Another Whale Dies at SeaWorld, After Being Rescued From Defunct Canadian Theme Park

When the Canadian marine park Marineland closed down in 2024, around 30 beluga whales and four dolphins needed somewhere new to go. Unbelievably, one of the places that Marineland chose to send three of the whales to SeaWorld in San Diego. SeaWorld is an infamous for-profit theme park chain which is world-renowned for its poor treatment of marine animals kept in captivity.

And now, one of the whales transferred to SeaWorld has died. Cyprus the beluga whale was only 9 years old and had only been at the San Diego facility for two months. He is now the sixth beluga whale to die after being transferred out of Marineland.

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Whales, porpoises, and dolphins do not belong in captivity. They evolved to live in large, social communities with complex social structures, and to roam the huge expanses of the oceans. When they are forced to live in captivity - either stolen from the wild or bred into captivity - they often suffer from deadly illnesses and stress disorders. In fact, captive cetaceans suffer from a significantly shorter lifespan, sometimes living only half as long as their wild peers.

So it's not surprising to see that many of the animals that used to reside in Marineland are doing poorly - especially when they're transferred to other, similar facilities like SeaWorld. Some experts are saying they expect more Marineland-related animal deaths in the coming months.

How could SeaWorld ever be considered an appropriate option when rehoming a captive whale? Surely these animals should have been sent to a seaside sanctuary instead, where they could actually have the best lives possible.

Cyprus only lasted two months, and we're not sure what the future holds for the rest of these animals. We must demand that the Canadian government update its law banning these types of marine animal amusement parks to mandate that all remaining animals be sent to proper sanctuaries! Sign the petition!