After an Ontario waterpark’s closure left 30 beluga whales and four dolphins’ lives in jeopardy, the first wave of whales have arrived in the U.S. for a new place to call home. Aquarium representatives gathered alongside waterpark team members in Canada this week to prepare for the animals’ upcoming transport.

Whales flown to US aquariums after long-running saga in which Marineland had threatened to euthanise them

Dozens of beluga whales are set to be relocated from the shuttered Canadian theme park to aquariums across the United States through an international emergency rescue effort, officials said.