Marineland drops $1.5M lawsuit against former employee and agrees to rehouse walruses


After a decade-long legal battle, former Marineland trainer Philip Demers was able to see his beloved walrus Smooshi this week, after the Niagara Falls, Ont., tourist attraction dropped a $1.5-million lawsuit against its former employee.


Phil Demers worked at Marineland for 12 years before becoming an animal activist. Demers and the Niagara Falls, Ont., park have settled a decade-long legal battle that will see two walruses relocated.© Submitted by Phil Demers

Demers, the animal rights activist and whistleblower, is still banned from Marineland, but was allowed inside the park Wednesday for a reunion with Smooshi — the first time he had seen her in a decade, he said — after news emerged that the legal issues were resolved.

The lawsuit, filed in 2013 by Marineland, alleged Demers trespassed and plotted to steal the 800-pound walrus. Demers filed a counterclaim, also in 2013, for defamation and abuse of process, he told CBC Hamilton.

After several weeks of negotiations, both sides have dropped legal action and, as part of the mutual agreement, Smooshi and her calf Koyuk will be rehoused as soon as "reasonably possible" where "they can join other walruses."

In a news release issued Wednesday, Marineland said "litigation between Marineland … and Phil Demers has been resolved amicably... Mr Demers acknowledges Marineland's evolution towards education, conservation and research, and its commitment to enhanced animal care."

Demers said he would leave the exact location of where the walruses are going to Marineland to share publicly but that he agrees the new location is better.

"I'm incredibly pleased. I'm ecstatic," he said. "The contrast of where she's going now, and the fact she will no longer perform and she won't be under the blazing hot sun and she won't be separated from her baby anymore, which to me is probably the greatest piece of justice that that animal deserves."

Koyuk was born in June, 2021, but Demers said the two have been kept apart since Koyuk's birth so Smooshi could perform in shows.

The fight to free Smooshi

Demers was a Marineland trainer for 12 years before becoming a whistleblower and activist, shedding light on the conditions the animals were living in at the facility.

Demers said he decided to use the lawsuit to leverage the animals' release.

"It's been a tunnel vision-like experience for me. I've only ever thought about the walrus and the conflict with Marineland."

He said the settlement has taken a weight off him.

"There's a certain poetic justice to it all."

Marineland still in court

Demers's efforts aren't the only ones that have put Marineland in hot water for its use of animals.

The animal rights group Last Chance for Animals (LCA) filed complaints against the facility last year, saying videos showed illegal dolphin and whale shows.

Miranda Desa, a lawyer for LCA, said a 2021 video shows "dolphins performing tricks to music for an audience" and "beluga whales being instructed to perform tricks for food in front of on-watchers" but that Marineland refers to their shows as "educational presentations" to get around not having a licence.

Under a section of the Canadian Criminal Code introduced in 2019, captive cetaceans — large sea mammals such as dolphins and orcas — cannot be used "for performance for entertainment purposes" unless the performance is authorized with a licence from the Ontario government.

Niagara Regional Police told CBC Hamilton that the complaint resulted in Marineland being charged with the criminal offence related to the of "use cetacean for performance/entertainment without a licence" and that this charge is still before the courts.

Police said they have received additional complaints but as they are actively under investigation, police cannot provide further information.

Desa said Marineland will have its seventh court appearance on September 28 in St. Catharines, Ont.

As for Demers succeeding in having Marineland rehousing Smooshi and Koyuk, Desa said it is an important step in increasing awareness of "animals in captivity and the harms they suffer, especially at Marineland."

In its statement Wednesday, Marineland said it "has a historic obligation to care for the marine mammals in its care.

"Marineland must care for its animals and there is no simple or obvious solution to rehouse them."

The most important reunion

Demers called his reunion with Smooshi "powerful." He joked it was a red-carpet entrance, adding, "It was more like grey, dreary, concrete carpet."

He also tweeted a photo of himself being allowed back onto Marineland's grounds.

Demers said he plans to keep advocating for marine mammals in captivity, but for now, he's happy he caught his proverbial white whale in seeing Smooshi and Koyuk being freed from captivity.

Although he wasn't able to get really close to Smooshi Wednesday, he's hopeful it's just the beginning of a new chapter.

"The door for many more [visits] is wide open," he said. "I look forward to all of them."

