The Mayor of Burgeo is offering up the possibility of transferring 30 beluga whales from Marineland in Niagara Falls to the south coast of Newfoundland.
Trevor Green says with a Marine Protected Area in development off the south coast, Burgeo might be the best place for the whales which Marineland has threatened to euthanize now that the federal government has nixed a request to send them to China.
Green told VOCM Open Line with Paddy Daly the concept is in the very early stages of development, and he believes Newfoundland and Labrador could lead the country in marine stewardship if the whales, many of which were born in captivity, were released into the waters off this province.
“We sent some letters off to Mr. Hogan, Mr. Wakeham, Minister Thompson, as well as Carol Anstey and Michael King, and we haven’t heard back from anybody as of yet. Understandably, I know we’re in the middle of an election, so that kind of puts things on pause a bit. We’ve also been in talks with some other investors and stuff who are willing to help support and fund some of this, the Atlantic Salmon Federation is one of those, they were the ones that actually brought it to our attention. He calls it “a great opportunity, something that I don’t even say would come along once in a lifetime.”
