Dolphinariums
Dolphinariums: the dignity of large marine animals takes a hit
Orcas and dolphins lead miserable lives in the concrete tanks of dolphinariums, where none of their basic needs are considered. Trained by hunger, condemned to turn in circles without any entertainment, they die slowly with the sole aim of entertaining visitors.
Concerned about their future, One Voice is fighting relentlessly for the transfer of these captive marine animals to a marine sanctuary. Our association represents France on the board of Dolphinaria Free Europe.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Why are we fighting against the exploitation of animals in dolphinariums?
Born to roam the oceans
How can we imagine that cetaceans, born to roam the oceans in complex social groups, can thrive in captivity? It is strictly impossible to meet the welfare needs of individuals torn from their families, condemned to promiscuity in small tanks, forced to take part in degrading shows and subjected to a noxious environment (treated water, noise, sunlight). No independent expert will certify that a captive cetacean is happy to be so.
Orcas and dolphins in captivity: muzzled giants
Like humans, cetaceans have a language, dialects, social ties and traditions. When they are forced to survive in concrete tanks where there is nothing to do, the anxiety generated is so powerful that it provokes aggressive, stereotyped and often dramatic behaviour. We think of Aïcko (“little love” in Japanese), separated from his mother and drowned on 6 November 2016, his body covered in bites. Or Moana, a captive at Marineland d’Antibes, who died in 2023 at just 12 years of age, when the life expectancy of orcas in the wild is between 60 and 90 years.
Our battle without borders, with the experts
Since its creation in 1995, One Voice has been working with internationally renowned experts, including Doctors Naomi Rose and David Perpiñán, to help monitor and free captive cetaceans. For years, our investigations have denounced the illegal capture of cetaceans in the oceans, exchanges between parks destined for reproduction and synonymous with broken families, and the deplorable conditions in which these sensitive and intelligent animals are held.
On behalf of Inouk, Wikie, Keijo and all the others
In France, the law against animal cruelty voted in 2021 stipulates a ban on shows with wild animals in 2026 and the end of dolphinariums, except for those with research programmes. Planète Sauvage and Marineland have such programmes.
Key figures
An alarming fact
Our proposals
Our proposals to the French government
- Recognise cetaceans as animals, as has been the case in India since 2015.
- An immediate ban on shows and breeding in dolphinariums.
- Ban on the transfer of cetaceans, with the exception of sanctuaries.
Resources
Discover all our resources on the subject of dolphinariums
History
Nearly 30 years of battles and victories against dolphinariums
September 2020
On 29 September 2020, Barbara Pompili, the French Minister for Ecological Transition, announced an end to the breeding of cetaceans in captivity and a halt to the acquisition of new animals by parks. We deplore the lack of details on animal exchanges, the timetable and its implementation.
May 2020
Our investigators once again went to the Planète Sauvage park to check on the health and living conditions of the captive dolphins. A few days after our visit, Amtan gave birth to a baby dolphin that did not survive a week. The park asked us not to broadcast the videos and demanded €100,000 in damages. This will not silence us. Our legal action for Aïcko is still ongoing.
December 2019
Marineland d'Antibes is threatening to send the orca Inouk to China, a country where there are no laws to protect animals. We are mobilising the public with the "A sanctuary, not China" campaign and alerting politicians so that Inouk is placed in a sanctuary. The complaint we have lodged for acts of cruelty is still pending.
May 2019
Demonstration in front of Antibes town hall for Inouk, sick, with gnawed teeth, and a life other than at Marineland. On the basis of scientific expertise, we filed a complaint for acts of cruelty and a petition was launched. John Hargrove, former supervisor of the park's animal keepers, is at our side. By keeping protected animals captive, this park must prove that it is doing something for wildlife. We must take action to obtain this document!
January 2019
Ula, Morgan's daughter, whose illegal birth was celebrated by Loro Parque Park (Tenerife), is between life and death. This baby orca is sick, deformed and isolated... the scientists consulted have never seen anything like it. With Ingrid Visser and Matthew Spiegl (Free Morgan Foundation), we are defending mother and daughter in The Hague (Netherlands), where this dramatic exploitation took place...
December 2018
Uncovering the trafficking of 97 juvenile orcas and belugas illegally captured and sequestered in the Sea of Okhotsk (Russia) for resale to Asian marine parks. In April 2019, One Voice is supporting the expedition (Jean-Michel Cousteau, Whale Sanctuary Project, Ingrid Visser), which has secured the release of these very sick cetaceans.
October 2018
In the absence of a response from the Minister for Ecological Transition and Solidarity for a new order banning the reproduction and exchange of cetaceans, One Voice is taking legal action against the State. We are asking for €500,000 for the moral prejudice caused by its failure to act, a sum intended for the creation of a marine sanctuary.
September 2018
Emergency at Parc Astérix. Demonstration at the Oise prefecture, then at the "leisure" park: Femke's condition, sick, almost immobile on the surface, with no interaction with the other captives, demands it. Our petition reached over 100,000 signatures. Mobilised, scientists signed damning reports that were brought before a court that continued to deny the evidence!
August 2018
It's taken a year and it's still not over! The autopsy report, marred by imperfections, conceals the errors in Aïcko's care. One Voice has asked the judge for a second opinion, because according to our expert's report, Aïcko was force-fed whole fish when a tube should have been used, and he vomited through the vent then threw himself against a wall when he was put back in the water. "Petit amour" drowned, his larynx dislocated.
August 2018
Against oblivion! The last dolphin in a closed marine park in Japan, Honey is dying. She's all that's left! And where is Martinha, rescued on a beach and then held in a swimming pool for a decade? Is she still alive? The Portuguese authorities say so, but cannot prove it! Campaign for the closure of Attica Park in Greece (where Ekinox, Femke's son, has been transferred even though it is forbidden to show animals to the public there).
