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There is an emergency at the Marineland park in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), closed since January 2025. Two orcas and a dozen dolphins are still threatened there. This Friday, May 15, the Minister of Ecological Transition visited the site. This time the decision seems to have been made: the cetaceans will head to other parks in Spain.
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After months of uncertainty, it is the end of a long soap opera for the two orcas. They were filmed on the morning of Friday May 15, visibly in good shape. In a few weeks, they will leave Marineland in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), which has been permanently closed for more than a year.
Due to degraded and cracked basins, their safety would be threatened. There is urgency for the government. The green light was given for a transfer to Spain. “I remind you that there are already two orcas who died in this park a few years ago. If we do nothing, we condemn them to certain death“, declared Mathieu Lefèvre, the Minister of Ecological Transition.
The orcas will be transferred by cargo plane to another water park in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. One of the France Télévisions teams went there. Cetacean shows are still authorized, the best option according to Marineland Antibes. “This will allow them to join a social group already made up of four orcas, which will allow them to have six orcas in total, and therefore to constitute a social group which is necessary for the well-being of the animals.“, explains Valentin Ducros, Marineland spokesperson.
As for the 12 dolphins in the French park, they will be temporarily transferred to Spain, to two other parks. Eight of them will eventually be hosted at the Beauval zoo (Loir-et-Cher). Finally, a way out is found. Opened in 1970, the park experienced prosperous years. Pirouettes, acrobatics… The dolphins and orcas, the undisputed stars, attract up to 10,000 visitors per day.
For many, in Antibes, the page turns with a certain nostalgia. “It was a unique opportunity for the children to see this. It was fabulous”comments a woman. “You went there at least once a year, it was the least you could do. You received family with little ones, you brought them. It was a magnificent sight“, says a man. “There are still good memories, but when you are little, you don’t realize things. It’s not a life for them… Circus beasts“, nuance a third person.
With the awareness of animal welfare, attendance is decreasing. A sign of a bygone era, a law bans cetacean shows in France from 2026. A few months ago, images shocked us: two orcas, as if alone in the world. Animal rights associations have continued to denounce their situation. Their transfer to the Canaries is far from satisfying them. “Sending these animals to another park, particularly in Spain, where the detention conditions are even worse than at Marineland in Antibes, it’s just shameful”castigates Aurore Defix, the spokesperson for the “One Voice” association.
The transfer of the orcas must take place before the end of June, and is expected to cost several hundred thousand euros.