Cara Nickerson -CBC- Sept 21

ONTARIO
Not everyone loves Marineland. Park offers 'educational' shows but local schools aren't going

Story by Cara Nickerson • CBC

Tuesday, May 16, 2023

Marineland, which for years has faced allegations about its treatment of marine mammals and their use for entertainment purposes, is still offering field trips to schools.

But instead of going on these outings, students at some Ontario schools, including in Brantford and Hamilton, are engaged in curriculum that teaches them about controversies involving the Niagara Falls, Ont., theme park.

Marineland's website says the park offers educational activities and resources based on the Ontario curriculum.

The theme park did not respond to CBC Hamilton's request for an interview and updated its website following the request, removing a page about its educational video and worksheet series.

The updated website says trips to Marineland help teachers "bring science curriculum to life for your students in a memorable and exciting way."

Still, the school boards CBC Hamilton contacted say they're not taking field trips to Marineland, although it's not clear if that has anything to do with Marineland's controversial past.

What some school boards are saying

The Niagara public school board said schools in its district haven't gone on field trips to Marineland for seven years and it's "unaware" of any Marineland trips planned for this year.

The Niagara Catholic school board's spokesperson, Jennifer Pellegrini, said schools in her district went on trips to Marineland before the pandemic began early in 2020, but added no trips are planned for the end of this school year.

Pellegrini did not say why the school board isn't sending students, but said all trips in the district "must have a direct and enhancing relationship with the curriculum of the classroom."



In 2014, a concerned parent petitioned to stop her children's school, which was part of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, from going on a field trip to Marineland. The class went to the Royal Botanical Gardens instead.

© Dan Taekema/CBC

In 2014, a parent with children at Mountain View Elementary School in Stoney Creek, part of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, petitioned and stopped the school from going to Marineland.

The Hamilton-Wentworth public school board said no trips to the theme park are planned for this year.

Marnie Jadon, communications officer with the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, said, "While we don't have details, we expect some would have [gone to Marineland] years ago."


She also said no trips have been planned for this year.

In the past, schools in Brantford's Catholic school board visited the park, but the board also said no trips are scheduled for this year.

Brantford's public school board said it could not confirm whether its schools went on trips to Marineland in the past, and said no trips are planned for this year.

Last year, students in Grades 5 and 6 at Forest Run Public School in Vaughan created a website about returning Kiska, the last killer whale held in captivity in Canada, back to her natural habitat.

Earlier this year, students at Bayview Glen Public School in Thornhill, Ont., created a video for World Whale Day. The school tweeted the video and thanked the Grade 2 and 3 students for advocating for Kiska.

Kiska died on March 10 at age 47. Two months later, a beluga whale and bottlenose dolphin also died at the park.

'Not an actual learning experience'

Catherine Boutzis, a kindergarten teacher and animal rights activist in Waterloo, Ont., told CBC Hamilton that Marineland is an "attraction," not a conservation area, and doesn't teach children about animals in their natural habitats.

"It's there purely for [the kids] to bang on the glass and be entertained. It's not an actual learning experience."

She said she has had conversations with her students about Marineland, African Lion Safari and other animal theme parks.

"I've talked to them quite frankly about some of the things they use to train those animals and how those animals were taken from their natural habitat," she said.

"They're not living the life that was intended for them with their families."

Former Marineland trainer speaks out

Phil Demers, a former Marineland trainer and whistleblower, said that "for as long as I worked at Marineland, there was exactly zero emphasis on education and even less on conservation."

Under a section of the Canadian Criminal Code introduced in 2019, captive cetaceans — large sea mammals like dolphins — cannot be used "for performance for entertainment purposes" unless the performance is authorized with a licence from the Ontario government.

The new law was part of Bill S-203 passed in 2019 that, after years of debate, banned the captivity of cetaceans. It included a grandfather clause, however, for animals that were already in captivity.

In December 2021, Marineland was charged with using dolphins and whales to perform and entertain without authorization, Niagara police told CBC Hamilton in December 2022. The Crown stayed those charges on Dec. 21, 2022.

Demers told CBC Hamilton he has watched recent videos of dolphin performances. He said he had to review hours of taped dolphin performances when Niagara police were investigating the park in the fall of 2021 and he watches "countless" social media videos of the park when it's open to monitor the well-being of the animals.

He said the current "educational trainer talk" at King Waldorf Stadium, as advertised on Marineland's website, is still based on a show he designed himself 15 years ago.

He said the original show "was exclusively based on entertainment. Nothing's changed except for some of the stuff they say over the microphone."

