Shocking footage shows trainer sexually stimulating orca at closed French marine park
Keijo and his mother remain trapped in closed-down Marineland Antibes as concerns grow over breeding intentions and animal suffering.
Credit: TideBreakers
A male orca who remains in a deteriorating pool at a now-closed marine park is being sexually stimulated by his trainers to prevent him from inbreeding with his mother, new footage reveals.
Marineland Antibes, located near Cannes in the French Riviera, permanently closed its doors to the public in January in advance of a new animal welfare law set to take effect in 2026, which bans the use of dolphins and whales in marine zoo shows.
Keijo, 11, and his 23-year-old mother Wikie are being held at Marineland Antibes, located near Cannes in the French Riviera, despite the marine park permanently closing its doors to the public in January.
Twelve bottlenose dolphins also remain inside the facility, which is owned by Spanish entertainment group Parques Reunidos.
The park shut down in anticipation of a French animal welfare law, which bans the use of dolphins and whales in marine zoo shows, coming into effect in 2026.
As a decision about what should happen to the country’s last two remaining orcas has not been made, the pair have remained inside tanks at the shuttered facility, with campaigners warning the animals could die unless action is taken.
On August 12, activist group TideBreakers documented aerial video footage of a trainer holding onto Keijo’s flipper while another stimulates the orca, who writhes around in the water.
His mother, Wikie can be seen swimming in a pool opposite where her son is undergoing this process. As orcas are highly social animals, keeping them away from each other permanently could be devastating to their psychological health.
Captive orca Keijo subjected to stimulation by Marineland staff as mother Wikie remains isolated in adjacent pool. Credit: TideBreakers
"Our NGO, Tide Breakers, has been monitoring this park for several years now, and since its closure in January, we've started getting videos of the park,” Marketa Schusterova, co-founder of TideBreakers told Le Parisien via video. “We film almost every week to monitor how the twelve remaining dolphins and two orcas are being treated.
“When you film with a drone, the image is quite small on the screen. So at first we were quite shocked and perplexed by what was happening,” Schusterova continued.
“And then when we downloaded the video to the computer, we had confirmation that Keijo was being sexually stimulated… And that was very shocking and disturbing for the whole team.”
They reportedly witnessed trainers doing this to Keijo five times in the same day, each lasting around 20 minutes.
“It's not normal to see a human masturbating an orca to relieve himself. It's shocking and very disturbing,” said Schusterova.
Marineland told BBC News the action was necessary as Keijo is reaching adolescence and has increasing sexual urges.
A veterinarian has also been consulted about the process, according to the French ecology ministry, who are responsible for approving where the orcas are relocated to.
"In order to avoid inbreeding with his mother, but also to prevent them from fighting and injuring each other, Marineland decided to sexually stimulate Keijo [to relieve him of his] tensions,” said park managers. "Although spectacular, this is natural and totally painless for the animals.”
Credit: TideBreakers
Valerie Greene, who previously worked at SeaWorld Orlando for a decade, and is now part of TideBreakers, told the BBC the stimulation of Keijo for sexual relief is not typical and questioned their intentions: "As a former killer whale trainer, I've never seen this behaviour performed for anything other than attempting semen collection for use in artificial insemination."
Captive orca breeding laws have strengthened over the past decade in countries like France and the United States, where various practices are now banned. But in Japan, regulations remain far more lenient. Following the recent death of Japan's only male orca on August 3, activists fear that Keijo’s semen could be sold to marine parks in the country, where it could be used to artificially inseminate females and produce more calves for entertainment shows.
“Keijo is inbred, so it's even more concerning that his semen might be used for breeding of captive orcas," said Greene. His mother and father are half-siblings.
There is currently no footage of the trainers collecting the marine mammal’s sperm.
“Marineland wishes to remind everyone that the sale of semen is prohibited and export is subject to authorisation from the French authorities,” Marineland Park told Le Parisien in a statement.
“Regardless of the reasoning, it’s sad that this is a priority when Keijo desperately needs to be rescued because his environment is unsafe,” said Greene.
“The notion that trainers are providing sexual relief to an orca … is a perverse new low in the captivity industry’s morally bankrupt practices.”
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