Two orcas in southern France are confined to stagnant tanks inside a closed marine park, with their legal deadline for removal approaching. The facility is locked, visitors are long gone, and while the law provides until late 2026 to move them, animal advocates warn the animals themselves may not have that long. The few relocation options left are either unbuilt, unsuitable, prohibited or tragically bleak.
How a celebrated animal-welfare law created a crisis of its own
In 2021, France became one of the first European nations to ban the use of cetaceans, including orcas and dolphins, in live shows and captive breeding programmes. It was embraced as a landmark step for animal welfare. But it also meant Marineland Antibes, one of Europe’s best-known marine parks, would not be allowed to continue operating in its familiar format. The Marineland of Antibes was founded in 1970 by Count Roland de La Poype on the French Riviera, between Cannes and Nice. It grew to become Europe’s largest marine zoo, famous for whale and dolphin displays that drew crowds for decades. But over time, public sentiment shifted, attendance declined, and pressure mounted as France’s legal changes approached. On 5 January 2025, Marineland Antibes closed permanently. The park had until December 2026 to transfer every cetacean off the premises. Nearly 4,000 animals were relocated. But two orcas, Wikie, age 23, and her 11-year-old son, Keijo, remain inside. The facility is now physically deteriorating, walls are crumbling, water systems appear weakened and algae growth is dense. Campaigners say there is virtually no stimulation to occupy the orcas’ minds, despite their intelligence and social complexity.EarthDay, which has closely tracked conditions inside the closed park, described the situation, saying the pair are left to “live out their days in algae-filled tanks behind shuttered gates, in a facility slowly crumbling around them.” They point to recent history for warning: in the last 18 months, Wikie’s firstborn son Moana died of a bacterial infection, and her brother, Inouk, died after ingesting metal loosened from the tank infrastructure. EarthDay wrote: “These deaths were almost certainly not inevitable… Unless action is taken, Wikie and Keijo could be next.”Although the government’s deadline stretches to 2026, activists argue the orcas’ biological timeline is far shorter, and given their current conditions, their health may not survive the wait.
The footage that changed public awareness, and the backlash it triggered
Much of the world wouldn’t even know the orcas were still inside the park if not for the drone and on-ground footage secretly captured by documentarian and ‘rogue photojournalist’ Seph Lawless. Through aerial shots and camera angles pressed through gaps in fencing, he showed the visibly discoloured water, worn concrete and lethargic orca movement inside the deserted facility. The videos gained massive traction online. They spread across TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube, drawing millions of views and a wave of outrage. Lawless revealed in the comment section that Instagram even notified him of the reach, writing: “Instagram has just informed me this post is now on the Explore page, fully inside the algorithm, IG is now amplifying our voices… This isn’t social media. This is a social movement.” Marine biologists reached out to him directly after seeing the footage, warning they were “concerned with the water quality” the whales were being held in. But obtaining the footage involved real risk. Speaking to LADbible, Lawless described being spotted while filming. Security staff approached him quickly, forcing him to grab his equipment and escape. Police soon followed.He said he tried to blend in by sitting casually at a nearby restaurant, but officers still approached him there, forcing him to “run back to the hotel”. Not long after, police were pounding on his door. He refused to answer, waiting until they went downstairs to retrieve a key. At that moment, he slipped out through a side exit and escaped. “I left some personal belongings, like underwear and socks on the floor. I left that quick,” he told LADbible. Rather than risk checking into another hotel, he stayed on the beach overnight, then caught a train to Milan at first light and boarded a flight out of Europe, describing the ordeal as a “scary experience.” That escape itself reinforces how restricted access to the orcas has become, even in a park that is no longer open to the public.
Possible paths forward, and why every one is fraught
With the deadline now less than two years away, the question remains: where can Wikie and Keijo go? Lawless outlined several possibilities when speaking with LADbible. One is transfer to a seaside sanctuary, specifically the Whale Sanctuary Project in Nova Scotia. He supports the concept and described it as an environment where the orcas would live in ocean water separated by nets, a massive improvement from concrete tanks. But he also acknowledged the reality: the sanctuary is not operational yet. Construction and development will cost around $20 million. And time is not standing still. Another proposal, one many assumed would succeed, was transferring the orcas to Loro Parque in Tenerife. That plan was reviewed by Spanish authorities, and ultimately rejected. A scientific agency concluded the park did not meet the necessary standards for space, depth and area. With four orcas already housed there, including a newborn, authorities determined it was not suitable to take in two more. Beyond those options, the situation grows thinner. Lawless said one scenario is that authorities simply hold the whales at Marineland until December 2026 and deal with the problem at the last possible moment, a kind of existential waiting game. Another is releasing them directly into the wild, something most experts treat cautiously. Keiko, the well-known whale from Free Willy, was slowly conditioned over years for release but survived only a little over a year and never joined wild orca pods before dying. And then there is the grim possibility Lawless stated plainly: that the park might simply leave them where they are until nature takes its course, avoiding the expense and complication of relocating them. He told LADbible: “It almost would make more sense for them to let them slowly die than to deal with this, because, let’s be honest, $20 million and then the oversight… the veterinary… it’s not free.” It is not a suggestion anyone wants to hear, but it is one that every activist in this story has now had to confront.