ONTARIO

Protesters at Marineland hold 'memorial' for Kiska the killer whale on Niagara park's opening weekend

'#RIPKISKA' read one of the signs.

Story by Cara Nickerson • CBC

May 22, 2023

There was a crowd outside Marineland on Saturday, but those holding signs and gathered out front weren't there to visit the controversial theme park in Niagara Falls, Ont.

The 100 or so protesters stood at the roadside, as the park opened to visitors for the first time this season, were there to condemn Marineland for years of alleged animal abuse and remember Kiska, the last killer whale in captivity in Canada, who died there this past March.

'#RIPKISKA' read one of the signs.

In the years leading up to Kiska's death, animal rights activists advocated for the whale's release back into the wild.

The animal rights groups that organized the protest, Last Chance for Animals and UrgentSea, played footage of Kiska ramming her head against the glass of her tank on a banner van during the protest.

Jennifer Jamieson, an animal rights advocate from Stoney Creek, Ont., said Saturday's protest brought up a mix of emotions for her.

"We're glad that [Kiska's] no longer suffering but we still have work to do," she said.

From visitor to protester

Jamieson said before she began advocating for the animals in captivity at Marineland, she was a visitor.

"I used to take my children there," she said.

Jamieson said she used to run a home daycare centre and would take the children on trips to Marineland to learn about marine animals. It only took a few trips to the park, she said, to realize "there was nothing educational" about the park.

"That is why I started advocating for the animals, because I actually went there as a visitor and I was disgusted with the surroundings and the habitats that these wild animals were living in."

In 2014, Jamieson successfully petitioned her child's school to cancel a planned class trip to Marineland. The school changed the destination to the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington instead.


Beluga whales can be seen in this aerial image of Marineland, taken on May 19, 2023.

© Patrick Morrell/CBC

Marineland did not respond to CBC Hamilton's recent request for an interview.

Its website says trips to the park help teachers "bring science curriculum to life for your students in a memorable and exciting way."

When Marineland posted on Facebook this past week about the park's opening day, dozens of people commented saying they were planning to attend this year or enjoyed an aspect of the park, which also includes rides and at least one rollercoaster.

Jamieson said she doesn't believe in shaming people who still visit Marineland.

"I'm all about educating and creating awareness," she said, adding that some visitors likely "don't know" about the park's alleged animal abuse.

"I'm not comfortable with using the word shame, or shaming people for having gone there before, or being there the day [of the protest]."

'We're not going anywhere': former trainer

For some protesters, the goal is to see the animals removed from the park and rehomed to wildlife sanctuaries.

Phil Demers, former Marineland trainer and co-founder of UrgentSea, said he thinks they are getting closer to that goal.

"The protest was a very powerful expression of our resolve that we're not going anywhere until Marineland themselves resolves to part ways with any use of animals for entertainment or captivity and ultimately retire them to better lives," he said.

Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati told CBC Hamilton last week he also supports a move "away from animals."


Marineland opened for the season on May 20. 

The park is shown here May 19, 2023, a day before it opened.

© Patrick Morrell/CBC

Demers said Saturday's protest was largely shielded from visitors entering the park by the tarp-covered fences, but he said he looked into the parking lot several times throughout the day.

"You could count 15 to 20 [vehicles] at most at any time and that was about it," he said.

CBC Hamilton asked Marineland for the ticket sale numbers for its opening weekend, but has not yet received a response.

MARINELAND

Canada: 14 whales have died at aquarium since 2019, exposé reveals

Tracey Lindeman in Ottawa

THE GUARDIAN
Thu, 24 August 2023 



Fourteen whales and a dolphin have died since 2019 at a popular Canadian aquarium and theme park, according to a new exposé by the Canadian Press.

Of the marine animals that have died, 13 were belugas and one was Kiska – the world’s loneliest orca, who died of a bacterial infection after four decades in captivity, the last 12 of which were in isolation.

The cause of death of the other 14 animals remains unclear.

Since January 2020, Ontario’s provincial animal welfare services has inspected Marineland 160 times. In 2021, it said all of Marineland’s marine animals were in distress because of the quality of the water and ordered the park to make improvements.

Canadian Press published its revelations on Thursday after receiving documents through access to information requests. A journalist, Liam Casey, said this story got him banned from Marineland.

Marineland, which opened in 1961, is also home to land animals including bears, bison, elk and deer, according to its website.

