A New Life for Captive Whales
- Public opinion is driving legislation all over the world to bring an end to keeping whales and dolphins in entertainment parks. The need for sanctuaries is now urgent.
- The Whale Sanctuary Project has chosen an ideal site for the sanctuary and is completing the ocean, land and seabed studies that lead to permitting.
- Our goal is to welcome the first whales in 2023.
Join us in giving them a new life that will make up for what went before!
WE ARE READY TO BUILD THE WHALE SANCTUARY
We have received from the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources & Renewables the Offer of Lease for the sanctuary waters.
We have also received the funding to purchase the sanctuary lands, where the buildings and infrastructure will be sited.
The whales are waiting, and their situation is urgent. Imagine yourself looking out over this stunningly beautiful bay, seeing them diving, chasing birds, and living a life that is beyond anything that most of them have ever known.
With your support, we are ready to build the sanctuary.
“Whales Without Walls” – a short film
Whales Without Walls is a short film that tells the story of why it is so important to create North America’s first seaside sanctuary so that whales can be retired from marine entertainment parks.
This is life at a marine entertainment park:
STRESS: Dolphins and whales at entertainment parks often display signs of stress that include endless circling and grinding and injuring their teeth on hard surfaces in their tanks.
AGGRESSION: Because there is nowhere for a subordinate whale to escape from the aggression of another, fights between whales are frequent and can be fatal.
COERCION: Captive whales are required to perform repetitive tricks in shows, often many times a day, in exchange for food.
LIFESPAN: Whether captured from the ocean or born in a tank, captive orcas have shorter lives than wild ones. Most captive belugas live less than half as long as their wild counterparts.
. . . and this can be life at an authentic sanctuary:
SPACE: The sanctuary will occupy 100 acres of the bay – a space at least 100 times larger than the largest performance tank anywhere in the world. This wonderful site in Port Hilford Bay has abundant space for the whales to swim, dive and experience a natural seaside environment.
ENVIRONMENT: A natural sandy bottom to explore; fish and other living creatures with whom to interact; and birds to chase on the surface.
ECHOLOCATION: The natural contours of the bay and the seafloor will allow the whales to explore different textures in their environment using their echolocation abilities.
WELLBEING: An authentic sanctuary is not just a place to live, but a place to thrive. The well-being of its residents, rather than public entertainment, business or research interests, is always the priority.
CREATING THE SANCTUARY
Aerial tour of the sanctuary
In this short video, Executive Director Charles Vinick narrates as a drone takes us along the shore and out to sea for a full view of the 100-acre sanctuary space:
Site development
On the water
Through every season over the last two years, our site development team has been documenting water depths in the bay; testing the water chemistry, salinity, and temperature gradients; and studying currents, tides, waves and surges so that we can understand the environment for the whales and the sanctuary infrastructure, as well as to provide data to government agencies for the many permits required for a project of this magnitude.
Lease for sanctuary waters: The Offer of Lease that we have received from the Department of Natural Resources and Renewables makes available to the sanctuary a total water space of 200 acres. This includes 100-plus acres for the whales, Barachois Island (a small island just off the shore, where one end of the perimeter net will be anchored), a security zone around the sanctuary, and the space needed for the anchoring system.
Our new work boat (funded in part by members of the Animal Welfare Institute) is now engaged in completing the environmental studies of the bay. After that it will be used for setting and maintaining the perimeter net and as a service boat for the sanctuary.
The perimeter net and its structure: By the end of this summer, with the completion of our two-year study of tidal flows, water pressure and other conditions, we will be ready to finalize the locations for the anchoring structure and the perimeter net. The perimeter net will enclose the 100-plus acres where the whales will live.
In the outline below, you can see the perimeter net and the structure that holds it in place:
One of the features of this state-of-the-art net and supporting structure is the walkway (colored green) that enables caregivers to walk along the net so that they can approach whales at the outermost edge of the sanctuary without needing to take a boat. The walkway also makes maintenance of the net much easier.
