KarunaNews Story

Organizers behind a plan to establish North America’s first coastal refuge for captive whales say the Nova Scotia government has given them approval to start construction. The US-based Whale Sanctuary Project said it had been given a 20-year lease for 83 hectares of Crown lands and coastal waters near Wine Harbour, on the province’s eastern shore. They say the approval means they can start building a huge, floating net enclosure for whales and dolphins retired from marine theme parks and ramp up its private fundraising to pay for the $20-million project, which will require about $2-million annually to operate. Charles Vinick, the project’s executive director, has suggested the refuge could open as early as next year. But no whales or dolphins will be moved to the site until the Project receives permits from the federal Fisheries Department and Transport Canada, The advocacy group Animal Justice applauded Nova Scotia’s move, saying it “offers real hope for a permanent, peaceful home for many of the beluga whales currently suffering in tanks at Marineland in Niagara Falls.”