There are now three orcas remaining in captivity in the Antibes park.
Activists from the animal defense association One Voice regularly denounce the fate of large marine mammals in captivity. This is the case for the orcas in the Marineland park in Antibes.
On November 14, they challenged the Ministry of Ecology by publishing a video of an orca in the water park which appeared to be in poor health, specifying that it was “Inouk with its collapsed dorsal fin”. This Sunday, Sarah El Haïry, the Secretary of State for Biodiversity, reacted on the social network X (formerly Twitter). “Following worrying reports received about the state of health of the orcas at Marineland Antibes, I have contacted my services who will conduct an inspection in order to check their state of health”she says.
Following worrying reports received about the state of health of the orcas at Marineland Antibes, I contacted my services who will conduct an inspection to check their state of health.
— Sarah EL HAÏRY (@sarahelhairy) November 19, 2023
One voice immediately bounced back asking if “State services will visit Wikie, Keijo & Inouk, the orcas still alive at Marineland IN ADDITION to the expert appointed by the courts following our request?”
One Voice demonstrated in October in front of the park following the death of the orca Moana at the age of 12. Orcas can live up to 50 years in their natural environment. Moana was the first orca in Europe to be born by artificial insemination. Wikie, his 22-year-old mother, is still at Marineland with two other orcas, Inouk, 24, and Keijo, 9.