July 2018
Muriel Arnal is at Superpod, a world conference on cetaceans and is presenting our battles: Femke, Aïcko, but also the other captive orcas Wikie, Inouk, Keijo and Shouka. Here, at the CWR (Center For Whale Research), of which One Voice is a member, Ken Balcomb is following the tragedy of the decline of Pod J, a group of resident orcas, one by one, sadly confirmed a few weeks later by the death of Scarlet and Tahlequah's calf.
July 2018
One Voice with the Whale Sanctuary Project! Little White and Little Grey, two 12-year-old belugas held at the Shanghai Aquarium, are about to be set free at the Icelandic marine sanctuary. It's a release project that's absolutely worth following!
Summer 2018
We are campaigning to present each of the orcas held in France: Wikie, Inouk, Keijo, Moana, but also Shouka the exiled, and to denounce the fate that dolphinariums everywhere reserve for them. Lolita, Kiska and Morgan are the sad figureheads of this international campaign.
March - June 2018
Our campaign is being organised in March 2019, soon to be joined by our partner Sea Shepherd France, against a proposed oceanography centre in Dieppe, with hundreds of thousands of sensitive individuals to be put in jars in 120 tanks, just a few metres from the English Channel. Also in the north of France, we have been protesting for several months in a row for the captive and dying manta rays and sharks at Nausicaa, the Boulogne-sur-Mer aquarium.
March 2018
One Voice wrote to Minister Nicolas Hulot, urging him to adopt a new decree incorporating the essential elements of the previous one: an immediate halt to the trade and reproduction of captive cetaceans. In July, as the French representative of the Dolphinaria Free Europe coalition, One Voice was received by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Solidarity to emphasise the urgency of this!
January 2018
Disaster. After a partial suspension in July 2017, the "dolphinariums" decree issued on 7 May under Minister Ségolène Royal was annulled on 29 January 2018 by the Conseil d'État on procedural grounds. This annulment brings the totally obsolete 1981 decree back into force.
October 2017
One Voice is at the biennial conference of the Society for Marine Mammalogy in Halifax (Canada). Three marine sanctuary projects were singled out for taking in released cetaceans: the Whale sanctuary projects, the Beluga sanctuary project and the Baltimore National Dolphin Sanctuary. The association is following these projects.
May 2017
One Voice and its European coalition SOSdelfines.org are producing a cartoon clip recounting the lives of Femke, Inouk, Galéo and Aïcko, because children have the right to know their sad truth.
2017
One Voice is launching an emergency procedure for Femke, the dolphin at Parc Astérix, who has been in a terrible state since her only son Ekinox was transferred to a Greek dolphinarium.A veterinary assessment, a request to the authorities and a summary court procedure have been launched to deal with the urgency of the family's suffering, which augurs the worst.
2016
An additional complaint against Planète Sauvage was lodged on 7 November concerning Aïcko, whose condition was dramatic. His death was announced on 9 November, leading One Voice to ask the Préfet to look into the situation.
2016
Investigations in dolphinariums continue, with increased vigilance over the orcas at Marineland.
2015
Start of the campaign to include the closure of French dolphinariums in the Biodiversity Act, following the death of Valentin at Marineland d'Antibes.
2012
To free Morgan, a young killer whale who was lost at sea and sent to a dolphinarium despite current legislation, One Voice is working with Orka Coalitie and the Free Morgan Foundation.
2011
One Voice organises circles of silence for captive dolphins in the three major cities near a dolphinarium: Nantes, Nice and Paris.
2008
One Voice is continuing its fight for the release of the dolphins in Port-Saint-Père and is stepping up its theatre and leaflet campaigns in parallel with its legal battle.
2006
When the new dolphinarium project in Port-Saint-Père was announced, One Voice immediately put together an opposition dossier and launched an awareness campaign with actions such as a circle of silence and a theatre-tract: "Captive dolphins seek free humans". It succeeded in getting the issue taken to court, with legal action from 2007 to 2009, which delayed the opening.
2006
Ric O' Barry, a consultant for the association, returned to Taiji at the request of Time Magazine Asia. He then toured France to raise awareness of the problem of captive marine mammals.
2004
With the support of the Haitian authorities, One Voice is supervising the release of six dolphins that had been captured for the leisure industry. The Haitian environment minister wanted to send a clear message against the exploitation of dolphins. There are courageous politicians and countries that remain dignified, despite the difficulties they face!
2004
One Voice is continuing its investigation in Japan with Ric O'Barry, the former Flipper trainer, who is returning to Taiji accompanied by journalists. An action is being organised in front of the Japanese embassy.
2004
Launch of the "Peace for Dolphins" campaign. Dolphinariums where "swim-with" programmes are proliferating are targeted, particularly in the Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda.
2003
An exclusive investigation by One Voice in Japan proves for the first time the link between the Taiji massacres and the captivity industry. The images were broadcast around the world by the BBC in 2004, then to scientists attending the 19th conference of the European Cetacean Society in La Rochelle in 2005, as well as to the Whaling Commission. It was a tsunami for the global dolphinarium industry! At last, the public can see the hypocrisy of those who claim to be working to protect cetaceans!
1997
One Voice/Aequalis in partnership with SOS Grand Bleu, joined by a group of animal protection associations, are campaigning against the proposed dolphinarium at Port-Saint-Père. After six months of intense lobbying, we obtained a ban on the transport of dolphins from the Ministry of the Environment! Ten years of arm wrestling were to follow.