New drone footage has revealed a grim and deteriorating scene in the south of France: the country's last two captive killer whales, Wikie and her son Keijo, are still trapped inside a closed-down marine zoo, languishing in algae-filled tanks while authorities stall over their rehoming.
Animal activists are now making urgent calls to the French government to intervene, warning that the clock is ticking for the orcas’ health and safety.
Stranded in a Shuttered Zoo
Marineland Antibes, the marine park near Cannes where 23-year-old Wikie and 11-year-old Keijo have lived their entire lives, shut its doors in January following a ban on dolphin and whale shows, the New York Post reports.
But while the public left, the animals didn’t.
Aerial footage captured by TideBreakers on May 7 shows the orcas confined in what appears to be murky, neglected enclosures, surrounded by crumbling infrastructure. Twelve dolphins remain trapped in the same facility.
In a heartwrenching statement shared alongside the footage, TideBreakers, said: "New footage of the last two captive orcas in France stranded in a shut down marine park.
"This footage was taken on May 7, 2025 above Marineland Antibes, France. Marineland closed to visitors in January 2025, and is now abandoned.
"Tragically, it’s still home of Wikie and Keijo, the last 2 captive orcas in France. The mother and son remain trapped there, waiting for their fate in crumbling tanks.
"The abandoned park is also home to 12 dolphins that have been left to rot at the algae-infested deteriorating tanks. Marineland’s owners also own Shouka, Wikie’s sister and Keijo’s aunt, who lives at SeaWorld San Diego.
"Plans to relocate Wikie and Keijo to a sanctuary made headlines, but with no sanctuary in sight, the organizations behind the efforts have gone silent."
Comments on the post have revealed that the animals are still being fed by staff members, but footage shows the animals swimming around in algae-infested enclosures.
“They Must Leave Now”
Despite the park's closure, Marineland is still legally responsible for the animals. And its management is now sounding the alarm, too.
“Marineland reaffirms the extreme urgency of transferring the animals to an operational destination,” the park said, per BBC News. “Wikie and Keijo must leave now” for their own welfare.
Efforts to rehome the pair have hit repeated walls. An application to move them to Japan was blocked by the French Ministry for Ecology earlier this year.
Another plan to send them to Loro Parque in Tenerife — already home to four orcas — was also halted after a Spanish scientific panel concluded the facilities did “not meet the minimum requirements in terms of surface area, volume and depth necessary to house the specimens in optimal conditions.”
Dr Jan Schmidt-Burbach of World Animal Protection told the BBC that the decision was “unexpected but rational,” adding that it “perfectly illustrates the fact that marine parks are an outdated industry with dropping acceptability” in society.
Canada Could Be Their Last Chance
Now, animal welfare groups are urging the French government to approve a transfer to what may be the only viable remaining option: a sanctuary in Port Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia, run by the Whale Sanctuary Project (WSP).
Lori Marino, president of the WSP - which had a previous proposal rejected by the French ecology ministry - says it is the "only option left".
Lori said their team has completed environmental studies, water surveys, and secured a lease from Canada’s Department of Natural Resources.
Built by the Team Behind ‘Free Willy’
The WSP team includes Charles Vinick and Jeff Foster, both of whom helped build the Icelandic sanctuary that housed Keiko — the orca who starred in Free Willy. Keiko was released into the wild and swam with a pod to Norway before dying of an infection in 2003.
But there’s no such hope for Wikie and Keijo. Unlike Keiko, both were born in captivity and have spent their lives under human care. Lori added that there is no chance Wikie and Keijo will be released into the wild.
Still, she argued, the sanctuary in Nova Scotia would provide far more space and care - as well as a natural environment - than any pool.
Animal advocacy groups insist the time for waiting is over, with TideBreakers warning that action must be taken quickly.
Even though French ecology minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said back in February she was looking for a European sanctuary, no concrete site has been found. The temporary transfer to Loro Parque, which she had framed as a stopgap, has now been scrapped.
“I was shocked,” Lori Marino told BBC News about the Spanish panel’s decision to block the move. “We thought it was a fait accompli. We assumed that was where the orcas were going, it looked like a done deal.”
So far, the French ministry has not responded to the WSP’s renewed offer. At the time of writing, Pannier-Runacher has not issued any updates.