Eight dolphins have successfully been relocated from Marineland Antibes, a marine park in southern France that shut its doors in January 2025. However, four dolphins remain there, along with Wikie and Keijo, the last captive-born orcas in France. The situation highlights challenges in ending animal captivity without securing proper relocation options.
In the early hours of July 23, the bottlenose dolphins named Dam, Rocky, Lua, Neo, Tux, Kai, Anya, and Joe were moved out of Marineland Antibes.
Rejected
The dolphins were transported by road to Nice airport and then flown by cargo plane to Málaga, Spain, where they were housed in pools at Selwo Marina. This move marks progress after the dolphins spent eighteen months in a closed park with decaying infrastructure. Nonetheless, Selwo Marina is another operational dolphinarium owned by Parques Reunidos, the same company that owns Marineland.
This relocation is intended to be temporary, with plans to transfer the dolphins to a new facility under development at ZooParc de Beauval. However, no specific timeline has been provided.
Meanwhile, the remaining four dolphins in Antibes are awaiting a proposed move to Oceanogrà fic in Valencia. Additionally, France has approved a plan to send Wikie and Keijo to Loro Parque in Tenerife, but this transfer is pending approval from the Spanish government.
The French law prohibiting cetacean shows was enacted in 2021, and Marineland ceased operations on January 5, 2025. During the interim, various relocation proposals were considered, rejected, and revisited multiple times.
Sanctuary
The delay in relocating the animals was not solely due to governmental inaction. Animal-protection organizations also opposed transfers to other captive environments. In January 2024, One Voice secured a temporary court order barring the removal of the Marineland orcas until an independent expert could assess their health and living conditions. Other groups resisted moves to operational dolphinariums and advocated for sanctuary alternatives.
These actions stemmed from concerns that animals removed from an industry France sought to end might be placed back into commercial exhibitions. However, with no operational sanctuary ready to accept the animals, ongoing disputes prolonged their stay in the degrading facility.
Abolition
In October 2023, Wikie’s 12-year-old son, Moana, succumbed to bacterial septicaemia at Marineland Antibes. Five months later, her brother Inouk died after ingesting metal. Contaminants in the tanks can be deadly, yet construction persisted around Wikie and Keijo in the same tanks marked by their family’s loss.
In May 2026, Mathieu Lefèvre, France’s minister delegate for ecological transition, stated that an expert report identified instability in Marineland’s pools and noted that no sanctuary could accommodate the animals within the necessary timeframe.
