Video Shows Orcas Left Behind in Algae-Filled Tanks Months After French Park Shut Down
In November 2021, the French government passed legislation banning the performance of cetaceans, including whales and dolphins. In anticipation of the law coming into effect late next year, the French Riviera's Marineland closed its doors in January. Four months later, two orcas are still captive in the abandoned marine zoo's algae-infested tanks.
Earlier this month, the animal welfare organization TideBreakers published drone footage of Marineland in Antibes, France, revealing two captive orcas in greenish tanks. The fate of Wikie and Keijo, a mother and her calf, has been up in the air since the marine zoo closed down earlier this year. TideBreakers is urgently calling for global attention, warning that 'it's been reported euthanasia is a consideration,' according to its video statement.
'Leaving them in a shut-down facility, confined to a crumbling, decrepit tank, is simply not an option,' the organization said in its statement. TideBreakers pointed to a recent tragedy involving the mother and calf's former tankmate, who died after swallowing a piece of metal. 'Time is running out!' it added in its YouTube video caption.
Marineland's management, animal welfare organizations, and the French government have been unable to reach an agreement on where the animals should go. Since Wikie and Keijo have spent their entire lives in captivity, releasing them into the wild is not an option. They have learned to depend on humans and would not have the skills to survive, marine biologist and killer whale expert Hanne Strager told the BBC.
Last year, the French government blocked a deal to send the orcas to a marine zoo in Japan, claiming that the journey would be too stressful for the animals and that Japanese animal welfare laws aren't stringent enough. More recently, the Spanish government rejected a plan to transfer them to the marine zoo Loro Parque in the Canary Islands.
The Whale Sanctuary Project, an animal welfare organization aiming to build a coastal orca sanctuary in Canada, argues that its planned seaside enclosure—essentially a bay closed off with nets—is the only viable solution for Wikie and Keijo.
'The Whale Sanctuary Project is making it clear again to all parties that we are ready to work with the French government, with Marineland Antibes, and with any and all other organizations to bring Wikie and Keijo to the sanctuary we are preparing in Nova Scotia,' the Whale Sanctuary Project wrote in a statement after the Spanish government's decision. 'Last September, in its formal recommendations to the French government, the General Inspectorate of the Ministry of Ecology called the Whale Sanctuary Project the best sanctuary solution for Wikie and Keijo.'
Currently, however, there are no operational orca sanctuaries anywhere in the world, according to TideBreakers. While the organization claims that 'the best interim solution would be to build a temporary holding tank for Wikie and Keijo until a sanctuary becomes available,' it emphasizes that there is still 'no sanctuary in Nova Scotia, Canada. Since 2016, the Whale Sanctuary Project has been collecting donations for its non-existent sanctuary, yet its proposed site is polluted and completely unsuitable for orcas. They still don't have permits, and construction hasn't even begun.'
Marineland, in addition to the two orcas, also hosts 12 dolphins. It remains to be seen what decision the French government will make about the 14 cetaceans' fate. In the meantime, TideBreakers' stance is clear: 'After years of entertaining the public, they deserve a clean and safe environment where they can live out their remaining years with dignity.'
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