The Uncertain Fate of France’s Last Two Captive Orcas

At a closed marine park in the south of France, two orcas swim lonely circles in an aging tank, its walls caked with green algae. Their fate has become a drama in France, where the government must decide soon whether to transfer them to another marine park or release them into a sanctuary in the sea.

While the prospect of sending them into nature is appealing, evoking a sense of restitution for captive mammals, critics argue it is both experimental and unrealistic. These orcas — a female, Wikie, 25, and her son Keijo, 13 — were born in Marineland, the shuttered park in Antibes, and have never had to survive in the wild.

The park closed in January 2025 after 55 years, a victim of the coronavirus pandemic, which crushed attendance, and animal welfare legislation from 2021. The law banned most shows involving marine mammals like orcas, reducing the park’s appeal to tourists.

Since the closure, about 40 employees have come each day to care for the mammals — in addition to the orcas, there are 12 dolphins — at a cost of several million euros a year, according to Marineland.

That arrangement may soon be untenable. A report this year warned that the orcas’ tanks were suffering “progressive structural deterioration” despite maintenance. A major structural failure might prompt the park owners to euthanize the orcas, also known as killer whales.

Some accuse the government of dragging its feet in finding a solution.

“I just get this feeling that they’re just waiting for the orcas to die to solve the problem,” said Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an antipoaching and marine-conservation group. He is lobbying for European countries to finance the construction of a marine sanctuary in Europe.

Last June, Mr. Watson recalled, President Emmanuel Macron of France promised him on television that he would help find a solution for the orcas. “We haven’t heard anything since,” he said.

The French government declined an interview request but has released several updates about its efforts to find a solution. But “there’s no magical sanctuary,” said Mathieu Lefèvre, France’s deputy minister for ecological transition, during a Senate hearing in April.

There are two options. France can either transfer the orcas to a park similar to Marineland, most likely Loro Parque on the Spanish island of Tenerife. Or it can move them to an area at sea protected by nets, like a planned 100-acre open-water sanctuary in a cove on the Canadian coast, called the Whale Sanctuary Project.

This kind of sanctuary would allow handlers to care for the mammals in a natural setting, without public performances. That contrasts with the fate of Keiko, the orca who starred in the 1993 feature film “Free Willy.” He was later released into the wild, without human protection, and struggled to adapt.

Each option has its obstacles. The French government initially said its preference was to send the orcas to the Canadian site. But months later, the site isn’t ready and experts are still debating if it’s an appropriate habitat for the whales, derailing the French plan. And the Spanish authorities have blocked the orcas’ transfer to Spain, the French government said in December.

Even among marine experts and activists, there is no consensus about the best solution.

Moving captive-born orcas to natural environments doesn’t guarantee their well-being, according to critics of the Canadian plan, since the orcas’ ability to adapt to that new context is not assured. Such sites may be polluted or noisy, creating more stress for the orcas, and they are also expensive to maintain.

“These solutions appear more appealing to our human eyes than they do for the daily lives of these animals,” said Martin Böye, scientific director at Loro Parque Foundation, which already owns four orcas. Wikie and Keijo need interactions with other orcas in a familiar environment, he added.

Mr. Watson warned that because these orcas were raised in a Mediterranean climate, they would not be acclimated to a Canadian one. He also noted that the nearby shoreline used to have a gold mine, raising concerns about contaminated water — though the Whale Sanctuary Project says that its studies showed the site was safe.

“On paper, it’s a great solution, but in practice it’s impossible,” said Valentin Ducros, a spokesman for Marineland.

Supporters of the open-water option counter that parks have a vested interest in keeping orcas captive, since it makes it easier for them to breed new generations of killer whales, sustaining their business model.

Critics fault the French government for passing the law restricting marine shows without planning for the future of their former stars. Anne Chain-Larché, a senator who worked on the law, deplored that no impact assessment was produced and that decrees clarifying the law took too much time to be drafted for parks to adapt.

Now, the orcas are paying the price for that lack of foresight, said Marketa Schusterova, a founder of TideBreakers, a Canadian nonprofit that protects marine mammals.

“How can we be screaming, ‘Empty the tanks,’ and have nowhere for these animals to go?” Ms. Schusterova said.