It presented itself as “the first marine zoo in Europe”. The Marineland water park in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes) will soon close its doors. And probably forever. The announcement was made this Wednesday at the CSE of the company, which employs 103 employees. “It is with great emotion and deep sadness that Marineland is forced to consider permanently closing the marine zoo as of January 5, 2025,” its leaders said in a brief statement.
The company was in serious economic difficulties and had seen its attendance plummet. In ten years, the number of visitors has increased from 1.2 million to 425,000 per year. The water park was hit hard by the 2021 law banning cetacean shows. “While 90% of visitors choose to come to Marineland to admire representations of orcas and dolphins, the law of November 30, 2021, prohibiting cetacean shows, requires Marineland to consider this closure”, specifies the management in a press release.
Established on the Côte d'Azur since 1970, Marineland has sparked controversy in recent months by considering the transfer of its last two orcas to a Japanese park, to the great dismay of animal defenders and the Minister of Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who opposed it at the end of November.
