PETITION TARGET: Marineland Antibes
UPDATE (4/16/2025): A Spanish scientific agency denied the transfer of the whales and dolphins to an aquarium in Madrid and a zoo in Tenerife, Spain, after determining that neither facility had pools large enough to accommodate them, according to FRANCE 24.
For now, Marineland in Antibes, France, is required to continue providing care for the animals until a suitable alternative is identified.
We will continue to monitor this situation and share any updates as they become available.
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A mother orca and her son are facing an uncertain future now that the marine park where they have been kept in captivity — Marineland in Antibes, France – has closed. They are reportedly at risk of being shipped off to another marine park, where they would likely be forced to entertain visitors, crammed in too-small tanks, and possibly separated from each other.
Orcas Wikie and Keijo were originally at risk of being sent to a marine park in Japan — until pushback caused the marine park to reconsider. The mother and son duo are now likely headed to either Loro Parque, a zoo in Spain, or to a sanctuary off the coast of Nova Scotia.
If they continue to be kept in tight confinement and exploited for “entertainment,” these majestic beings will suffer.
Orcas are intelligent animals who often swim 40 miles a day in the wild and have strong family bonds. In facilities where they are tightly confined, they lack mental stimulation, room to swim, and are forced to live in social groups where they might not get along — or in complete isolation.
Injuries and early death are also tragically common for orcas kept in captive facilities where they are subjected to constricted environments.
The only ethical option — considering they might not have the skills to survive if freed in the wild — is to send them to the sanctuary. Here, they will live in an actual bay, have access to over 100 acres of sea, and will never have to perform to entertain humans again.
Wikie and Keijo deserve to live their lives free from human exploitation and in a suitable living environment.
Sign this petition urging Marineland Antibes to send these majestic orcas, and the other animals in their care, to sanctuary.
