Marineland declined comment. Proof, if any were needed, that the subject of orcas in the Antibes wildlife park is particularly sensitive. This Friday, the Alpes-Maritimes prefecture announced that Marineland seemed to be preparing a possible departure of its three orcas, while ensuring that it had not yet received an export permit request.
The One Voice association, which has been denouncing since this summer a plan to sell orcas to a Japanese zoo, has for its part expressed its concern to see the cetaceans flying off to Japan next week. An inspection was scheduled after the death of a male in the fall.
The law of 2021 against animal abuse will ban shows featuring wild animals from December 2026. By sending its three orcas to a less protective country, the Antibes animal park would be at the origin of “a vast masquerade” according to the association, which requests that the orcas be welcomed in a marine sanctuary.
A crane was reportedly positioned over Marinland and stockades were erected. Currently closed, the park could take advantage of the availability of its keepers to “train” the animals for this very long journey. According to Sea Shepherd, an evacuation exercise would be scheduled for Wikie, Inouk and Keijo on the night of January 9 to 10.
Opened in 1970, the Marineland park in Antibes says it welcomes 750,000 visitors per year in a normal year. There are only three orcas left after the sudden and still unexplained death in October of Moana, a 12-year-old male.