Part family-owned theme park and part roadside zoo, Marineland was once the kind of place where you could get kissed by an orca and feed corn pops to bears.

But then it kept being that kind of place, well into this century, and the problems piled up: newspaper exposés, official investigations, a federal law designed to end the captivity of whales and dolphins once and for all. Yet the Niagara Falls mainstay would defiantly reopen year after year.

Until this year. Marineland still welcomes visitors, but, like a dead mall, nearly everything inside is now closed. Recently, we trekked there to learn what this limbo looks like for Canada’s last captive cetaceans.

Host: Jonathan Goldsbie

Credits: Jonathan Goldsbie (News Editor), Cherise Seucharan (Reporter), Tristan Capacchione (Audio Editor and Technical Producer), Mia Johnson (Journalism Fellow), max collins (Production Manager), Bruce Thorson (Senior Producer), Karyn Pugliese (Editor-in-Chief)

Additional music by Audio Network

Further reading:

Marineland guilty of charges for keeping 3 bears in cramped quarters – The Canadian Press
Two more belugas dead at Marineland, bringing total whale deaths to 17 since 2019 – The Canadian Press
Scaled down Marineland to open in June without rides, animal exhibits – Global News
A Message from the Owner – Marineland

Sponsors:

Article: Article is offering our listeners $50 off your first purchase of $100 or more. To claim this offer, visit https://article.com/canadaland and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.

BetterHelp: Canadaland listeners head to https://betterhelp.com/canadaland to get started today and enjoy 10% off your first month. Discount code “canadaland" will be automatically applied.

Squarespace: Canadaland listeners head to https://squarespace.com/canadaland for a free trial, and when you’re ready to launch use code “canadaland” to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

If you value this podcast, support us! You’ll get premium access to all our shows ad free, including early releases and bonus content. You’ll also get our exclusive newsletter, discounts on merch at our store, tickets to our live and virtual events, and more than anything, you’ll be a part of the solution to Canada’s journalism crisis, you’ll be keeping our work free and accessible to everybody.

You can listen ad-free on Amazon Music—included with Prime.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Foolish, Political Controversies: A Discussion