As early as December 2026, the law will prohibit Cetacean shows and direct contact with the public. While Marineland has just closed its doors, only one animal park remains authorized to keep its 11 dolphins in France. We exchanged with scientific director Martin Böye, who explains the reasons for us.
Since January, Marineland Park, known for its Dolphins and Orcs shows, has made the heavy decision to close its doors to the public permanently. Animals must be transferred to other zoos and shelters, notably in Ténérife, Spain, for the two Orcs Wikie and Keijo … Indeed, the law of 2021 prohibited, from December 2026, all cetacean shows as well as that direct contact with the public. If the Asterix park had anticipated in 2021 by transferring its dolphins to Sweden and Spain, another animal park is an exception. It will be the only French park to be authorized to keep its 11 dolphins in France.
Indeed, the law authorizes the detention of cetaceans within the framework of a scientific program. “Of the 31 publications, 26 studies are devoted to dolphins“, Specifies Martin Böye, the scientific director of the Planet Sauvage Park, located in Port-Saint-Père, near Nantes. And these studies are not a” excuse “to continue to hold these marine mammals as can imply it Some animal defense associations. On the contrary, this research is essential to help understand why dolphins accidentally take in the net. “This research that can be deepened within the zoological park is therefore used for wild populations “, he explains to us.
Experts from the zoological park also look at other issues such as global warming for example, which has an impact on the survival of river dolphins in the Amazon. “”It is the expertise of zoological parks, we are used to taking care of them and intervening in a natural environment “. Besides, when it was necessary to intervene to take out the beluga from the Seine, it was the Normandy zoological park, that of Marineland and in Planet Sauvage which were called in reinforcement: “Arriving on site, we were immediately able to say that it was an elderly male and we were able to get him out of the lock where he had been stuck for 10 days. “
In addition, if he offers meetings with dolphins, for 18 euros per person for 45 minutes, the park assures that visitors have no right to pet the animals or feed them. It is an exchange with the healers and an observation time during which visitors learn a lot about the behavior of cetaceans. In November 2026, Planète Sauvage will have to validate the renewal of its scientific program by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, for a period of 10 years. As for Martin Böye, he remains convinced that associations should lead, with zoological parks, common fights: “If we were going in the same direction, we could tackle the real problems: for example, three out of four do not exceed Not the four years in the Channel, “says the specialist.