HALIFAX — An ambitious plan in Nova Scotia to build North America's first coastal refuge for captive whales may have hit a dead end.
Documents obtained by The Canadian Press reveal the non-profit Whale Sanctuary Project (WSP) has yet to secure approval from all five owners of property adjacent to where the group plans to build a huge, floating net enclosure for belugas and orcas retired from marine theme parks.
The documents, obtained through the province's freedom of information law, state that the U.S.-based group won't be granted a Crown lease for 81 hectares of land and water near Wine Harbour, N.S., unless the landowners grant unanimous consent.
Executive director Charles Vinick said Tuesday the $20-million project on Nova Scotia's eastern shore — announced five years ago and supported by private donations — could be derailed.
"Conceivably, a person could stop the project from happening, even with the amount of support it has throughout the rest of the communities," Vinick said in an interview from Arizona. "Many people feel that one or two people stopping a project of this nature … is really unfortunate and would be devastating for us."
Vinick confirmed WSP has written consent from two of the five affected property owners. He said the group has been in touch with two of the three holdouts, but one of them has said "they are not going to agree." The third landowner, a woman from Montreal, has not responded to WSP in any way.
In August, Vinick wrote a letter asking Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources to change the rules.
"Any slowdown in the momentum we now have could have life-or-death implications for the animals, who languish in their current environments," Vinick's letter says.
"The costs associated with keeping our site development progress in motion are substantial and it is unreasonable and unfair to our many donors and supporters to move forward without being able to have clarity on how the unanimous consent issue can be mitigated by (the department)."
In response, Natural Resources Minister Tory Rushton said he's not about to change the rules.
"There's going to be an impact to waterfront properties," he said in an interview Tuesday. "We want to ensure that we're not infringing on anything, and that the project (proponents) are being open and transparent with those landowners."
Asked if he would consider providing Vinick's group with an exemption, Rushton said, "That's not a position we're ready to be at right now." He declined to say if he would impose a deadline.
Vinick's letter makes it clear the project is at a turning point.
"To let this life-changing and historic endeavour fail because … property owners are unable to find common ground would be a tragic turn for the whales, and we think, for Nova Scotia, for Canada and for the world," he wrote on Aug. 19.
Within the 500 pages of documents released by the Natural Resources Department, emails from landowners say they are worried about losing access to the water once nets are installed around the 40-hectare enclosure. Others complained about increased traffic because WSP had planned to build an education centre nearby, but that idea has been scrapped.
When the project was announced in February 2020, organizers said the sanctuary would open in 2022. But the COVID-19 pandemic and regulatory hurdles led to delays. Vinick later suggested 2024 and 2025 were realistic predictions. On Tuesday, he said 2026 was more likely.
In January of this year, the French government rejected WSP's bid to provide refuge to two killer whales residing at Marineland Antibes in the south of France. Under French law, the country's last two captive, performing orcas — Wikie and Keijo — must be removed from France by the end of this year.
French officials said the Nova Scotia sanctuary wouldn't be ready in time and they worried about ocean temperatures off the province's east coast.
The following month, WSP made a similar offer when Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont., announced it was preparing for new owners and arranging financing to support the park and the relocation of more than two dozen beluga whales.
Eighteen belugas, one killer whale and one dolphin have died at Marineland since late 2019, but the company has long defended its treatment of animals, saying the deaths were part of the natural cycle of life. The park is believed to have 31 belugas, the last remaining captive whales in Canada.
At the time, the president of the Whale Sanctuary Project, Lori Marino, said the group was "poised" to start construction at the Nova Scotia site.
Vinick said the proposed sanctuary could eventually accommodate up to nine belugas, saying the project could come together quickly once landowner consent is granted. "You can move mountains with the right kind of support," he said.
Meanwhile, the delays have fed speculation that the project is a fundraising scam designed to enrich Marino and Vinick. Among the recently released documents are emails from unnamed people alleging fraud, but none of them provide evidence to support their claims.
Vinick rejected the allegations. "There is no truth to any allegation that this is a fundraising effort that personally benefits me or personally benefits Lori Marino," he said, adding that both are being paid less than they earned at other non-profit organizations.
He said WSP has accomplished a great deal since 2020, having already completed an environmental review and risk mitigation plans. But he confirmed the project requires more approvals from the federal Fisheries Department and Transport Canada.
Vinick also pointed to documents showing support from Nova Scotia's Mi'kmaq First Nations and what he described as widespread community support earned through an ongoing series of public events and online meetings.
Still, he confirmed the federal and provincial governments are closely watching how the adjacent landowners are reacting.
"We don't feel (the project) is in jeopardy at this point," Vinick said. "We've invested millions of dollars so far … we want to continue because we believe this is a very important project for the whales."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 19, 2025.
Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press
