why the water park is under fire

The park announced Inouk’s death, six months after the death of another orca, Moana. An animal protection association will file a complaint for “ill-treatment”.

Black series at Marineland in Antibes. The Alpes-Maritimes water park announced, Thursday March 28, the death of the orca Inouk, a 25-year-old male. “This is terrible news that affects animal caretakers and all Marineland teams,” writes the park in a press release. An autopsy must be carried out “in the coming days” to determine the causes of his death. However, this announcement comes only six months after the death of another orca, Moana, Inouk’s nephew, who was 12 years old. There are only two orcas left in Antibes: Wikie, 22 years old, and Keijo, 10 years old.

The animal protection association One Voice reacted by saying that it would file a complaint against the park for “mistreatment”. “It is not normal for an orca only 25 years old to die in conditions that we have warned about,” declared on franceinfo the president of the organization. Since its opening in 1970, the Antibes park, which boasts 750,000 annual visitors, has been criticized for the captivity conditions of its cetaceans, which are also at the heart of a debate on a possible transfer abroad. Franceinfo takes stock.

Conditions of captivity singled out

One Voice has already filed several complaints against Marineland since 2019, denouncing the mistreatment of orcas, based on images of the cetaceans and expert reports. In September 2023, the Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal ordered an expertise on the state of health and living conditions of these animals, following a new request from the organization. One Voice experts had noted among cetaceans “repetitive and stereotypical behaviors”subdermal lesions for Moana and extremely worn teeth for Inouk.

The male Moana died a month later in the park, once again angering animal rights activists. “Those responsible will have to be held accountable, we will see to it,” warned One Voice. After months of examination, the park finally announced in February that the final autopsy had linked Moana’s death to a “acute bacterial sepsis, which occurs naturally in nature” according to the press release.

Since 1970, several associations have filed complaints against the Marineland of Antibes, recalls the INA. The park’s history has been marked by other deaths. In 1960, the center’s first orca, Calypso, died after only a year in captivity. Clovis, captured in the United States in 1970 and transferred to Antibes, died three years later. In 1978, Betty was captured in Iceland; she succumbed to pneumonia in Antibes nine years later, at the age of 13, recalls France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur.

Although the ordinary life expectancy of orcas is difficult to establish, they generally live several decades in the wild and, even in captivity, some have reached fifty. For its part, Marineland states on its site “guarantee the health and well-being of animals through the application or even surpassing of the latest national and international reception criteria”.

Accusations of “illegal trade”

In December 2023, the Bordeaux association Defense of Aquatic Environments launches a procedure for “illegal trade” in protected wild species against the Marineland park in Antibes. “We have obtained documents on these orcas, which we suspect are false”, explains Philippe Garcia, its president, to franceinfo. Firstly, “We hypothesize that cetaceans arrived at the park illegally.” On the other hand, “we contest the commercial use made of these animals”, he said. “A wild animal cannot be in captivity, except to be treated there,” pleads Philippe Garcia. Inouk and Moana were born in captivity in Antibes, as were the two remaining orcas in the park, Wikie and Keijo. But their ancestors were captured at sea before being transferred to the park.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also called the Washington Convention, regulates the border crossing of more than 38,000 animal and plant species, at different levels. Each animal that arrives in an aquarium is accompanied by its own certificate, issued in France by the Regional Directorates for the Environment, Development and Housing (Dreal). The complaint filed by Defense of Aquatic Environments also implicates a Dreal agent. “We have not been contacted by the authorities regarding this complaint and therefore have no comment to make”the establishment reacted to AFP in December.

Concerns about the future of the park’s other orcas

The Alpes-Maritimes park is also preparing for the entry into force of the law against animal mistreatment of 2021. This text will prohibit cetacean shows in France from December 2026 and, unless exempted, the maintenance of orcas and dolphins. in captivity in a park. With this in mind, the One Voice association affirms that Marineland wants to sell its orcas to Japan, a country less protective of orcas.

“This is information that reaches us from inside the park“, assured the president of the association, Muriel Arnal, to France 3 Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in December. She fears that these cetaceans will be sold to a park “located in Kobe, for $2 million each.” Contacted by France 3, Marineland did not comment. One Voice is campaigning for orcas to be welcomed into a marine sanctuary. But the zoo argues that France has not created such a sanctuary – the one the association recommends is in Canada.

Beginning January, the Ministry of Ecological Transition as well as the office of the Secretary of State for Biodiversity at the time, Sarah El Haïry, said they had not issued “no permit” for the transfer of orcas abroad. “Without this authorization, no travel can be considered”, assured the firm. Fearing that the animals would leave, One Voice took legal action regarding the state of health of the cetaceans. In mid-January, the Grasse judicial court ordered that Marineland keep its orcas for at least four more months, time to complete the veterinary expertise.