Whale Sanctuary Project

The fifth and final posts in our Spring 2024 Sanctuary Progress Report series are now posted on the website: The emerging global movement to retire captive whales and dolphins to sanctuary, and what it takes to get this work done. You can also read up on the accelerated bay pen work in Nova Scotia, site geography & environment work and more. https://lnkd.in/g7SQ_dTg

In our Sanctuary Progress Report we’ve been talking about the orcas in France at Marineland Antibes. Closer to home, Marineland Canada has confirmed that it is coming under new ownership. No word yet on who the new owners might be and what may happen to the 34 beluga whales there. The next blog post in our Spring Update series provides some background on Marineland Canada’s belugas and others whom we consider to be candidates for retirement to the sanctuary. https://lnkd.in/ggvZb27y

An in-depth technical report on the extensive studies that we’ve done at the sanctuary site to ensure the site is a suitable long-term habitat for whale residents. This is the third blog post of our Sanctuary Progress Report -Spring 2024 Update now up on our website. https://lnkd.in/g_v-YdPj

In “The Accelerated Plan and Bay Pen” – the second post of our sanctuary progress report – you can read about the plan at the sanctuary site to be able to welcome Wikie and Keijo (depending on the French government’s decision). And regardless of the government’s decision, everything in this plan can be applied to any orcas or beluga whales coming to the sanctuary from anywhere in the world. The series of six posts will continue next week. https://lnkd.in/g57kUAbq

Sanctuary Progress Report: Spring 2024 is a new series of blog posts on the website. The first blog post of the series, “Hope for a Family in Distress”, is about Wikie and Keijo, the two remaining orcas at Marineland, Antibes in France, and whether they may be able to come to the sanctuary in Nova Scotia instead of being sent to an entertainment facility overseas as the French government moves toward implementing its ban on cetacean captivity. In the second blog, you can read about the plan at the sanctuary site to be able to welcome Wikie and Keijo (depending on the French government’s decision). There are, of course other whales in urgent need of retirement to sanctuary, and we discuss some of them in a later blog. “The Accelerated Plan and Bay Pen,” blog describes the large bay pen that’s being constructed to give newly arriving whales an opportunity to acclimate to their new home while the full perimeter net (more than a mile long) is being installed and anchored to the seabed. The four remaining blogs, to be posted next week, will include detailed updates on sanctuary site geography and environmental analyses, news on other whales in need of sanctuary, and how a cetacean sanctuary movement is coming together around the world. #wikieandkeijo #orcas #belugawhales #whaleswithoutwalls #lifebeyondthetanks #fromtankstotides #whalesanctuary https://lnkd.in/gbi4sviw

The Whale Sanctuary Spring Update 2024 webinar is now available on our YouTube channel. In last week’s webinar Dr. Lori Marino, President, and Charles Vinick, Executive Director, give an update on our work in establishing the sanctuary in Nova Scotia and welcoming the first whales. They discuss our plan to respond to the urgent need of Wikie and Keijo, the two surviving orcas at Marineland Antibes in the south of France. Charles describes the state-of-the-art bay pen that’s being constructed to welcome them to the sanctuary while installation of the mile-long perimeter net is completed. And he notes that the plan IS CONTINGENT ON AN AGREEMENT with Marineland to retire Wikie and Keijo to the sanctuary rather than sending them to an aquarium in Japan. We also discuss the four years of environmental and site development work to ensure the site is a suitable long-term habitat for whale residents. Other topics include our work with the Jane Goodall Institute to foster the efforts of groups around the world who are working to bring an end to the captivity of whales and dolphins. Check out the full webinar at the link below. https://lnkd.in/gSY-fpSj #backtonature #orcas #belugawhales #endcetaceancaptivity #fromtankstotides #wikieandkeijo #whales #lifebeyondthetanks

