US EditionPressure Mounts to Relocate Orcas and Dolphins from Closed French Marine Park
- Two captive orcas, Wikie aged 23 and her 11-year-old son Keijo, remain trapped in the closed Marineland Antibes near Cannes since January 2025.
- Marineland shut due to a 2021 French law banning cetacean shows, and despite seeking alternatives, French authorities have rejected relocation proposals including sites in Japan and Tenerife.
- Activists and a minimal staff maintain the animals in algae-filled pools with little mental stimulation, warning the deteriorating conditions pose serious risks to the orcas' welfare.
- French ecology minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher and campaigners stress urgency to find a European sanctuary, but none currently exists, while The Whale Sanctuary Project offers a Canadian site as the only prepared option.
- The ongoing failure to rehouse Wikie and Keijo leaves them confined in failing enclosures, underscoring urgent needs for temporary care solutions until a permanent sanctuary is established.
132 Articles
132 Articles
Benevolent Orca Pods Are Adopting Baby Pilot Whales in an Apparent Effort to Clean Up the Species' Image
As so-called "killer whales" have made news over the past few years for violent boat attacks in European waters, marine biologists have noticed a far sweeter behavior in Iceland's frigid waves: the adoption of a baby whale from an entirely different species. In interviews with Scientific American, scientists described their shock at observing a pilot whale calf that traveled with an Icelandic pod of orcas over a period of years. One of those res…
Video of two orcas in algae-infested pool in France sparks concern for their welfare
A video shot by drone earlier this month and published online of two orcas swimming in inadequate facilities sparked a wave of concern for the cetaceans. The marine park on the French Riviera has been…
Closing of Marineland: Images of Orcas Alone in Their Basins Raise the Question of the Future of Cetaceans
While the park finally closed to the public on 5 January, the Wikie and Keijo Orcas "wait for their fate in decrepit basins", warns an NGO. The park defends itself from any mistreatment.
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