On land and on the seabed
As we complete our work on the water, the focus shifts to the land and the seabed, where geo-technical engineering studies help us understand the soil and rock so we can determine how best to anchor the nets that will surround the sanctuary waters. These studies also provide the information required by the Department of Fisheries & Oceans on how our net anchoring system will interface with the subsurface sediment, known as the benthic zone.
Analyzing soil and sediment: In the above photo, a skip loader uncovers layers of sediment and rock so we can take samples and measure the depth of each layer and of the water table. We need secure foundations for the buildings and infrastructure, and we need to know how and where best to attach the net to the land so the perimeter net can withstand tides and currents of every kind.
Positioning buildings and infrastructure
In this video, Executive Director Charles Vinick takes us for a short walk along the shore at the sanctuary site to give us a rough idea of where the main buildings will be.
Work is proceeding on infrastructure planning (water, power, internet, etc.) and on design development for key sanctuary buildings: veterinary services, animal care, marine operations, net and site maintenance, security, and administration.
(For draft layouts of the main buildings, net, net structure and observation tower, go here.)
OPERATIONS AND VISITORS CENTER
Located in the nearby town of Sherbrooke, 20 minutes from the sanctuary site, the Operations Center is the hub of our work, home base for directing the design, engineering and construction of the sanctuary.
It also serves as a Visitors Center, where people can learn about whales, and how their lives in captivity will be changed when they are retired to the natural environment of a sanctuary. The Center also hosts webinars and young people’s events.
Opening ceremonies in October 2021 were attended by the Hon. Arthur J. LeBlanc, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia, representing the Crown, who led the way in a tour of the exhibit area.
Many thanks to the donors who have made the building available to us, and to local volunteers who undertook many of the renovations of this century house.
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PUBLIC OPINION AND LEGISLATION ARE DRIVING THE NEED FOR SANCTUARY
The past decade has seen an unprecedented change in public opinion regarding keeping whales and dolphins on display at entertainment parks.
A few short years ago, the question was, “When we build the sanctuary, will any whales be made available for retirement?”
Today, however, the landscape is so changed that we are asking the urgent question: “Can we be ready in time for when the first whales become available?”
The Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act
Senate Bill S-203 was introduced into Parliament by the Hon. Wilfred Moore. It took more than three years, 17 hearings, 40 witnesses (including six experts from the Whale Sanctuary Project), and vigorous attempts by special interests to derail it before it was passed overwhelmingly in June 2019.
Retired from the Senate, Hon. Moore now serves as a member of the board of our Canadian non-profit organization, Whale Sanctuary Canada.
Following the announcement in February 2020 that the Whale Sanctuary Project had selected Port Hilford, Nova Scotia, as our site for sanctuary, Senator Patricia Bovey addressed the Canadian Senate:
This level of government engagement makes Nova Scotia an ideal location for the sanctuary, not only because of the suitability of the site itself, but because of the support of the local community, tribal leaders, provincial authorities, and members of Parliament.
POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR THE SANCTUARY
There are 3,000 whales and dolphins in captivity around the world. They include 57 orcas, more than 300 belugas and around 2,600 dolphins. Each of them is an individual – intelligent, emotional, empathic and full of personality – who deserves to be living in an ocean environment free of abuse and exploitation.
Just as the first sanctuaries for elephants, great apes, big cats and other animals paved the way for many more all around the world today, so the sanctuary in Nova Scotia will set the gold standard for more to come.
Kiska the orca at Marineland Canada
Video by Jenny McQueen
Last year, Kiska became news all over the world when video was posted of her repeatedly bashing herself against the side of her tank. Kiska holds the cruel distinction of being the only orca in North America who is held in social isolation from any other marine mammal. Captured from the North Atlantic Ocean at an early age, she has given birth five times, and all her children died young.
We began discussions with Marineland last year and we look forward to continuing them whenever Marineland is ready to do so. The first goal of these discussions will be a full evaluation of Kiska’s health and behavior – as will be the case for any whale who is a candidate for the sanctuary.
