Note: confession — I believe I mispronounce the word “cetacean” here. Apologies. Don’t think I’ve ever said that word before….
The end of a shameful Canadian era. Thirty struggling beluga whales will likely soon be moved from their filthy, tortuously small tanks at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Thus ends Canada’s history of holding captive — orcas, belugas and other cetacean creatures — to exploit for entertainment and cash.
Whistleblower and former trainer, Philip Demers helped end this sordid period and he is a fascinating guest this week. Devoted to making better the lives of whales, dolphins and sea lions, Demers himself was a trainer — one who blew the whistle on the terrible lives these animals have been living.
Their departure will bring to fruition bill S-203, passed in 2019.
Bill S-203 passed to law, keeping whales and dolphins in their ocean homes
Bill S-203 ensures the only cetaceans in captivity are those that are being rehabilitated or are currently unable to be released. The bill maintains pre-existing Indigenous rights and is supported by the Coastal First Nations. It prevents captive breeding of whales, dolphins and porpoises and ensures no whales are brought into captivity in Canada from international waters.
Science indicates keeping cetaceans captive is cruel because of their characteristics and needs, including high-level intelligence, emotions, sociability, acoustic-sensitivity and roaming lifestyles. In captivity, cetaceans suffer from confinement, isolation, health problems, reduced lifespans, high infant mortality rates and sensory deprivation.
Bill S-203 was passed on June 10, 2019 to end the captivity of whales and dolphins. S-203 ensures full protection for cetaceans by protecting their use in entertainment and prohibiting breeding
As a country we can be proud of backing away from the cruel business of cetacean kidnapping and confinement. Yes, I am hardline on this and the older I get, the more hardline I become. Here was Kiska, Marineland’s last surviving orca bashing her head against the tank wall.
“Kiska, the last captive orca in Canada, did not leave Marineland alive; she died there on March 9, 2023, at approximately 47 years old due to a bacterial infection. She had spent over 40 years in captivity, including her final 12 years in total isolation.”
We owe activists like Phil a huge debt of gratitude for staying the course against well-funded corporations who see their captured performers as inventory. Yes, the trainers love them and they are, in some cases treated pretty well given the circumstances. But we, as thinking human beings, on a genetic level know, they shouldn’t be held in tanks — away from their pods and kin — for our amusement.
The belugas stranded and dying at Marineland, can’t be set-free into the wild. They have been subject to a “habitat”, social deprivation and training that has changed their instinctive brains. They would die in the ocean — and so are being moved to less horrible places. There is no viable, actual sanctuary and Phil and I spend some time discussing why this is.
We also talk about the killing by an orca named Tilikum, of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau. Her death fuelled Blackfish, a brilliant documentary that dropped like a bomb on our consciousness. Other former trainers stepped forward to reveal behind- the-scenes treatment in captivity of whales and posit that the animals are driven mad, even psychotic by the unnatural environment they are forced to endure.
Phil was working as a a trainer at Marineland on Feb. 24, 2010 — the day Brancheau was killed and reveals the panicked reaction of the park when the news from Florida broke. It was not the first orca-caused trainer death — not even the first for “Tilly” as he was known. The autopsy suggests intent on the whale’s part — she was both drowned and savaged.
Demers talks about his own enlightenment through Smooshie, a walrus he was close to at the Marineland park. This story is told in the documentary, The Walrus and the Whistleblower and it is also a must watch. Still from the film below. Trailer is underneath.
Here is Sinclair’s full speech promoting the bill.
Here is Phil’s website UrgentSeas. Worth supporting.
Stay critical.
#truthovertribe
