Marineland, Europe’s largest marine park, closed its doors for good this Sunday after over 50 years of operation.
Located in Antibes on the French Riviera, the park faced dwindling visitor numbers and new legislation banning cetacean shows by 2026.
These factors sealed the fate of the park and its 4,000 animals, including two orcas, Wikie and her 11-year-old son Keijo, whose future remains uncertain.
Challenges in Rehoming the Orcas
The final show was held during the last day of the holiday season, marking the end of an era.
Marineland, which opened in 1970, announced its closure in December, citing that 90% of its visitors came for dolphin and orca shows, according to 20Minutos.
With the legal changes and declining attendance — down from 1.2 million annual visitors to just 425,000 — the park declared it could no longer sustain operations.
French Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, stated that public sentiment regarding animal shows has shifted globally.
She confirmed that her department is working with Marineland to explore relocation options for Wikie and Keijo.
Releasing the orcas into the wild is not an option. Having spent their lives in captivity, they lack the skills to survive in the ocean.
An initial plan to send them to a Japanese marine park was vetoed by the French government, citing the orcas’ fragile health and concerns about lower animal welfare standards in Japanese facilities.
The ministry suggested Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, as a possible new home. However, no formal decision has been made.
Animal rights group One Voice proposed a sanctuary in Nova Scotia, Canada, but it remains under development and is not yet ready to accommodate the orcas.
While the fate of the two orcas is still undecided, Pannier-Runacher emphasized that Marineland must propose viable solutions to the ministry.
“As of today, there is no sanctuary worldwide capable of housing two orcas,” she noted.
