Marineland beluga dies in Chicago as Canada’s last captive dolphins leave the park

Canada’s last captive dolphins have left Marineland for a new home in Spain while a beluga recently relocated from the park has died in a Chicago aquarium.

Trainers worked over several hours Wednesday morning at Marineland to load four dolphins and two belugas into tanks on transport trucks headed to Toronto's Pearson airport for the journey to Oceanografic Valencia in Spain, as the relocation of mammals at the shuttered Niagara Falls, Ont., park continued.

Marineland had originally sold all of its 30 belugas and four dolphins to an aquarium in China, but Ottawa blocked the move, saying it violated the spirit of a 2019 law.

Two belugas, four dolphins from Marineland heading to aquarium in Spain  Toronto Star