Five months after the death of Moana, a 12-year-old male, another orca, Inouk, a 25-year-old male, died at Marineland in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), the water park announced on Thursday March 28 in a press release. An autopsy must be carried out on the animal in the coming days and the resumption of orca shows, scheduled for Saturday, has been postponed, the zoo said in a press release. This sad event should relaunch the debate on the fate of the last orcas in captivity in France.
After Moana’s death in October, it took months of autopsies and analyzes to conclude in early February that “acute bacterial septicemia that occurs naturally in nature” had caused the orca’s death, according to Marineland. A few weeks before this first death, in September, French justice had demanded an expert opinion on the state of health of Inouk and Moana, deemed “pitiful” by One Voice, an animal rights association. Its experts had noted repetitive and stereotypical behaviors on the part of the four cetaceans at Marineland, subdermal lesions for Moana and extremely worn teeth for Inouk.
Although the life expectancy of orcas is difficult to establish, they generally live several decades and, even in captivity, some have reached fifty.
Now, only Wikie (22 years old) and Keijo (10 years old) remain in Marineland. Inouk was Wikie’s brother and Moana was her son, as was Keijo. All were born in Antibes.
All born in captivity
Several animal rights associations have regularly expressed concern about their fate, while cetacean shows will be banned from December 2026 in application of a 2021 law against animal abuse.
“Inouk died in the very place where he was born to be exploited. He had just turned 25. We had been warning about his health since 2019. The expertise ordered by the courts concerned Moana and him. Both died in the filthy pools of Marineland in Antibes,” denounced One Voice on the social network X.
According to Marineland, experts commissioned in November by the Ministry of Ecological Transition had highlighted “the professionalism and expertise of the team [of keepers], the adequacy of infrastructure, food, care and veterinary monitoring orcas, as well as the water quality of the ponds”.
An exercise was carried out in January to prepare for the departure of the orcas. The park management, which did not wish to comment on this operation, has not hidden its intention in recent months to send the cetaceans abroad. Several animal protection associations, including It’s enough! and One Voice, discuss a possible transfer to Japan, which is home to several water parks, including two likely to accommodate orcas.
One Voice is campaigning for Marineland’s orcas – all born in captivity and therefore cannot be released into the ocean – to be welcomed into a marine sanctuary. But the zoo argues that France has not created such a sanctuary. The association believes that the law against animal abuse would be misused if it led to their movement to a less protective country. “What awaits them [in Japan] is the same thing but worse,” declared One Voice to Le Monde in September 2023.
In January, the courts ordered Marineland to keep its orcas for at least four months, until the final expert report on their health was submitted.
Opened in 1970, Marineland Antibes says it welcomes an average of 750,000 visitors per year.