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Finally, at long last, the sordid and sad saga at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont., has come to an end.

Which is to say, last Monday, the last remaining beluga whale —1,500 kg Tofino — was removed from the now-defunct theme park. This means Canada is now completely devoid of incarcerated marine mammals. Good.

In its dying days as a theme park, things at Marineland rapidly changed from bad to worse regarding its animal population. The death toll so far: an estimated 30 belugas, an orca, two dolphins, and a harbour seal.

Rebel News first began filing reports on this horrible situation last summer. Everyone involved seemingly took a vow of silence, including the city, the province, and of course, Marineland itself. We paid a personal visit to Marineland seeking comment and were duly informed by a staffer, “Nobody will talk to you.” A few days later, Marineland fenced off its entire property lest other people drop by with impolite queries. Sad.

But now, more than a year later, the remaining marine mammals at Marineland have been liberated, relocated to other aquariums (although not all the belugas survived the journey, alas.)

We went back to Marineland recently and met up with Phil Demers. Demers is most definitely someone who “knows who’s who in the zoo” given that he used to train orcas at Marineland once upon a decade. These days, Demers is an activist and whistleblower when it comes to marine mammals and other wildlife.

As Marineland continues to sell off its remaining assets, ranging from thrill rides to real estate, check out our interview with Demers, who sets the story straight regarding the misinformation that swirls around the operation these days.

Bottom line: the belugas are now free of their too-small tanks filled with dirty water. Something that should’ve been done years ago. Good riddance to an “amusement park” that eventually became a domain full of dread, despair, and death.