days later despite efforts by Marineland staff to treat the whale, sources said.

It’s believed that 30 belugas remain at Marineland, the last captive whales in the country.

“It’s not getting better, it’s getting worse,” said Phil Demers, a former Marineland trainer turned outspoken critic of the park.

“The animals aren’t getting younger, they’re getting older, they’re getting sicker.”

Marineland did not respond to multiple requests for comment about the animal deaths, the state of the park and its possible sale. The park has long maintained it treats its animals with the utmost care.

But Demers has a new hope something will be done to help the remaining animals after a recent phone call with Ford.

The two had been exchanging texts for the past few months about the deaths at Marineland. When Demers was told of the recent beluga death, he texted Ford. Two minutes later, Ford called.

The pair spoke for 25 minutes as Ford returned to Toronto from Ottawa after visiting Prime Minister Mark Carney and speaking to Ontario’s mayors in the morning, Demers said. Eighties rock music played in the background as Ford peppered Demers with questions about the whales, how they are moved and where they could be relocated, according to Demers.

Ford mused about “seizing the park” in order to help the animals and wondered if he needed to push the federal government to issue export permits, Demers said.

Ottawa banned whale and dolphin captivity as part of a law passed in 2019 that grandfathered Marineland’s animals. That law also bans the importation and exportation of whales and dolphins, though there are exceptions for scientific research or “if it is in the best interest” of the animal, with discretion left up to the minister.

Fisheries and Oceans Canada says they have not issued any export permits to Marineland to move any of its whales or dolphins outside the country, though the department refuses to answer questions about permit applications. Last December, Marineland shipped nine Magellanic penguins in a transport van to the Saint Louis Zoo, records from the U.S. Department of Agriculture show.

The belugas, four dolphins, a few seals and sea lions remain at Marineland, as do the park’s contingent of bears and deer.

“We’re begging the government to step in and save the day,” Demers said.

“I got a genuine sense of both urgency and a great deal of empathy for the animals,” Demers said of his conversation with Ford. “He’s got me certainly sold that he is a genuine animal lover and that his concern is in the right place for those animals and, with that, I do have a renewed hope. I think we’re going to see movement.”

Ford’s office confirmed the call and said Ontario has the strongest animal welfare laws in the country “to hold bad actors accountable.”

“We conduct regular inspections of Marineland, having conducted over 200 in the last three years, and are in constant contact with them to ensure they comply with the standards of care under the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act,” Ford’s office said in a statement.

“We will continue to use every tool we have to ensure the safety of animals at Marineland.”

The premier’s office has been kept abreast over the years about the situation at the park.

A senior government source says the province wants its whales and dolphins moved but indicated that it’s a “complicated problem.” The official is not being named in order to speak freely about internal government matters.

Animal Welfare Services has the power to seize the animals but there’s nowhere to temporarily house one beluga, let alone more than two dozen of them, the source said.

The province has assembled a team of marine mammal experts, who have told officials the whales cannot be returned to the wild. That leaves marine parks outside the country as potential options for Marineland’s whales, including Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China, a relatively new park in a burgeoning industry in the country.

“The premier is very interested in helping the whales and dolphins at Marineland and we are now looking at more options to do just that,” the source said.

The federal laws complicate matters and moving the animals carries risk, the source said. Three of the five belugas Marineland sold and shipped to Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut in 2021 have died, two within that first year after the move. Mystic said the first two deaths were due to pre-existing conditions from their time at Marineland.

The week the whales were moved, Animal Welfare Services alleges that all marine mammals at Marineland were found to be in distress due to poor water quality. In court documents, Marineland denied its animals were in distress and said whale deaths at the park were not related to the water issues.

In the summer of 2023, a Canadian Press reporter and photographer visited Marineland. Staff said there were 37 belugas in the park at the time. Shortly after the visit, Marineland banned the reporter from its property. Since then, the province had confirmed the deaths of seven more belugas.

Last year, Marineland only opened for two months at a substantially reduced price with rides and many of the animals off limits to the public. Historically, Marineland operated from mid-May to Thanksgiving weekend in October, drawing millions of visitors each year.

Now, the park is selling off its rides and has severed its property to allow for financing to help move its animals.

The provincial government has been heavily involved at Marineland since January 2020, when it took over enforcement of animal cruelty laws from the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and created the Animal Welfare Services agency.

The inspectorate has issued 33 orders to the park since 2020, said Ministry of the Solicitor General spokesman Brent Ross. The vast majority have been complied with, though four long-standing orders imposed on Marineland remain, Ross said.

The orders are focused on the water quality, the maintenance and repair of the water system, proper record keeping for whales and dolphins and the condition of enclosures and enrichment level for dolphins, seals and sea lions, Ross said.

“The ministry expects Marineland to comply with the orders and take prompt action to address any outstanding inspection-related matters,” Ross said.

That is not enough, said Wayne Gates, the New Democrat member of provincial parliament who represents Niagara Falls.

“Just doing nothing is unacceptable by any level of government,” Gates said. “This thing has to come to a head and it should come to head before more animals end up dying.”

He called on the federal government to get involved and for the province to disclose what its inspectors have found at the park.

“They’re not transparent about their investigation and they haven’t been transparent about the findings at Marineland,” Gates said. “I believe the public deserves to know the true state of what’s going on in that park today.”

Behind the scenes, there has been a flurry of activity. Security guards keep watch of the park, locked fences surround the whale pools and the iconic Marineland stage at King Waldorf Stadium has been dismantled.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2025.

Liam Casey, The Canadian Press