00:00The Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans has denied permit requests from
00:04Marineland Canada to export its 30 beluga whales. Marineland's doors have
00:10been closed this year and there were hopes the whales would be sold to a
00:13theme park in China. This is information from the DFO Minister Joanne Thompson who
00:19received this permit. It was up to her to decide based on the well-being of the
00:24whales what was in their best interest to go to China to Chimelang Ocean
00:28Kingdom which is another theme park or I guess right now that's sort of remain
00:32in Marineland and ultimately her decision was that she was going to deny this
00:37request. She did not feel it was in the best interest of these mammals to go to
00:42another theme park and I just spoke with Minister moments ago and she told me that
00:47she visited Marineland herself last month in September that she personally saw
00:52these belugas told me she looked them in the eye and determined at that point that
00:56it was not in their best interest that whales do not belong in a sort of a small
01:00contained space like a theme park. She talked about how she's from Newfoundland
01:04she can't really get over often seeing whales in the wild. She called them
01:09majestic creatures. She referenced the act that was passed in 2019 and her duty as a
01:14federal minister to sort of uphold to the act particularly around the captivity of
01:18whales and dolphins and she felt ultimately this move would not be in their best interest.
01:22It was a very difficult decision but one that I feel was made in the best
01:31interest of the whales the fisheries act which is important in guiding the
01:36decision is Claire. Whales do not belong in tanks in captivity for
01:43entertainment purposes and that really was at the center of the decision.
Comments