Earlier this year, the province charged Marineland over failing to provide adequate enclosures and water access to its three black bears.

Animal welfare activists have long accused the park of cruelty and abuse for keeping animals in unfit tanks and enclosures. Many of the sea animals at Marineland are trained to perform tricks in exchange for fish.

The former Marineland employee and whistleblower Phil Demers spent a decade trying to free Smooshi, a walrus he had previously trained and had since plotted to steal because of concerns over her health and safety.

This past spring, Smooshi and her calf Koyuk were relocated to SeaWorld in Abu Dhabi.

Marineland has steadfastly denied any mistreatment. “We have a strong record of providing for the welfare of our animals and will continue to prioritize their health and wellbeing as a central focus of our mission,” reads a website post signed by Marie Holer, who took over the park after her husband and Marineland’s founder died in 2018.

Reports in January showed Marineland is looking for a new buyer to help it “evolve, develop and grow”.

Wayne Gates, a member of provincial parliament in Niagara Falls, told the Canadian Press the time has come to repurpose Marineland.

Marineland asks Canadian government for emergency cash to feed whales — or euthanasia imminent

Associated Press
Fri, October 3, 2025



Police officers block protestors from an entrance to Marineland grounds in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, on May 20, 2023. (Alex Lupul/The Canadian Press via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Marineland is shown in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, Aug. 14, 2017. (Tara Walton/The Canadian Press via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Visitors watch as a beluga whale swims in a tank at Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, June 9, 2023. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Beluga whales swim in a tank at Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, June 9, 2023. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A beluga whale surfaces from a tank to be fed by an employee at Marineland amusement park in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, June 9, 2023. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)


OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — The Marineland park near Niagara Falls asked the Canadian government on Friday for emergency funding to feed and care for its whales, saying euthanasia is otherwise imminent.

Fisheries Minister Joanne Thompson earlier this week denied Marineland’s request to export 30 belugas to Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, an aquarium in China. Thompson said then the decision is consistent with a 2019 law making it illegal to use whales and dolphins in entertainment shows or keep them in captivity.

The tourist attraction says Chimelong was the only option for the belugas as no sanctuary that could help exists and there is no other marine park with enough room.


Marineland, in a letter to the government, says it’s fully indebted and quickly running out of money, and has asked Thompson if she can help find another place to send the whales.

The park says the only option is to relocate the whales or else it will be forced to euthanize them.

Twenty whales — one killer whale and 19 belugas — have died at the park since 2019, according to a database created by The Canadian Press news agency based on internal records and official statements.

Thompson’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Marineland announced it was for sale in early 2023 and closed to the public in late summer 2024. It did not open this year as it looks to sell the park and the vast swath of land it owns near Horseshoe Falls. No sale has yet been announced.

The law that banned whale captivity did not apply to the existing population of captive whales at Marineland, but the park had to comply with another part of the law that forbade breeding.

SHUT IT DOWN

Canada's Marineland theme park charged over its handling of black bears

Protestors stand outside Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in May 2023. Photograph: Canadian Press/Shutterstock

Park has long been a target of activists who have sought to shut it down over the lack of care given to its captive animals

Leyland Cecco in Toronto

THE GUARDIAN

Wed 31 May 2023 

A theme park in Canada is facing charges for its handling of black bears in captivity, placing fresh scrutiny on a park that animal rights activists have long sought to shut down.

Ontario’s ministry of the solicitor general said on Wednesday it had laid the charges against Marineland, an amusement park on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. The province said the park had failed to comply with an order related to its captive American black bears.

The province did not provide additional information about the charges, laid under a section of the law allowing provincial inspectors to issue an order to help animals that may be in distress.

It is unclear how many bears remain at the facility. In 2016, the province’s animal welfare agency charged Marineland with five counts of cruelty, including failing to provide adequate and appropriate food and water for its 35 American black bears. The next year, it faced six more counts of cruelty.

Marineland, which has long been a target for activists who argue the park has a moral responsibility to release the animals it keeps in captivity, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new charges.

The charges are the latest in a string of high-profile incidents at the park.


Death of ‘world’s loneliest orca’ sparks calls for change

Two months ago, a captive whale named Kiska, dubbed the “world’s loneliest orca” died from a bacterial infection after spending four decades at Marineland. In a video clip before her death, the 47-year old whale is seen drifting listlessly in her tank.

Marineland continues to advertise its beluga whales, some of which it has sold in recent months to aquariums in the United States for “research purposes”, according to the export permits.

