The Marineland of Antibes plans a “permanent closure” on January 5 due to a law banning cetacean shows

The Marineland water park in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), which presents itself as the first marine zoo in Europe, announced on Wednesday December 4, “its final closure plan from January 5, 2025”invoking the 2021 law which prohibits cetacean shows. This plan to close the park, which employs 103 employees, was announced by the social and economic committee (CSE), said the park management.

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.

“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”explains the press release, which also highlights a continuous drop in attendance, rising in ten years from 1.2 million to 425,000 visitors per year.

With some 4,000 animals of 150 different species (orcas, dolphins, sea lions, turtles and numerous fish and corals), Marineland has established itself as “priority objectives” of “relocate all of its animals to the best existing structures to date”and “negotiate in the coming weeks with the social partners the social consequences of this closure project”.