Canada's Nova Scotia government has approved a lease for more than 80 hectares of land and water on the province’s Eastern Shore to a group that wants to create North America’s first whale sanctuary. The would-be project still has to raise money, get federal permits and adopt some whales.

Halifax Regional Municipality

The initiative to establish North America's first whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia has progressed following a recent provincial decision. The province has granted preliminary approval for a potential land and water lease, marking a significant step forward for the project. The sanctuary would be located about 150 kilometres from Halifax and is designed to provide a large, natural bay environment for whales previously held in captivity. 

Organizers emphasize that the sanctuary will not serve as a tourist attraction, but will instead prioritize tranquility and the well-being of the whales. Further approvals from federal authorities, substantial fundraising, and the identification of suitable whales are still required before the sanctuary can become operational.

North America’s first whale sanctuary moves closer to reality

The push to establish North America's first whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia is a step closer to becoming a reality. The proposal cleared a major hurdle just recently, and Brett Ruskin is here. He's been following the story on an ongoing basis. Brett, what is the latest update? Good morning, Heather. Yeah, so this whale sanctuary, again, as you mentioned, cleared a hurdle. So the province has approved for the department to possibly give the approval for a land and water lease. So kind of a small step forward, a half step forward for this project. Again, it would happen down the coast from here, about 150 kilometres from where I am here in Halifax. And essentially there's a bay or an inlet there that the proponents, the organizers of this project, say that they'll put a net across there to create an open area, or I guess a penned-in area, but one that is deep and large and natural, very different from the cement and glass enclosures that you might find at an aquarium or an amusement park. And so the thinking that would be would be to essentially rescue, to bring these whales that have been in captivity to allow them to, again, still live in a semi-captive area, but one that's certainly more natural, more comfortable, and a larger space for them to enjoy. So here is the head of this project talking about the latest updates to this idea. Have a listen. We agreed and proposed limiting public access to the sanctuary because in fact a sanctuary is about providing tranquility, if you will, in some respects for the whales. So this is not a tourist attraction, this is not a public venue in that regard. And so not designed to be kind of an amusement area for the public, it'll be kind of focused on the well-being of the whales. Still lots to do in terms of getting this project off the ground or in the water. So certainly the official approval from the province, more approvals from the federal government, millions of dollars of funding anticipated that needs to be raised, and then finding whales, finding whales that could live here. It's unlikely that the whales that are currently in marine land in Ontario, those 30 or so belugas, would be able to be rescued in time, or essentially that this would be established and approved and created in time to bring those whales here. But the officials do say that they will plan on in the next months ahead trying to continue to gather that financial and political support for this only kind of this unique project that could be established here on the east coast of Canada.

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