In December 2022, Ontario prosecutors stayed animal cruelty charges against Marineland following allegations it was using dolphins and whales for entertainment, violating a federal law that bans cetacean captivity.

The previous year, Ontario’s Animal Welfare Services found all marine mammals at Marineland were in distress due to poor water quality, a claim the park disputes. The province says an inspection of the facility’s waters, which began in 2021 remains ongoing.

In 2019, the park came under scrutiny after Marineland said two deer were killed in a stampede allegedly caused by a father and son taunting the animals. Days after the stampede, the park announced that a heart attack was believed to be the cause of death for an 18-year-old walrus named Apollo. Apollo was the fourth walrus to die in the park over a two-year period. The last remaining walrus, a female called Smooshi, was recently moved to SeaWorld Abu Dhabi.

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/05/zoos-are-prisons-death-of-emara-beloved.html

French marine park closes over law banning orca shows

Sun, January 5, 2025 

The closure has saddened many

A marine park in southern France shut its doors permanently on Sunday following a 2021 law banning shows featuring whales and dolphins. Marineland's two remaining orcas, the last ones in captivity in the country, now face an uncertain future.

A French marine park on Sunday closed down definitively over a 2021 law banning shows featuring marine mammals, leaving uncertain futures for the two last orcas in captivity in the country, hundreds of other animals as well as dozens of staff.

The closure of the park was marked by a final show by its two orcas, Wikie and Keijo who were received with rapturous applause by crowds who came for its last day of operations.

Attendance had fallen sharply in recent years but many visitors and employees alike expressed their dismay.

"Our hearts are in pieces," said Salome Mathis, a young keeper who came to say goodbye to her former colleagues at the water park.

The two orcas -- also known as killer whales -- themselves face an uncertain future.

Animal activists had been angered by Marineland's plans to transfer its two killer whales to Japan, a move France's ecology minister said she opposed over Tokyo's more lax animal welfare laws.

It employed 103 permanent staff and some 500 seasonal workers.

(AFP)

Read also:
France temporarily bans Bay of Biscay fishing to protect dolphins
What next for Wikie and Keijo? NGOs call for Marineland’s orcas to be sent to a sanctuary


Closure of French marine park sparks outcry over future of its two orcas

Jack Guy, CNN
Mon, January 6, 2025 

The closure of a marine zoo in the south of France has sparked intense debate over the future of its inhabitants, including two beloved orcas.

Marineland Antibes, near Cannes, closed for good on Sunday, with management citing legislation banning shows featuring cetaceans such as dolphins and whales, which the French government passed in 2021.

The law, which will come into effect in December 2026, also bans direct contact between visitors and cetaceans.

French lawmakers passed a ban on shows featuring whales and dolphins in 2021. - Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

In a statement published December 4, Marineland said it was shutting its doors because 90% of visitors to the park come to watch the orca and dolphin shows.

It said it had taken the decision with “deep sadness,” and was working closely with French authorities to rehome the animals.

At present, though, it is unclear what will happen to the park’s two orcas – a 23-year-old female named Wikie and her son Keijo, 10 – as well as 12 dolphins.

Marineland initially planned to send Wikie and Keijo to a marine park in Japan. This plan met with uproar from animal rights groups, which said the move would be harmful to their wellbeing, citing the fact that Japan still practices whaling and does not have equivalent laws to European countries on the treatment of animals.

The French government then stepped in, publishing a report in which it said that the only acceptable options were to send the orcas to a new sanctuary in Nova Scotia, Canada, or to rehouse them at the Loro Parque marine park in Tenerife, which is part of the Spanish Canary Islands.

Loro Parque has housed orcas since 2006 and would offer similar conditions to Marineland, according to the government report.

But animal rights campaigners are pushing for the whales to be rehoused in the Canadian sanctuary, where they would no longer be made to perform in shows.

Muriel Arnal, president of French animal rights organization One Voice, told CNN that the sanctuary is the best option for the mother-son pair.

“Japan is not at all a good solution,” she said, adding that Loro Parque would also pose problems.

“They would continue to live in captivity, in smaller pools,” in the Spanish park, Arnal said, adding that Wikie and Keijo would probably be separated so that Wikie could reproduce, breaking the family bonds that help orcas deal with the stresses of life in captivity.

And while there is a risk in moving the orcas to a sanctuary, a plan is in place to transfer them first to a sea pen before releasing them into a 44-hectare (109-acre) area of ocean, Arnal said.

