{"id":98303,"date":"2025-10-20T09:26:58","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T13:26:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=98303"},"modified":"2025-10-20T09:26:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T13:26:58","slug":"marinelands-decline-raises-questions-about-the-future-of-zoo-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/marinelands-decline-raises-questions-about-the-future-of-zoo-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Marineland\u2019s decline raises questions about the future of zoo tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Ann-Kathrin McLea, Carina Ya, Moira A. McDonald and Thomas Worry Thirty beluga whales are at the risk of being euthanized at the now-shuttered Marineland zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls. Marineland said in a letter to Canada\u2019s Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson it will have to euthanize the whales if it doesn\u2019t receive the necessary financial support to relocate them. The park has come under intense scrutiny recently due to the ongoing struggle to relocate its remaining whales amid financial struggles, a lack of resources and crumbling infrastructure. Canada passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act in 2019 that prohibits whales, dolphins and porpoises from being taken into captivity. However, the law does not apply retroactively, meaning whales already held in facilities such as Marineland were&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F10%2F20%2Fmarinelands-decline-raises-questions-about-the-future-of-zoo-tourism%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ann-Kathrin McLea, Carina Ya, Moira A. McDonald and Thomas Worry Thirty beluga whales are at the risk of being euthanized at the now-shuttered Marineland zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls. Marineland said in a letter to Canada\u2019s Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson it will have to euthanize the whales if it doesn\u2019t receive the necessary financial support to relocate them. The park has come under intense scrutiny recently due to the ongoing struggle to relocate its remaining whales amid financial struggles, a lack of resources and crumbling infrastructure. Canada passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act in 2019 that prohibits whales, dolphins and porpoises from being taken into captivity. However, the law does not apply retroactively, meaning whales already held in facilities such as Marineland were... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2025%2F10%2F20%2Fmarinelands-decline-raises-questions-about-the-future-of-zoo-tourism%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Marineland\u2019s decline raises questions about the future of zoo tourism - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/marinelands-decline-raises-questions-about-the-future-of-zoo-tourism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Marineland\u2019s decline raises questions about the future of zoo tourism - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ann-Kathrin McLea, Carina Ya, Moira A. McDonald and Thomas Worry Thirty beluga whales are at the risk of being euthanized at the now-shuttered Marineland zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls. Marineland said in a letter to Canada\u2019s Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson it will have to euthanize the whales if it doesn\u2019t receive the necessary financial support to relocate them. The park has come under intense scrutiny recently due to the ongoing struggle to relocate its remaining whales amid financial struggles, a lack of resources and crumbling infrastructure. Canada passed the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act in 2019 that prohibits whales, dolphins and porpoises from being taken into captivity. 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