Even as two beluga whales arrived at SeaWorld San Antonio this week as part of an international effort to relocate animals from a shuttered marine park in Canada, animal rights activists warn the move should serve as a cautionary tale — not cause for celebration.
“These transfers are not evidence that the system worked. They are evidence that the governments and the industry waited until there were virtually no good options left,” Lori Marino, president and founder of the Nova Scotia-based Whale Sanctuary Project, said in a statement.
Efforts to rescue the animals began in October of 2025 when Marineland of Canada threatened to euthanize 30 belugas left behind in tanks two years after the aging park’s closure.
Canadian, U.S. and Spanish authorities are scrambling to transport the whales to other facilities, including SeaWorld. The whales transported to San Antonio are among the first six of a pod of 30 to be moved to the United States, according to media reports. The other four headed to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.
In social media statements, SeaWorld officials have said the park worked alongside facilities accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and drew upon its team’s decades of experience to ensure the transfer went smoothly.
But even with the rescue underway, the Whale Sanctuary Project cautioned that the effort treats the belugas as commercial products rather than living creatures. After long lives of performing, the Marineland belugas should be allowed to retire and not forced to perform, officials with the group said.
The animal-welfare group is calling for the extension of Canadian law, which prohibits breeding and entertainment, to apply to the whales in their new locations.. It’s also called for greater transparency about the transfer process.
“Ending captivity is only half of the conversation,” Whale Sanctuary Project CEO Charles Vinick said in a statement. “Without credible retirement pathways, [governments] will continue to face impossible choices whenever another marine park fails.”
Vinick’s warning about the future of aquatic parks extends beyond Marineland. Governments around the world are grappling with aging parks of their own, according to the statement.
First built in 1988, SeaWorld San Antonio isn’t exactly a new site itself, according the White Sanctuary Project. Despite renovations and expansions to San Antonio facilities, it eventually may find itself in a similar position to Marineland, the group warned.
“If the only answer governments have when a marine park fails is to move whales to another marine park, then we have not solved the problem. We have simply moved it,” Marino wrote. “The next captive whale crisis is not a matter of if. It is a question of where?”
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