Beauval Zoo’s planned dolphin facility a dolphinarium in disguise for Marineland dolphins

The proposal comes after a frantic search for a solution for the 12 dolphins and 2 orcas at the closed down Marineland Antibes facility. World Animal Protection and many other NGOs strongly oppose the previous suggestion to transfer the dolphins to a Spanish dolphinarium, owned by the same company that owns the failed Marineland Antibes facility. This appears to have been an intermediate step to sending the dolphins to a Chinese facility, where they would be used for shows and breeding.

While Beauval’s proposition may prevent such a scenario, it is not an acceptable solution for the Marineland dolphins, nor is it even guaranteed to be receiving the Marineland dolphins. The explicit plan by Beauval to breed the dolphins and to carry out public interactions indicates that this will just be another dolphinarium under the disguise of ‘science’ and ‘education’ that perpetuates dolphin captivity in inadequate conditions.

Beauval’s previous proposition appeared to acknowledge concerns around breeding dolphins and suggest the new facility should only serve as a transit place until sanctuary space is available and was initially welcomed by many NGOs. However, the now public proposal by Beauval is a stark departure from this original pitch. It enables pathways to sustain dolphin captivity indefinitely as long as it is presented as ‘educational’ or ‘scientific’ – labels that haven’t stopped dolphins from suffering and dying at facilities brandishing them.    

We call on Beauval Zoo to reject breeding of and public interaction with dolphins at the planned facility and instead develop a genuine sanctuary for dolphins in need – something that the dolphin industry should have been developing all along to show responsibility for the challenges their dolphins are now facing.

And we call on the French government to genuine sanctuaries for cetaceans in need.

Governments worldwide need to put more efforts into enabling humane solutions for captive cetaceans of failing commercial facilities. NGOs have been pushing for the development of cetacean sanctuaries in various countries but often face push back from governments and dolphinariums. If this legislation is still going to allow for the breeding, exploitation and suffering of these intelligent animals it will ultimately do nothing to tackle the harm caused by this cruel, profit driven industry.

Image credits: Hero image is by Jo-Anne McArthur