{"id":108127,"date":"2025-05-17T04:40:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T04:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/108127\/"},"modified":"2025-05-17T04:40:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T04:40:11","slug":"stranded-orcas-dolphins-left-in-rotting-tanks-in-closed-french-marine-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/108127\/","title":{"rendered":"Stranded orcas, dolphins left in rotting tanks in closed French marine park"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pair of killer whales and a dozen dolphins have been trapped for four months in Marineland<\/a>, a shuttered marine park in the south of France, after the facility announced its closure in January 2025. They were left in what animal activists are calling \u201cdangerous\u201d and \u201cdespairing\u201d conditions as they scramble to relocate the abandoned mammals.<\/p>\n

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(The full name of the park is Marineland of Antibes<\/a>, and is not affiliated with the Niagara Falls, Ont., Marineland.)<\/p>\n

Aerial footage released by the animal activist group TideBreakers shows two abandoned orcas<\/a>, Wikie, 23, and her son, Keijo, 11, swimming aimlessly around an algae-ridden enclosure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mother and son remain trapped there, waiting for their fate in crumbling tanks,\u201d TideBreakers wrote alongside the footage.<\/p>\n

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The park, which is located in the southern coastal town of Antibes on the French Riviera, about 45 km west of Monaco, has been closed to the public since January, and is also home to 12 dolphins that have been \u201cleft to rot,\u201d the group said.<\/p>\n

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The facility was forced to close as a result of French legislation passed in 2021<\/a> that prohibits the use of dolphins and whales for entertainment purposes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhile 90 per cent of visitors choose to come to Marineland to admire the orca and dolphin performances, the law of November 30, 2021, banning cetacean shows, requires Marineland to consider this closure,\u201d the company wrote in a statement<\/a> in December.<\/p>\n

But, since shutting down, management has been unable to find a suitable new home for the neglected sea life, especially the orcas, despite its responsibility to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn compliance with current legislation, Marineland works closely with the relevant authorities to identify the best solutions for housing cetaceans in facilities that are equivalent in terms of quality of care and educational initiatives, with the animals\u2019 well-being as the sole priority,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n

Though it no longer operates as a zoo, the organization\u2019s management remains responsible for the well-being of the animals, and a small crew is in charge of keeping them alive until they are rehoused.<\/p>\n

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Both Wikie and Keijo were born in captivity, meaning they would not survive in the wild.<\/p>\n

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