Beluga whales are highly social, vocal cetaceans kept in aquariums worldwide despite growing evidence that captivity causes significant welfare deficits, while wild populations face pollution, sea ice loss, and noise.
Beluga welfare in captivity is substantially compromised by their social and cognitive complexity. In the wild, belugas live in fluid social groups with complex vocal communication, engaging in play, cultural transmission, and apparent emotional bonding. Captive facilities cannot replicate the acoustic environment, social diversity, or physical space of natural habitats. Captive belugas show abnormal swimming patterns, social dysfunction, and elevated cortisol. Wild St Lawrence belugas experience chronic chemical pollution that suppresses immune function and causes reproductive failure.