Beluga whales at Marineland Canada
Beluga whales Bella and LuVi in South Korea
Kshamenk at Mundo Marino in Buenos Aires
A Letter from Our President
“The kind of non-intrusive research we will be conducting at the sanctuary will be of tremendous value to scientists who are involved in conservation projects in the open ocean. The sanctuary will foster a new generation of compassionate marine mammal scientists, veterinarians, and conservationists.”
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WHALE AID
As urgent as it is to retire captive whales to sanctuary, it’s equally important to help prevent more whales from being taken into captivity.
Our Whale Aid programs range from rescuing and rehabilitating ocean-going whales to developing complete plans for other organizations working to retire captive whale and dolphins to sanctuaries. The Whale Aid team comprises experts from around the world in fields ranging from veterinary care to transport to construction and engineering.
Whale Aid Russia – the largest whale rescue in history
How 97 captured whales were returned to their ocean home:
In November 2018, the Whale Sanctuary Project became aware of a largely secret operation being conducted in a quiet area of the country’s Far East coast, known as Srednyaya Bay, about 115 miles north of Vladivostok.
The compound included a series of sea pens containing 97 orcas and beluga whales. The sea pens were already starting to freeze over, and the beluga whales were showing signs of frostbite.
This was the beginning of Whale Aid Russia, our work with the Russian government and Russian animal protection groups to return to the ocean 10 orcas and 87 beluga whales who were going to be sold to entertainment parks in China.
See the full story of Whale Aid Russia, from the infamous “Whale Jail”, as it was dubbed by the Russian media, to the return of the whales to their ocean home.
Whale Aid for Tokitae, better known by her display name “Lolita”, at the Miami Seaquarium
The orca Tokitae/Lolita has been living in a very small tank at the Miami Seaquarium since the year 1970, when she was captured from her family in the Salish Sea, off the coast of Seattle.
The new owners of the Seaquarium have retired her from display and are working with nonprofit groups to determine what will now offer her the highest quality of life.
To this end, a new group, Friends of Lolita, has been brought together by philanthropist and environmentalist Pritam Singh and the Whale Sanctuary’s Executive Director Charles Vinick. Through Friends of Lolita, a team of independent veterinarians is conducting independent assessments of Tokitae’s physical and mental health.
The Whale Sanctuary Project is also providing operational and logistics advice and expertise for purposes of addressing Tokitae’s health and welfare needs.
THE TEAM
Our board, staff and advisors make up a team of 58 highly qualified professionals with expertise in every facet of project growth.
They include project and sanctuary managers, scientists, veterinarians, attorneys, conservationists, and former trainers at entertainment parks and aquariums.
Here is a short message from Jean-Michel Cousteau on behalf of the Advisory Group:
And here’s more about our Board, Staff and Advisory Group:
Together we can build a better future for whales
Your investment in the creation of this unique sanctuary will bring about fundamental change in how we relate to whales and dolphins.
The future of captive cetaceans will rely upon the support of visionary individuals and organizations committed to a world where these majestic animals are treated with respect and dignity, free from confinement in concrete tanks. We are seeking:
SANCTUARY SITE DEVELOPMENT: $2 million in current funding to complete site engineering and the overall design of the sanctuary and its associated facilities.
SANCTUARY NET STRUCTURE & CONSTRUCTION: $6.5 to $7 million to finalize the net structure design and engineering and to fabricate the structural elements that will secure the net in the bay and the net itself.
SANCTUARY CONSTRUCTION: $9.5 million to complete all infrastructure and sanctuary facilities, including the Marine Ops Area, Veterinary and Husbandry Area, Staff Area, Quarantine Pools, and Boat Shop.
INTERPRETIVE CENTER DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION: The interpretive center will not only enable visitors to learn about the whales and their histories; it will also be the heart of a global outreach to people young and old to promote conservation of the oceans and their denizens.
We welcome the opportunity to tailor funding packages and naming opportunities to your areas of special interest.