World'Free Willy' ban makes it illegal to hold dolphins, whales in captivity in Canada

© Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press via AP, FILE Two young girls watch as a Beluga whale tries to catch air bubbles as she swims at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park, Aug. 3, 2010.

Canada is making strides to help protect marine life.

The country's House of Commons passed a bill Monday that makes it illegal to keep a whale, dolphin or porpoise in captivity.

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Bill S-203, nicknamed the "Free Willy" bill after the iconic 1993 movie that portrayed a boy freeing an Orca whale from an amusement park, applies to those who own or have custody or control of a cetacean in captivity. People who breed or impregnate a cetacean or possess/seek to obtain reproductive materials of cetaceans, including sperm or an embryo, were also included in the bill.

2 more dead gray whales are found in Alaska, bringing the year's toll to 75 along the US West Coast

Two more gray whales were found dead this week in Alaska amid the mysterious surge of deaths within the species this year along the US West Coast, CNN affiliate KTUU reports. That makes seven in Alaska and at least 75 total, in what the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls an "unusual mortality event," the station reports. One of the two found near Kodiak Island in the Gulf of Alaska showed signs of killer whale "predation," KTUU reports. Two more were discovered this week off Washington state. Last month, ocean scientists said they were worried about the death rate, the highest in almost two decades.

OTTAWA — A federal bill banning the keeping of whales and dolphins in captivity jumped its last parliamentary hoop, and will become The bill, which originated in the Senate, amends the Criminal Code to make it illegal to keep a cetacean ( whales , dolphins , and porpoises) in captivity , and to

Canada ’s House of Commons passed a bill Monday to make it illegal to hold a whale , dolphin or porpoise captive , punishable by fines up to 0,000 USD. It ’s known colloquially as the “ Free Willy ” bill, named after the 1993 movie in which a young boy frees a killer whale from a US amusement park.

© Universal Images Group via Getty A killer whale breaches the surface near Vancouver Island, Canada, Sept. 15, 2017.

Offenders can be fined up to $200,000.

The Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act makes exceptions for cetaceans that are rescued or are in rehabilitation and for researchers who obtain a license from the government.

"A person may move a live cetacean from its immediate vicinity when the cetacean is injured or in distress and is in need of assistance," the bill states.

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that the country will ban single-use plastics, such as bags and straws, as early as 2021, according to The Associated Press.

Canada bans keeping whales and dolphins in captivity with 'Free Willy' bill

The bill will ban them from performing for entertainment. Lawbreakers will be fined over $150,000. The bill will also prohibit the import and export of these animals, though it will permit cetaceans who are already in captivity to be kept by their keepers. They can also be kept captive for rehabilitative or scientific purposes. © Provided by USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, Inc.

It will ban keeping whales , dolphins or porpoises in captivity , as well as ban them from performing for entertainment. Lawbreakers will be fined over 0 Marineland, located in Niagara Falls, is Canada 's last marine park to keep these animals in captivity — and says that it remains unaffected by the

Canada 's House of Commons has passed a bill which will make it illegal to hold a whale , dolphin or porpoise in captivity . Bill S-203, known as the Ending the Captivity of Whales and Dolphins Act (also referred to as the ' Free Willy ' bill

© Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press via AP Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announces his government's intention to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021 during a news conference in Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, June 10, 2019.

The specific items to be banned will be determined based on a scientific review, Trudeau said.

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Canada drew inspiration from the European Union's decision in March to impose a ban on single-use plastics to counter pollution in waterways and fields, Trudeau said.

© Lucas Jackson/Reuters, FILE A plastic bag stuck in a tree blows in the wind in New York, April 1, 2019.

"Many other countries are doing that and Canada will be one of them," Trudeau said. "This is a big step but we know can do this for 2021."