All animal lovers can breathe a sigh of relief; By 2026, keeping cetaceans in captivity for commercial purposes will be banned in France. The application of the Law to Combat Animal Cruelty was adopted in 2021 and will become active in 2026. At Marineland in Antibes, this news was received with cheers by the animals.
After the violent floods in October 2015, in which a tidal wave of mud completely destroyed many basins, things never really got better for the animals at Marineland. The management never opened up about the matter, but it is clear that there is a lot of sadness floating around. Actress Pamela Anderson even stood in front of Marineland for weeks in 2017 with protest signs.
New law forces Marineland Antibes to close
Marineland must therefore get rid of the cetaceans. The main question on everyone’s mind is: Where are the last two orcas Wikie and Keijo going? Indeed, only two of the four orcas remain. And while orcas can normally live up to 90 years.
Sea Shepherd, an international non-profit organization whose mission is to protect marine life worldwide, anticipates the 2026 deadline and proposes to create a sanctuary in France to house the two orcas from Marineland in Antibes. A site has been identified off the coast of Brittany. That would be the best solution for the orcas.
Sea Shepherd believes that “France has a double responsibility towards these animals” because it has not only “allowed their captivity and their reproduction for entertainment purposes for years” but “rightly passed a law that puts an end to this system. ” It therefore seems self-evident to him that the French state guarantees the “well-being of the animals involved” and offers to support them through the creation of this shelter. Although the location has not yet been officially announced, a route is already being studied for the Brittany coast.
The fear of leaving for Japan
However, Marineland itself is negotiating with a Japanese buyer for the animals. A deportation to Japan would mean a new chapter of misery for the animals. Sea Sheperd’s main argument is that in Japan “the mother and her son will most likely be separated and will certainly be used for reproduction and entertainment purposes.”
Sea Shepherd emphasizes that “Japan does not grant any conservation status to cetaceans and is one of the deadliest for these species (whaling and annual mass killings of dolphins still occur there).” Therefore, sending Wikie and Keijo to Japan would amount to betraying the spirit of our legislation and lead to a surreal situation as “as part of the application of an animal protection law, two cetaceans would see their protected species status revoked .
Finally, Sea Shepherd warns of another alternative being studied: a shelter in Nova Scotia, Canada. “This entails major disadvantages,” the NGO estimates, because in addition to the need for “extremely long and stressful transatlantic transport,” winter temperatures in the area “could drop below zero with ice-cold water.” Even though Marineland’s orcas are of Icelandic descent, Wikie and Keijo have only known the warmer waters of the Mediterranean since birth.
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