Up in Canada, one shady aquarium is telling the government “Give us the money, or the whales get it”. The shuttered Marineland has said that it may euthanize 30 beluga whales if it doesn’t receive funds to care for them.

Marineland had hoped to send the belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in Zhuhai, which sits in between Hong Kong and Macau in China.

Thompson denied its export permit, saying the strengthening of fisheries legislation in 2019 that made it illegal to use whales and dolphins for entertainment prohibited the move.

“I could not in good conscience approve an export that would perpetuate the treatment these belugas have endured,” she said.

“To approve the request would have meant a continued life in captivity and a return to public entertainment.”

That reasoning is sound, but almost any alternative is likely to be better than death.