Marineland says its 30 belugas may have to be euthanized. How would that even happen?

If you tin’t allow for them, sell them or direct them to a sanctuary, what do you do?

The mungo park would be faced with the “devastating determination of euthanasia” unless the federal government could provide them financial support, Marineland said in a letter.

The message came days after the minister denied Marineland’s request for permits to send the whales to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, a theme park in China which was interested in buying the mammals. The government said it aimed to prevent the whales from being used for entertainment purposes.

So far, Marineland hasn’t been able to find a suitable sanctuary or other facility to house the whales. Owners of the theme park said in a report that a proposed Nova Scotia sanctuary is too polluted and isn’t on track to being developed soon enough.

Marine mammal experts say that if the threat to euthanize the belugas became a reality, the option would come with a host of logistical and moral issues.

Marineland’s request to export belugas to China denied by feds

For animals like the ones at Marineland who are used to being examined by vets, euthanasia is usually a two step process, says veterinarian and marine biologist Chris Harvey-Clark.

First, vets would have to give the whales a sedative to make sure they don't feel any pain during the process, and then administer a drug that would end their life.

“That's kind of the gold standard method for euthanasia,” said Harvey-Clark, who is also affiliated with the Whale Sanctuary Project in Nova Scotia in a consulting role.

But the life-ending drug used tends to be a barbiturate, Harvey-Clark says, which poses other problems once the procedure is done. The drugs could leech into groundwater if the animals are buried, or could kill scavenging animals that make a meal of the whales if they were left to decompose. 

And with 30 whales in total, each weighing between one and two tonnes, that leaves a lot of whale to dispose of.

Andrew Trites, director of the Marine Mammal Research Unit at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, adds that whales are in many cases considered too big to be cremated, making that method of disposal difficult as well.

And because they've spent their lives in captivity, Trites says the whales wouldn't know how to hunt for food, so releasing them into the wild isn't an option.

Trites and Harvey-Clark both warn that there’s a host of ethical obstacles to potentially euthanizing the whales, too.

Euthanasia is an option vets tend to feel morally OK with when an animal is suffering and the end of their life is near, said Harvey-Clark.

In cases where death isn’t imminent, he says the moral choice isn’t so straightforward.

“You really need to look at the welfare of the animal — what's its life looking like, and what's its future going to look like, and from that make a, you know, an intelligent … decision about whether that animal should be humanely euthanized or whether there's another pathway,” Harvey-Clark said.

Beyond that, belugas are highly social and skilled at communicating with one another, allowing them to form close bonds with other whales. Harvey-Clark says the loss of the whales one by one would presumably be something the belugas would pick up on, which could cause harm before they’re ultimately killed.

“They're certainly aware enough to understand the environment they're in is changing really rapidly, and that would be really stressful,” Harvey-Clark said.

Trites adds that because animals are usually euthanized when they’re sick, there might be some experimentation when it comes to the exact dosage the whales should be receiving in order to euthanize them, too.

“None of these [euthanasia processes] seem like something that I or anybody I know would want to be involved with,” Trites said. 

Trites says he hopes the threat never materializes, and that the whales can find a home where they can live good lives and contribute to further research of belugas, which are facing mounting challenges due to climate change. 

“But ultimately that threat can become a reality if nobody moves any of their pieces on this chessboard,” he said.

Journalist

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