A Changing Relationship with Cetaceans

For much of the modern era, our relationship with dolphins and other whales has been shaped by captivity. We have marvelled at their intelligence, their athleticism and their staged desire to interact with us. We have applauded as dolphins leapt through hoops, orcas propelled trainers through chlorinated pools, and belugas performed carefully rehearsed behaviours before cheering crowds. Generations of families grew up seeing cetaceans this way: charismatic animals whose extraordinary abilities and strikingly human-like emotional qualities could be brought close enough for us to see and feel.

But these very feelings are what generated a new and growing awareness: that “behind the dolphin smile” is a thinking, feeling, autonomous being with needs, desires and an inherent drive towards freedom.

Documentaries such as A Fall From Freedom, The Cove, Blackfish and Blood Dolphin$, along with high-definition underwater video and photography, revealed something almost unimaginable: that the business model that kept marine parks profitable depended on stripping away the very things that made cetaceans who they are – their freedom, their families, their social bonds, and their ability to choose how, where and with whom they live.

Trainer “surfs” atop a pilot whale, SeaWorld San Diego 2012. Credit: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic, author: mliu92

Marineland, Canada as a Marker in Time

For generations of Canadians and tourists alike, Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario was synonymous with dolphins and orcas. Its advertising was almost impossible to forget, as the park’s jingles and imagery permeated commercials, billboards and just about every form of media imaginable. Families travelled there to see marine mammals up close, with performances central to the experience. Dolphins leapt from pools. Orcas splashed those seated in the front rows. Belugas could be fed by patrons.

Crowds were entertained.

And then the crowds disappeared.

Marineland closed its gates to the public in 2024, leaving its once-busy grounds largely silent and the future of the many animals still housed there, including belugas, dolphins, bears, deer, sea lions, and other species, increasingly uncertain. By the summer of 2026, 30 belugas and four dolphins remained. Earlier this month, the first six belugas left Niagara Falls for facilities in the United States, signaling the ultimate end of the park itself.

The dichotomy is stark, and painful. A hugely popular attraction that, for decades, kept cetaceans as for-profit performers now stands at the centre of a much larger reckoning: what happens to the animals left behind when we can no longer justify keeping them there?

Captive beluga whales, Marineland, Canada. Credit: DolphinProject.org

A Different Kind of Future

Closing marine parks does not solve the problem of captivity. The animals remain, and for many who have spent years, or their entire lives under human care, simply returning them to the ocean is not an option. This is where true seaside sanctuaries become so important.

A sanctuary is not another attraction with a different name. It does not exist to breed animals, require them to perform, or generate profits from their presence. Its purpose is to return as much choice, space and natural experience as possible to animals, and for those who may never be able to return fully to the wild, provide an environment where they can retire in peace and dignity.

Dolphin Project’s Umah Lumba Rehabilitation, Release and Retirement Center in West Bali, Indonesia – the world’s first and only permanent facility of its kind for formerly performing dolphins – is a true seaside sanctuary. Here, rescued dolphins can rehabilitate in a natural seawater environment, heal, relearn instinctive behaviours and, when possible, be evaluated for release.

In the end – or perhaps, in a new beginning – may we never stop being fascinated by dolphins and other whales. As our understanding evolves, so must our relationship with the animals who have awed us for generations.

LEARN MORE: Sanctuary or Marine Park: Setting the Record Straight

Featured image: Wild orcas swimming free in Monterey Bay, California, credit: Tracie Sugo