Marineland in Antibes, one of the last marine parks in Europe, created in 1970 will permanently close its doors on January 5, 2025. Its director, Pascal Picot, speaks on France Bleu Azur. He has spoken very rarely for ten years and especially for the first time since this announcement of closure this Wednesday.
What are your priorities today?
The two priorities are one, the relocation of all the animals in the park in the best living structures to date, and two, it is to negotiate in the coming weeks with the social partners the social consequences of this project of closing.
Exactly, what will be the fate of the employees of Marineland’s 103 employees?
I would first like to thank all the employees for their dedication, on a daily basis, to the well-being of our animals, to welcoming and educating millions of visitors. And the economic and social consequences, they know, will be negotiated in the coming weeks with the social partners.
Does that necessarily mean job cuts?
For the moment, it is premature to talk about it because in France, fortunately, we are well supervised, so we must first negotiate with the social partners.
What will become of the animals?
Today, on Marineland, we have more than 150 animals, not counting the aquariums. If we count the aquariums and all the fish and corals, we have more than 4,000 animals. So it’s a colossal relocation plan that will take several weeks, several months.
We have been working on it since the law was promulgated in 2021 and we have surrounded ourselves with the best experts from around the world. We work closely with the competent authorities.
You went from 1.2 million spectators around ten years ago to 450,000 today. How do you explain this disaffection?
It is not up to me to explain what the drop in visitors is linked to. On the other hand, we suffer the consequences.
The economic difficulties actually started several years ago, in 2017, when the first law was passed. But the 2021 law dealt a fatal blow to the park's economy and above all took away any hope of improvement since this law prohibits the detention of orcas and dolphins in France. And it is obvious that the 2021 law has delivered a fatal blow to the park's economy.
You know, for 50 years, millions of visitors have come to Marineland, millions, and listen to me carefully, 90% of them have come to see orcas and dolphins. So without orcas and dolphins, we simply can no longer have visitors.
Visitors to the park have continued to decline, today, economic balance is no longer guaranteed and we have no other choice than to close and comply with the law and apply it.
Will there be a park without animals instead, an amusement and leisure park?
I don't have any information on this so I don't know where you get this information from, but as of today, there is nothing planned to replace Marineland at this time. I tell you again that our only two priorities: it is the animal relocation plan and the economic and social consequences which we will negotiate in the coming weeks with the social partners.
Associations opposed to animal captivity have been mobilizing for 10 years to demand the closure of the park. Would you say they won?
Today, I will say that it is the 2021 law that prohibits the keeping of orcas and dolphins that is forcing us to consider closing Maryland. I would like to add that for decades, associations have been discussing the hypothesis of sanctuaries, without this hypothesis ever seeing the light of day. It is still at the project stage and Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher has clearly explained that there is no sanctuary solution today.
So we take our responsibilities and we must find the best possible solutions to accommodate the animals, but at the same time, with the same standards as those of Marineland. The animals will leave as soon as we have found equivalent structures in terms of animal welfare.
Since the 2021 law, we have worked with the best experts and several possibilities are offered to us, in particular that of Japan, which for orcas seems to us to be the best.
Do you have any regrets?
I am very sad, because you know, for 50 years, our priority has been animal welfare. Marineland has always been responsible for finding and caring for these animals, and today our only goal is to comply with the law.
And there you have it, animals remain our priority and we will take care of them until the last day as best we can as we have always done for more than fifty years.
A park created 54 years ago
The park, one of the last marine parks in Europe, located near the sea in the town of Antibes, was created in 1970 by Count Roland de La Poypea former fighter pilot from the Second World War and above all passionate about the world of marine animals.
The site first hosted, on two hectares, a few marine mammals and two orcas before expanding regularly and extending over 26 hectares in 2024.
Since its opening, the park has been home to cetaceans, including two orcas, bottlenose dolphins, sharks and various fish, several species of sea lions, seals, polar bears, seabirds and loggerhead turtles. In 2011, at the initiative of the park, the Marineland Association was created to redirect activities towards the conservation of animal species and public awareness of the marine environment.
Opponents of cetacean captivity have been mobilizing for around ten years now.
