Wikie and Keijo: hope for a sanctuary for the orcas from Marineland
PRESS RELEASE Antibes, 12 December 2025
The French government has announced its wish to transfer Wikie and Keijo to a marine sanctuary in Canada, a first in Europe for orcas. After years of campaigning in the field and working alongside veterinarians and marine biologists all the way to the courts, One Voice welcomes this decision as a decisive victory for orcas and a major turning point in the gradual phasing out of cetacean captivity in France.
The Minister for Ecological Transition has just announced his wish for Wikie and Keijo, the last two orcas held at Marineland Antibes, to be transferred to a marine sanctuary in Nova Scotia (Canada) by the summer of 2026.
One Voice, which for five years has been working alongside the Whale Sanctuary Project and the world’s leading specialists to bring this sanctuary project to fruition, welcomes this major step forward and thanks the Ministry for its willingness to listen and its commitment to finally finding a dignified solution for these two orcas. The sanctuary may be ready to welcome them as early as August. Ultimately, it will offer a real life to other captive individuals.
This decision opens up new horizons for all cetaceans still in captivity in France, at a time when several countries are embarking on a similar transition. In Mexico, the 135 dolphins held in dolphinariums are to be gradually transferred to marine sanctuaries. One Voice calls on Marineland to fully support this process, to keep the orcas safe on site until the sanctuary is completed, and to refrain from transferring them to another dolphinarium.
Two years ago, the association had already taken urgent action to prevent Wikie and Keijo from being sent to Japan. It has never stopped believing that a better future was possible –for Wikie, whose parents were captured in the North Atlantic, but also for her son Keijo, a young 12-year-old orca who is still fragile and mourning the loss of several members of his family.
Accompanying Wikie and Keijo to a new life
Preparing for the transfer is now a key step. After years in captivity, the orcas will need to undergo a gradual rehabilitation process: health checks, specialised care and adapted exercises to strengthen their underused muscles. This transition will be carried out jointly by Marineland’s carers and One Voice’s expert partners.
Transport to Nova Scotia, which will be by air, requires rigorous logistics and dedicated resources. On site, the sanctuary’s facilities —40 hectares of protected sea in the heart of Wikie’s parents’ natural biotope— will be finalised: double safety netting, an adaptation area, and continuous monitoring. The orcas will finally be able to swim in a straight line, dive and evolve in a living environment, far from the monotony of artificial pools.
One Voice is calling for a collective mobilization to ensure that this transfer takes place in the best possible conditions, paving the way for the arrival of other captive orcas in the future.
A national mobilisation on 13 December
On Saturday 13 December, One Voice is organising a major awareness-raising day in several cities across France –including Nantes, Paris, Metz, Brive-la-Gaillarde and Montpellier– to defend animal rights and highlight the urgent need for ethical solutions for cetaceans still in captivity.
In Antibes, where Marineland is located, the action will have a particular resonance. One Voice’s activist teams will be stepping up their efforts to inform the public about the situation of Wikie and Keijo, explain the sanctuary project in Nova Scotia and call on the park to finally take responsibility.
This national campaign is part of One Voice’s long-standing fight to pave the way for marine sanctuaries as a credible and necessary alternative.