Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: Eric Beracassat / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP 4:22 p.m., March 28, 2024

A new death of an orca in the Marineland park in Antibes. The park announced the death of Inouk, a 25-year-old orca. The fate of the last orcas in captivity has been debated since the passing of a law in 2021 against animal abuse, which will ban cetacean shows in France from December 2026. 

Black series among the orcas of Marineland in Antibes, the last in captivity in France, whose fate is debated: after the sudden death of Moana, 12 years old, in October, the animal park announced on Thursday that of Inouk, 25 years old . “This is terrible news that affects the animal caretakers and all the Marineland teams who saw Inouk born 25 years ago,” the park announced in a press release. And as a result, the orca shows, long its major attraction, will not resume on Saturday as planned after the winter break.

Justice demanded an expert opinion on the living conditions of orcas in Antibes in September

There are now only two orcas left in Antibes: Wikie (22 years old), sister of Inouk and mother of Moana, and Keijo (10 years old), son of Wikie. All were born at Marineland. An autopsy must be carried out in the coming days to determine the causes of Inouk's death. Regarding that of Moana in October, it took months of examinations and analyzes to finally conclude in early February that it was "acute bacterial septicemia which occurs naturally in nature", according to the park.

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Although the ordinary life expectancy of orcas is difficult to establish, they generally live several decades and, even in captivity, some have reached fifty. In September, justice demanded an expert opinion on the living conditions of the orcas in Antibes and specifically on the state of health of Inouk and Moana, deemed "pitiful" by the animal protection association One Voice. Its experts had noted repetitive and stereotypical behaviors for the four cetaceans, subdermal lesions for Moana and extremely worn teeth for Inouk.

“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,” One Voice denounced on social networks.

What future for orcas in captivity? 

According to Marineland, experts commissioned in November by the Ministry of Ecological Transition had highlighted "the professionalism and expertise of the team, the adequacy of infrastructure, food, care and veterinary monitoring of the orcas, as well as as the quality of the water in the basins.

Beyond their living conditions at Marineland, orcas are at the heart of a debate on their future while a 2021 law against animal mistreatment will ban cetacean shows in France from December 2026 and limit the possibilities to keep them in captivity. A full-scale exercise was carried out in January to prepare for a possible departure, by familiarizing the orcas with the stretcher on which they will have to be lifted to be placed on a truck and then on a plane.

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One Voice feared seeing them fly straight away to Japan, but the animal park never communicated about the possible destinations. The association is campaigning for large black and white cetaceans, which have only known captivity, to be welcomed in a marine sanctuary and not sent to continue the shows in a less protective country. But Marineland argues that France has not created such a sanctuary. One Voice and the American organization Whale Sanctuary Project have proposed to "collaborate" with Marineland and the French government with a view to transferring the orcas to an existing sanctuary in Canada.

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, the Marineland park in Antibes welcomes an average of 750,000 visitors per year.