Video of orcas stranded in algae-infested pools triggers fresh concerns

||| FROM SCIENCE ALERT |||

A video posted online of two orcas circling in an algae-infested pool in southern France has brought a fresh wave of worldwide concern for cetaceans Wikie, 24, and her 11-year-old calf Keijo.

France has been struggling to find a new home for mother and son after their owner, a marine park on the French Riviera, closed down over a law banning shows featuring marine mammals.

Founded in the city of Antibes in 1970, Marineland closed to the public in January following a drop in attendance and the 2021 law.

In February, the park’s management submitted a request to urgently transfer the two orcas – also known as killer whales – and 12 dolphins to two parks in Spain, but the move was blocked by Spanish authorities saying the facilities were adapted for them.

“The situation at Marineland Antibes is an emergency,” said Canada-based NGO TideBreakers in a social media post after publishing the video.

“Leaving them in a shut-down facility, confined to a crumbling, decrepit tank, is simply not an option,” it said.

Should the two orcas fall ill, they “will likely be euthanised or succumb to the deteriorating environment”.

The video, shot by drone early this month, shows the two orcas and dolphins in tanks the edges of which are green with algae, amid installations previously used for other marine animals in brackish water.

Contacted by AFP, the park management said that the orca and dolphin pools remained well-maintained and that about 50 employees were still working for the animals’ wellbeing.

The algae visible in the images were a normal phenomenon, it said, explaining that algae pores present in the filtered seawater that fills the pools developed each spring as the water warms up.

They were not harmful to the animals and were regularly removed by brushing, management said.

READ FULL ARTICLE