France struggles to find new home for two orcas after park closes

Rights group urges France to move orcas to sanctuary after Spain refused transfer

Rights activists on Friday urged French authorities to transfer two orcas from Antibes’ shuttered Marineland to a sanctuary after Spain refused to take them in. France has yet to find a home for the orca mother and her calf after the marine park where they are housed closed down in January over a law banning shows featuring marine mammals.

According to one expert, the animal probably died at sea for a while and was brought back by water movements. Weighing about fifteen tons, the question of its evacuation from the port now arises.

Within the discussion about keeping wild animals in captivity, marine mammals receive special attention. Highly intelligent, extremely limited in space and used for shows. What does the future look like for dolphinariums? “There has to be an elegant solution.”

Dolphins Trapped in French Marine Park While Greece's Sanctuary Plans Stall

Dolphins in captivity performing a show at an aquarium. Credit: User-Marb CC BY SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons Twelve dolphins and two orcas are stuck in a closed marine park in France after Spanish authorities refused to grant an import permit to move the animals in two of Spain’s aquariums -and while the option of moving them to a pioneering dolphin sanctuary in Greece remains up in the air since the Greek government keeps delaying issuing an op…

Orcas and dolphins stuck in closed French marine park

Two orcas and 12 dolphins are stuck in a shuttered French Riviera marine park after Spanish authorities refused to let them move to their country.

Orcas, dolphins stuck in closed French marine park

Two orcas, Wikie and Keijo, and 12 dolphins are stuck in a shuttered French Riviera marine park after Spanish authorities refused to let them move to their country, an official told AFP on Thursday.