Valentin, at the top, swims with his mother Freya and another orca named Moana. Photo: Orca Aware
Marineland, the European counterpart to SeaWorld, dropped some horrible news early this month that has a lot of people criticizing them. One of their whales died when the park was swamped by a flood.
Places like SeaWorld and Marineland have been copping a lot of shit lately. Granted, a lot of it is pretty well deserved–whales probably don’t like being in tiny little tanks all that much, and the owners of the whale jails are making money off of miserable animals. While Marineland hasn’t caught quite the same amount of flak as SeaWorld, they haven’t exactly gotten away scott free, either.
The park has been repeatedly accused of keeping the public in the dark about its animals’ health. Much like at SeaWorld, reports have circulated about whales acting unusually aggressive, ramming tank walls, and dealing with skin conditions.
The whale that died in the flood was an orca named Valentin. When adverse weather hit Southern France in the beginning of October, Valentin, along with numerous other animals, including sharks and turtles, died. The park has closed its doors until the New Year. The area received as 10% of the annual rainfall in just two days.
“We experienced an extremely difficult and unprecedented situation,” Marineland said in a statement, “and have made every effort to secure the infrastructure devastated by the weather. Trainers, experts and emergency services did everything to save the animals and secure facilities.”
Right now, the park doesn’t know exactly what caused Valentin’s death, but veterinarians are looking into it.
