NOAA Clears Emergency Import of 28 Marineland Belugas

NOAA Fisheries has authorized an emergency import of 28 beluga whales from the closed Marineland of Canada attraction to accredited aquariums in the United States. The July 2026 cooperative agreement names SeaWorld, Georgia Aquarium and the John G. Shedd Aquarium as the organizations responsible for the medical rescue operation.

The authorization moves the relocation plan forward, but it does not mean the whales have already left Niagara Falls or that public viewing dates are available. Travelers should remove Marineland from current Niagara itineraries and wait for individual receiving institutions to announce arrivals, care periods and any future guest access.

What NOAA approved

The NOAA Fisheries emergency import page, updated July 8, states that the agency entered a cooperative agreement covering 28 whales. It describes the import as a rescue needed to provide medical treatment that is unavailable at the shuttered Canadian attraction.

NOAA is using authority in the Marine Mammal Protection Act that allows designated entities to bring marine mammals into the United States for otherwise unavailable treatment. The same authority directs officials to pursue a return to natural habitat when feasible, but the current announcement does not promise release, assign individual whales or publish final destinations for each animal.

The agreement is narrower than the full population still associated with Marineland. Independent reporting says the wider proposal covers 30 belugas and four dolphins, with 28 belugas bound for United States institutions and the remaining belugas expected to go to Oceanogràfic València if Spanish approvals clear.

An appendix to the federal agreement gives the receiving allocation by facility: 13 belugas for SeaWorld San Antonio, three for SeaWorld San Diego, two for Georgia Aquarium and 10 for Shedd Aquarium. Those totals identify intended destinations, but they do not establish that any specific whale has passed its veterinary review or begun transport.

That distinction matters because the NOAA action settles the United States import route, not every international permit or every transport detail. A headline saying all 30 whales have been rescued or moved would overstate the current status, since veterinary checks, final Canadian approvals and physical transfers still remain.

What must happen before the whales move

Care teams from the receiving aquariums are expected to evaluate the animals at Marineland and prepare them for travel. Canadian veterinarians must determine that each beluga is fit to move, while federal agencies still need to complete the final export and border steps required for a safe transfer.

Global News reported that Canada issued an initial batch of export permits in early June and will need to sign off again after health reviews. The report also says Canadian fisheries officials are coordinating with border and health agencies, which makes the current agreement a major clearance rather than the final movement order.

The rescue partners have not published a day by day schedule or aircraft plan. They have said the operation will take several weeks to mobilize and complete, so visitors should treat any unofficial arrival date or social media sighting as unconfirmed until the named institutions issue their own notices.

Transport will not automatically lead to immediate exhibit access. Medical assessment, acclimation, water quality management and care decisions take priority, and the agreement does not require a receiving aquarium to place a newly arrived beluga on public display by a particular date.

NOAA’s agreement places imported whales in rehabilitation and requires health reports every 30 days until the agency determines their disposition. Public display cannot interfere with care, and interactive touching, feeding or photo programs need separate NOAA approval. Those conditions are another reason not to treat the destination allocation as an immediate viewing schedule.

What the decision means for attraction visitors

For Niagara Falls travelers, the clearest decision is unchanged but now better defined: Marineland is not an available attraction. Deep Arrival’s theme park planning hub can help redirect an attractions itinerary, while local operating calendars should settle which alternatives are actually open on the visit date.

For visitors to Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, SeaWorld San Antonio or SeaWorld San Diego, the agreement is not a reason to alter a near term booking. Those are the four United States destinations identified in current reporting, but none has supplied a public schedule for a particular whale or a guaranteed exhibit debut.

The distinction also protects travelers from assuming that a completed import will look the same at every institution. Animal care teams may make different medical, social grouping and habitat decisions, and those choices can affect whether an animal is visible, temporarily off exhibit or housed in a setting not included in normal guest access.

Marineland’s closure and the unusual scale of the operation make this an attractions story, but the whales are not a new ride or product launch. Any future visitor opportunity will follow the care plan, not the other way around, and official communications may focus on health milestones before public viewing.

What to verify next

As of July 13, 2026, the most important unresolved points are the veterinary clearances, final Canadian approvals, movement schedule and individual placements. NOAA confirms the legal agreement, while the receiving institutions are the proper source for local arrival, care and eventual public access information.

Travelers should also watch whether Spain completes its approvals for the belugas assigned outside the United States. That separate route does not undo the NOAA agreement for 28 whales, but it affects whether the broader 30 whale relocation plan can proceed as currently described.

The next meaningful update will be a confirmed transport, named allocation or receiving institution notice, not another broad statement that a rescue is planned. Until one of those facts changes, the practical travel guidance remains simple: Marineland is closed, and no replacement beluga viewing schedule has been announced.