Animal rights groups are calling Marineland’s request for government funding to care for its 30 beluga whales “desperate” and “morally reprehensible.”

In a letter sent Friday to Canada’s Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson, Marineland said her decision to deny a special permit to export the park’s 30 beluga whales to a Chinese theme park has put the park in a “precarious situation.”

“It has been made clear to the minister that Marineland is in a critical financial state,” the letter said. “We are fully indebted and rapidly running out of resources to provide adequate care for the whales.”

The park is asking the federal government for “immediate operating funding” until a suitable new home for the whales can be found, with an Oct. 7 deadline — Tuesday — for a response.

“If we do not rece

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