The orcas will remain at Marineland while their fate is decided, she added, with public pressure increasing.

“It’s incredible how many people are mobilizing around this,” Arnal said.

CNN has contacted Marineland Antibes for comment.

'Humans are all they know' - Fate of Killer whales uncertain as marine zoo shuts

George Sandeman - BBC News
Sun, January 5, 2025 


An orca leaping out of the water while performing at Marineland Antibes on 2 January [AFP]


The fate of two killer whales is uncertain following the closure of a marine zoo in France on Sunday.

Campaigners and the zoo's managers have been locked in disagreement about what should happen to the orca whales with the French government already blocking one proposal to rehome them.

Last month Marineland Antibes, located near Cannes in the French Riviera, said it would permanently shut on 5 January following new animal welfare laws.

The legislation, which bans the use of dolphins and whales in marine zoo shows, was passed in 2021 but comes into effect next year.

Marineland, which describes itself as the largest of its kind in Europe, currently keeps two killer whales - Wikie, 23, and her 11-year-old son Keijo.

The killer whale that can 'speak'


France bans captive breeding of dolphins

Managers say shows featuring killer whales and dolphins attract 90% of Marineland's visitors – and that without it the business isn't viable.

Several destinations for the whales have been proposed but there is disagreement on where they should go and what should happen to them.

Most experts agree that releasing the two whales, which are Icelandic orcas specifically, into the wild would not be suitable as both were born in captivity and would not have the skills to survive.

"It's a bit like taking your dog out of the house and sending him into the woods to live freely as a wolf," says Hanne Strager.

In 2023 the marine biologist published The Killer Whale Journals, which details her decades long interest in the ocean predator and how they behave

"Those whales, that have spent their entire lives in captivity, their closest relationship is with humans. They are the ones who have provided them with food, care, activities and social relations.

"Killer whales are highly social animals, as social as we [humans] are, and they depend on social bonds. They have established those bonds with their trainers … They depend on humans and that is the only thing they know."

Campaigners want Wikie and Keijo to be sent to a sanctuary instead of zoos in Japan and Tenerife [AFP]

A deal to send Wikie and Keijo to a marine zoo in Japan, backed by managers at Marineland, caused outcry among campaigners who said they would receive worse treatment.

Last November the French government blocked the deal, saying the animal welfare laws in Japan were relaxed compared to those in Europe and that the 13,000km (8,000 mile) journey would cause stress to the orcas.

Another option is to send them to a Spanish marine zoo in the Canary Islands.

Loro Parque, in Tenerife, complies with European animal welfare standards but campaigners fear Wikie and Keijo will still be made to perform there.

There have also been several orca deaths there in the last few years.

A 29-year-old male called Keto passed away in November and three other orcas died there between March 2021 and September 2022.

Loro Parque say scientific examinations of those three orcas by the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria show the deaths were unavoidable.

Katheryn Wise, from the charity World Animal Protection (Wap), tells the BBC: "It would be devastating for Wikie and Keijo to end up in another entertainment venue like Loro Parque – from one whale jail to another."

Wap want the orcas to be rehomed in an adapted ocean bay.

"[We and] many others have urged the government of France to do everything it can to facilitate the movement of the orcas to a sanctuary off the coast of Nova Scotia."
'We'll close off a bay for them'

The organisation hoping to build the facility in eastern Canada say it would be able to attract funding if it received a commitment from the French government to send the two whales there.

The Whale Sanctuary Project (WSP) proposes to close off an area of seawater measuring 40 hectares (98 acres) with nets.

Wikie and Keijo could then use the large expanse of water, with human support from vets and welfare workers, until the end of their lives.

The average lifespan of a male killer whale is about 30 years, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration agency. Females usually live about 50 years.

"Life at the sanctuary will be as close as is possible to what they would have experienced growing up in the ocean," say the WSP. "It will be a new life that will make up for so much of what went before."

This kind of project has been done before.

Keiko, the orca that starred in the 1993 move Free Willy, was rescued from captivity in 1996 before being taken to a bay in Iceland in 1998.

Unlike Wikie and Keijo, he was born in the wild and was able to relearn some of the necessary survival skills while living in the bay for four years.

He eventually left with a pod of orcas he had joined and swam to Norway where he died in 2003 following an infection.

Strager warns that the proposed sanctuary might feel as alien to Wikie and Keijo as open ocean would.

