The French government has been urged to reconsider Canada’s two stranded killers.
Wikie, 23, and her 11-year-old son Keijo are currently held at the Marineland Antibes in southern France, where they were born and held for life. It closed in January.
Spanish authorities blocked applications for sending it to the most likely destination for resettlement in Tenerife – Loro Parque Marine Zoo. Loro Parque is already home to four orcas, including one born last month.
Lori Marino, president of the Whale Sanctuary Project (WSP), said their website in Nova Scotia was “the only option left” because French authorities have not yet identified locations in Europe and have refused to move to Japan’s marine zoo.
Her team is bidding for orc reorganizations in eastern Canada despite the French Ministry of Ecology rejecting previous offers earlier this year.
Animal rights groups want to relocate orcas in whales in whales, where they will have more space to swim and will not be forced to breed or perform in performances.
French Ecology Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher said she was looking for European shelter in February but had not yet obtained the right location for Wikie and Keijo.
“If you don’t even have a website, you’ve been a few years old,” Lori said. Lori added that WSP has conducted environmental studies, water surveys, and leases are provided by Natural Resources Canada.
Morgan and her calf, she was born last month in Loro Parque, Tenerife [Loro Parque]
Marineland’s manager said the shelter is an assumption that “it will take years” to build and that “no guarantee” will be properly cared for.
They stressed that Wiki and Kayhoe “have to leave now” for their own welfare, adding: “Marinland reaffirmed the extreme urgency of moving animals to operating destinations.”
Although Marineland’s business as a marine zoo has been closed, they remain legally responsible for the welfare of animals until they are reconciled.
The application for Pannier-Runacher to transfer it to Loro Parque is described as a temporary measure that will bridge the gap until the discovery and construction of the sanctuary in Europe.
But activists fear that the transfer will eventually be permanent. The decision of the Spanish scientific expert panel to stop this decision was a pleasant surprise for many.
“I was shocked,” Lowry told BBC News. “We thought it was a fait. We thought it was the orca and it looked like a deal.”
Marineland Antibes closed in January, but remains home to Orcas Wikie and Keijo [Getty Images]
The transfer was required by a scientific team to complete the transfer, but they concluded that Loro Parque’s facility “does not meet the minimum requirements required to accommodate specimens under optimal conditions in terms of surface area, volume and depth.”
Dr. Jan Schmidt-Burbach, head of animal welfare and wildlife research at Charity World Animal Protection Agency, said the decision was “unexpected but rational”.
He added, “It perfectly illustrates the fact that Ocean Parks are an outdated industry with socially declining acceptability”.
Loro Parque responded to the group’s decision, saying “Their facilities are recognized by independent assessors as the highest level of animal welfare in the world.”
WSP has identified a location in Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia, where they plan to use a 1,600m net to blockade.
The project’s team also includes people involved in the Whale Shelter, which was intended to accommodate Keiko’s whale shelter, who starred in Orca in the 1993 film “Free Willy”.
WSP CEO Charles Vinick manages the Keiko project in Iceland, while Jeff Foster is part of the team.
Keiko was born in the wild and was able to re-learn some survival skills after arriving at the shelter in 1998.
He spent four years there before leaving the Orca Pod he joined. They swam to Norway, and he died in 2003 after infection.
Wikie and Keijo will not be released into the wild, because unlike Keiko, they were born in captivity.
They were cared for and entertained by coaches throughout their lives. Lori said they were treated in similar care in the capital of Nova Scotia, but had more living space than the pool.
“We have a whole staff who know how to build and run the sanctuary,” Lori said. “They have done it before and I think we are the only teams with experience doing it.”
Lori and the WSP team contacted the ministry after learning of the transfer to Loro Parque. At the time of writing, they received no response.
BBC News also contacted the department for comment. Pannier-Runacher has not yet issued a new announcement on what will happen to Orcas.
Before the decision was made, Wikie and Keijo stayed in Marineland, their other homes were not known to be empty now.