Join us TODAY! SPRING UPDATE WEBINAR: THURSDAY, MAY 23rd at 4pm Eastern Time. Join Dr. Lori Marino, President and Charles Vinick, Executive Director, for a Spring Update on our work in establishing the sanctuary in Nova Scotia and welcoming the first whales. They’ll be discussing our accelerated plan to respond to the urgent need of Wikie and Keijo, the two surviving orcas at Marineland Antibes. We have submitted a formal proposal to the French government advocating for the Nova Scotia sanctuary to be Wikie and Keijo’s new home and are awaiting the government’s decision. Our plan is contingent on this process leading to an agreement with Marineland to retire Wikie and Keijo to the sanctuary rather than sending them to an aquarium in Japan. Charles will describe the state-of-the-art bay pen that’s being constructed to welcome them to the sanctuary while installation of the mile-long perimeter net is completed. The bay pen is larger than the entire space they have at Marineland. It will serve as a “welcome center” for all newly arriving whales, where they can be observed and receive any necessary treatment while acclimating themselves to their new surrounds before being released into the full area of the sanctuary. It will also be the hub for the animals’ routine veterinary care. We’ll also discuss the four years of environmental and site development work to ensure the site is a suitable long-term habitat for whale residents. And other topics will include our work with the Jane Goodall Institute to foster the efforts of groups around the world who are working to bring an end to the captivity of whales and dolphins and to establish sanctuaries for them. REGISTER HERE and bring your questions: https://bit.ly/3QS9Jc6 

Now that three years of environmental assessments at the sanctuary site have been completed, we are fast-tracking work at the site in order to be ready to receive Wikie and Keijo at their earliest opportunity. As we have recently learned, there will be no such opportunity for Wikie’s brother Inouk, who died in their tank at Marineland Antibes last week. And we should note that bringing the surviving two orcas from France to the sanctuary is, of course, contingent on an agreement among Marineland Antibes, the French government, and the Whale Sanctuary Project. Our accelerated plan for Wikie and Keijo includes the design and fabrication of a large bay pen (larger than the space they have at Marineland Antibes) that can accommodate them while the perimeter net that surrounds the full 100 acres of sanctuary space is being completed. Our contractors on the west coast are pressing ahead with detailed plans and engineering designs for the bay pen. Once the sanctuary is complete, the bay pen will serve as an initial space for other new arrivals, where they can become accustomed to the tides and flows of the ocean and where we can have them under observation before they are released into the full area of the sanctuary. Also, and in accordance with the results of our environmental assessments that were completed last year, site engineers are working to determine where best to locate the land-based infrastructure, including potable water, septic systems, and power, along with precise locations for the building foundations, parking areas, foot paths, etc. We will also be setting up temporary land-based facilities to accommodate staff until full construction is complete. In a public statement in early February, we proposed to Marineland that rather than sending Wikie, Inouk and Keijo to an aquarium in Japan, they collaborate with the Whale Sanctuary Project and with the French government to retire the whales to the sanctuary in Nova Scotia. Such a collaboration would begin with a team of independent veterinarians being invited to conduct full health and behaviour assessments. This would lead to medical treatments as needed and then to training programs for the whales to become accustomed to the many routines that will be involved in transport and acclimating to a new environment. There is also at least one court case pending in France that will likely not be heard until late in the year. This means that Wikie and Keijo will likely not be able to move before the end of this year. And since they should not be moved during the winter months, our plan, assuming that Marineland Antibes is open to a collaborative effort between their team and ours, will be to bring them to the sanctuary in the spring of 2025. Meanwhile, the French government has been in discussions with us for the last three months and has expressed clear interest in our proposal to work with Marineland Antibes to retire Wikie and Keijo to the sanctuary.

Once again, we must note the premature passing of an orca at a marine entertainment park: today it is Inouk at Marineland Antibes. We learned this morning that Inouk, one of the three surviving orcas at Marineland Antibes, has passed away. Our hearts and our thoughts go out to his sister Wikie and to his nephew Keijo. They are a family that has already suffered greatly in captivity, and today they can only be in ever-deeper distress. Only five months ago Inouk’s nephew Moana (Wikie’s first son) also died. Read more about Inouk and his Marineland Antibes family here: #marinelandantibes #inouk #orca #france #grief #family #endcetaceancaptivity