Marineland's crumbling infrastructure, staffing shortage and lack of resources have created dangerous conditions for its belugas and they should be moved immediately, a fired beluga trainer says.

Kristy Burgess, who worked at the Niagara Falls, Ont., park when a young beluga was put down in February, said Marineland's threat to euthanize all 30 of its remaining belugas if it doesn't receive emergency funding is a "repulsive" tactic that uses the whales as leverage.

"We need to get them out," Burgess said of the last captive whales in Canada. "Immediately."

Burgess is speaking out for the first time about her experience at Marineland as the very whales she loved now face possible death.

Nineteen belugas, one dolphin and one killer whale have died at the park since 2019, according to a database created by The Canadian Press based on internal documents and official statements.

The belugas' pools, Arctic Cove and Friendship Cove, are in desperate need of repair with their painted walls peeling and concrete chunks falling into the water, Burgess said.

"Whales have come in with paint chips on their tongues," she said. "The pools are falling apart."

Rocks from the pools' decorative feature have crumbled into the tanks, providing some excitement for the whales as they like to play with them or try to eat them, she added.

"We've had people have to dive into the water and fish out really large, heavy rocks, probably the size of dinner plates," Burgess said.

The water system has broken down regularly, Burgess said, affecting the park's ability to drop and raise water, which is crucial to giving whales m