28 Marineland beluga whales approved for emergency transfer to U.S. aquariums

Federal officials approved the emergency import of up to 28 beluga whales from Marineland, setting in motion a transfer from the shuttered theme park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, to aquariums in the United States. The National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the animals need medical care that is not otherwise available and that relocation is urgently needed.

The decision came after months of pressure around the fate of Marineland’s remaining belugas. The park had warned Canadian officials that it might have to euthanize the whales unless it received emergency funding to feed them, and earlier efforts to send the animals to a facility in China were blocked by Canada before Ottawa later gave conditional approval for export to the U.S.

NOAA also entered a formal Cooperative Agreement with SeaWorld, Shedd Aquarium and Georgia Aquarium to carry out the transfer. A NOAA document dated June 25, 2026, lists Christopher Dold of SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and United Parks & Resorts, Bridget Coughlin of Shedd Aquarium, and Travis Burke of Georgia Aquarium as the named contacts tied to the agreement.

The receiving facilities are expected to split the whales among several sites. One distribution plan calls for 13 belugas to go to SeaWorld San Antonio, 3 to SeaWorld San Diego, 2 to Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta and 10 to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. The transfer would move the animals out of Marineland, but it would keep them inside managed care at large U.S. marine parks and aquariums.

That is where the ethical fight now sits. Animal welfare advocates have backed the emergency medical framing while warning that the cooperative agreement does not include a breeding restriction. The Animal Welfare Institute has raised that omission as a serious gap, and Friends of Animals has urged NOAA to prohibit breeding of any rescued belugas.

The result is a rescue approved under emergency conditions, but one that leaves unresolved what standards will govern the whales’ next home and how long they will remain part of a captive breeding system. What began as a bid to avert euthanasia has become a test of whether relocation can be a welfare solution, or only a transfer of the same captivity to a new set of tanks.