Victory! Europe’s Largest Marine Animal Prison Is Closing Down
In a dream come true for PETA honorary director Pamela Anderson and the tens of thousands of PETA supporters who took action, Le Marineland d’Antibes (Marineland France) will finally close its doors on January 5, 2025!
This massive news comes after years of campaigning by PETA and other animal protection associations, including protests at the park, petitions, letters, exposés, and more. Actions included Pamela Anderson posing naked in a bathtub reminiscent of the tiny tanks in which the animals are housed, prompting influencers to pose in their bathtubs during the COVID-19 lockdown. French YouTube star Greg Guillotin also made a statement by sitting in a fishbowl for another ad campaign.
An action alert garnered support from almost 50,000 PETA France supporters, proving how much we can achieve when we raise our voices together!
Cetacean Captivity is Cruel
The animals kidnapped from their ocean homes or bred in captivity to be abused in marine parks are some of the world’s most sensitive and intelligent.
Trapped in chemically-treated pools and forced to perform mind-numbing tricks for jeering audiences, orcas and dolphins—who swim vast distances in their wild homes and enjoy complex social structures and communication to teach and learn from their family members.
Not only are animals at marine parks restricted to barren tanks, fed poor diets, and forced to endure never-ending training regimes, but they’re often paired in incompatible groups, which results in attacks, injuries, and even death.
In March, 25-year-old orca Inouk became the second orca to die in the tanks at Marineland Antibes in less than six months. Three orcas died at the notoriously cruel Loro Parque from 2021 to 2022 alone, and just weeks ago, Keto became the latest orca to die under their watch at a mere 29 years old, decades younger than the life expectancy of a free orca.
When legislation was introduced in 2020 to ban cetaceans in captivity, the intention was to see those currently held captive transferred to sea pens to spend the remainder of their lives in a more natural environment. Sending Wikie and Keijo, Marineland’s two remaining orcas, to Loro Parque, as is rumoured, would be a complete betrayal of the animals and the intention of the ban. No matter where they are, marine parks deny animals any quality of life and guarantee them a lonely death. The only ethical option is to send these long-suffering orcas to a sea sanctuary.
PETA Calls for Animals to be Sent to Sea Sanctuaries
Earlier this year, following decades of sea animal torture and the deaths of over 100 dolphins and two orcas, officials in Miami-Dade County finally terminated Miami Seaquarium’s lease, marking the beginning of the end for this animal prison. At the same time, Jet2 became the latest European travel giant to end its sales of marine park tickets.
The closure of Marineland d’Antibes is just one more example that the writing is on the wall for animal exploitation businesses. It follows a legal ruling in France banning the breeding or acquisition of cetaceans by marine parks and a plan to transfer those currently held captive to sea pens so that they can spend the remainder of their lives in a more natural environment.
PETA is calling on the park to send all animals to new homes in sanctuaries so they can finally enjoy some semblance of the quality of life they deserve.
Please help tighten the screws on marine abusement parks by telling travel company TUI to stop selling tickets to these cruel establishments:
