Make sure orcas in French Marine Park Spikes after the video

A video that was published online by two orcas, which circled in a pool affected by algae in southern France, has brought a new wave of worldwide concern about Cetacea-Wikie (24) and its 11-year-old calf Keijo.

France has difficulty finding a new home for mother and son after its owner, a Marine Park on the French Riviera, has been concluded with a law with Marine mammals.

Marineland was founded in the city of Antibes in 1970 and was closed to the public in January after a decline in those present and the law in 2021.

In February, the management of the park submitted an inquiry to the two orcas – also known as killer whales – and urgently transmitted 12 dolphins in Spain. However, the move was blocked by the Spanish authorities that the facilities were adjusted for them.

“The situation at Marineland Antibes is an emergency,” said the NGO-Tiebreaker based in Canada in a social media post after the video was published.

“Leaving it in a closed facility that is limited to a crumbling, dilapidated tank is simply not an option,” it said.

If the two orcas get sick, you will “probably put or succumb to the deteriorating environment”.

The video, which was shot by a drone at the beginning of this month, shows the two orcas and dolphins in tanks, whose edges are green with algae, in the middle of installations that were previously used for other sea animals in Brackwasser.

The park management contacted by AFP said that the orca and dolphin pools remained well maintained and that around 50 employees were still working for the well-being of the animals.

The algae visible in the pictures were a normal phenomenon and explained that algae pores are present in the filtered sea water that developed the entire quarter with the water.

They were not harmful to the animals and were regularly removed by brushes, said management.

– 'Alternative solutions' –

This explanation was supported by Mike Riddell, who managed the park for 26 years before he was released in a change of ownership in 2006.

AFP images that were recorded during a press search in May 2020 showed similar fine algae that covered the edges of the pool.

However, the Tidebreaker film material led to strong reactions, which, according to the park of the park, even included murder threats against the staff.

Officials said they shared the concerns of the NGO, but the attempts by the park, together with the employees of the France Environment Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher, have not come to an emergency solution.

The ministries contacted by AFP said that the authorities “ensured that the animals are still accommodated under good conditions until their future goal is defeated”, and that the park was looking for “alternative solutions”.

After the Spanish ban's decision, Marineland had hoped to transfer the Orcas to a park in Japan. However, the move was blocked by the French government, which demanded a transfer to a European park with higher welfare standards.

But a solution in which the only facility in Tenerife, Spain, was involved, was lodged by the Spanish government last month, in which, according to French officials, the facilities “did not meet the requirements”.

NGOs, including a voice and a seaside, asked for permission to send specialists to Marineland to look after the orcas.

The two mammals born in captivity cannot survive alone.

In the long term, the French Ministry and the NGOs, should see the establishment of a marine protection area in which orcas and dolphins could be looked after under half -woven conditions.

According to Riddell, such a solution would cost two to three million euros (2.2 to 3.3 million USD) per year.

It is estimated that Wikie and Keijo still have decades under appropriate conditions.

FCC/JH/RMB