"We have this conception that animals enjoy freedom in the same sense we do, 'now they are free and they will love it.'

"We don't know if they see freedom the same way ... Are they going to be scared because it is so different to what they're used to? I don't know."

She tells the BBC: "I don't think there are any good solutions for animals that have been kept in captivity their whole lives."

Pamela Anderson called for the closure of Marineland Antibes at a protest in 2017 [AFP]

More than 4,000 animals will be moved out of Marineland, which was founded in 1970 by Count Roland de la Poype.

He was a decorated fighter pilot who fought during World War Two before establishing himself in the plastics industry and opening Marineland due to his interest in sea life.

The closure of his passion project is the latest step in a campaign targeting marine zoos that has gained momentum over the last 15 years.

The actress Pamela Anderson called for the closure of Marineland in 2017 and held a protest outside its entrance saying "captivity kills".

In 2013, the documentary Blackfish detailed how an orca called Tilikum killed trainer Dawn Brancheau after a show at SeaWorld Orlando in 2010.

He grabbed her and dragged her into the water where he tore off her arm and drowned her.

The film also outlines how Tilikum was also involved in the deaths of two other people.

Researchers interviewed in the film argued that orcas captured from the wild and trained to perform become violent in captivity.

Tilikum was involved in the deaths of three people while kept captive at SeaWorld [Getty Images]

Visitor numbers and financial revenues at SeaWorld suffered in the aftermath of the documentary and in 2016 they suspended their captive breeding programme.

They rejected calls to release their remaining orcas into the wild, saying they would likely die if left to fend for themselves.

Eighteen months ago they opened a new marine zoo in the United Arab Emirates, SeaWorld's first outside the US.

The new facility in Abu Dhabi is a $1.2bn (£966m) venture with state-owned leisure developer Miral and boasts the largest aquarium in the world.

There aren't any orcas on show here but, to the dismay of campaigners, dolphins still are.

Wap have helped convince Expedia not to sell any more holidays involving performances by dolphins in captivity and want other travel companies to do the same.

"Blackfish was more than a hit – it was a phenomenon," writes the scientist Naomi Rose in a report by Wap. "I am convinced it pushed western society past the tipping point on the subject of captive cetaceans."

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'Shame on Marineland': 'World's loneliest orca' Kiska dies, ending tragic era of captivity in Canada

After 11 years in solitude, Canada's last captive orca dies amidst calls to 'prosecute Marineland'

Corné van Hoepen

·Contributor, Yahoo News Canada

Fri, March 10, 2023 

Kiska, also known as the world's loneliest orca, has died at Marineland in Niagara Falls, Ont. on March 9.

"The ministry was advised by Marineland that the whale named Kiska passed away at Marineland on March 9, 2023. A necropsy was conducted by professionals retained by Marineland," Brent Ross, a spokesperson of Ontario's solicitor general wrote in an emailed statement to local press.

She was believed to be 47 years old.

"Marineland's marine mammal care team and experts did everything possible to support Kiska’s comfort and will mourn her loss," the theme park said in a statement to local media.

Kiska was captured at three-years-old in North Atlantic waters, alongside another orca named Kieko, star of the 1993 film Free Willy.

While Keiko was rehabilitated and moved back to familiar waters off the coast of Iceland, Kiska was moved around several North American aquariums before being transferred to her final home at Ontario's Marineland.

During her captivity at Marineland, Kiska gave birth to five calves, all who tragically died shortly after birth. Since 2011, Kiska was held in solitariy confinement, thus earning her the nickname 'the world's lonliest orca.'

Orcas, known to travel in pods are social animals. Videos began emerging of Kiska floating listlessly in her tank or bumping her head repeatedly against the tank wall — a toll solitary confinement was having on the mammal.

"We are calling on provincial authorities to make public the results of a post-mortem, and prosecute Marineland for the unlawful distress Kiska clearly experienced throughout her final years," Camille Labchuk, executive director of Animal Justice told CBC News in a statement.

Kiska's passing also marks the end of orcas being held in captivity across Canada, due to a landmark bill being passed in Canadian legislation during 2019, which bans whales, dolphins and porpoises from being held in captivity. Anyone found in violation of this bill would face up to a $200,000 fine.

An exemption of the bill was not enough to free Kiska — marine mammals already held would be allowed to remain in captivity.

Kiska's passing resulted in an outpouring of tributes posted to social media from animal activists and organizations, to members of the public who wanted to share their response.

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