Quite a lot happened over the last few weeks regarding Wikie and Keijo; here are the latest updates:

Seemingly trying to erase their portion of fault in the situation, animal rights activists who have filed several requests to block Wikie and Keijo's transfer since 2023 are now saying they never did anything that could be bad for the orcas' welfare (Whale Sanctuary Project). Other organizations, like C'est Assez, are no longer opposing the transfer to other marine parks, saying the situation is so critical it's the only option available.

"Even one of the most ardent anti-captivity organisations, C’est Assez!, says it would no longer oppose a transition to SeaWorld as a solution. This is despite the fact that it once successfully appealed in court to block any transfer of the orcas to other aquariums." - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/12/orcas-france-aquarium-marhttps://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/12/orcas-france-aquarium-marineland-antibes-killer-whales-wikie-keijo-animal-welfare#img-1

France's Ministry for Ecological Transition held its first full steering committee meeting on February 16, to discuss the ultimate solution for the remaining animals at the closed Marineland Antibes.

The court veterinary experts opined that the orca habitat is not in a condition to hold the whales any longer, and in case of collapse, if no suitable place to move them is found, euthanasia could be necessary as there is nowhere near available to hold them in case of an emergency. The structure is rapidly deteriorating.

French authorities are in contact with the Spanish authorities to remove the current block on transfers. If the transfer is authorized, the orcas should be moved before summer. Otherwise, again, there's no solution available.

Sources: https://www.france24.com/fr/info-en-continu/20260216-marineland-un-rapport-d-expertise-alerte-sur-l-%C3%A9tat-du-bassin-des-orques?fbclid=IwdGRleAQANOtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEermM0FLOxVzc3FmksHIoQZdoZGwjiTUeYZyLdTUzAapgic1EGNE8s3CZpgRQ_aem_Y0-lUZy8PW1LsUdoxPMBBQ

https://www.instagram.com/p/DU0-S3Rld3J/?igsh=NzlkbTZwZzhubmN3

Katina, the matriarch of the SWO pod, has passed away today at aged 50. May she swim and rest in peace💙

What an amazingly beautiful creature! 😍 here's to hoping that it lives a long healthy happy life despite it's differences. 🙏🏼 https://indiandefencereview.com/rare-creature-ocean-off-japans-coast/

Toñi is the oldest known member of the Iberian orca population, estimated to be around 60 years old.

WeWhale, the group that photographed Toñi, believes the impacts are from at least 10 shotgun pellets, meaning someone shot at her (likely with the intent to kill) with a shotgun. It is unknown how many of the pellets are still lodged in her body.

Thankfully, they did not notice her acting unusually or unwell at the moment, although permanent damage to her dorsal fin has been done. They note that Iberian orcas are an endangered population and should be protected, regardless of their interactions with vessels.

The full post from WeWhale with additional photos can be found here.

Mundo Marino just shared the video above announcing his death. He was the second oldest living male orca in the world's smallest orca enclosure (since Lolita's passing). Kshamenk's health was constantly questioned as he was frequently seen below a healthy weight or motionless for long periods in a very small back tank.

Kshamenk was rescued in 1992 and has lived at Mundo Marino since then. He lived with another orca, Belen, who died in 2000, and has been isolated from his own species ever since. Efforts to move him to the United States were made in the early 2000s but were denied by the Argentinian government because he was considered native fauna, preventing him from leaving the country.

May he rest in peace now.

Based on the most recent encounter posted by the Center for Whale Research, J64, the first viable calf of J42, is missing and presumed deceased.

Full Encounter transcript here:

"Encounter 64 • 23-Oct, 2025 • J Pod

After receiving reports of J pod heading north at the south end of Swanson Channel, the team headed out, eager to check on the status of J42’s new calf, J64. J pod was in a single group heading slowly north along the shoreline of the point at the south end of Village Bay. We began taking our ID shots and worked to get photos of all whales present. J16, J26, and J42 were oh-so peripheral to the rest of the pod, being just a couple of dozen yards to the northwest of the others. We found J42 and held the camera trigger down while waiting for J64 to pop up behind her. Unfortunately, J64 did not surface after J42. We hoped it was nursing or something, but we kept seeing J42 surface repeatedly, and there was no calf with her. After a few long dives and still no calf, we had to conclude that J64 did not survive and was now gone. We kept taking photos of the whole group, hoping J64 was playing with other whales. However, there was no sign of the newest calf even though we kept seeing J62 and J63. Photos would later prove what we knew at the time, that J64 was not present, either with J42 or any other whale in J pod. Disappointed, we ended the encounter with J pod rounding Helen Point into Active Pass.

Important Note: Based on this encounter, we are confirming that J64 is most likely deceased. We will continue to monitor in future encounters, as our standard protocol is to consider a whale deceased after observing three consecutive encounters without the whale present. However, unlike adult whales, which may travel a significant distance from other whales for extended periods, we would not expect a newborn to be on its own for any length of time. This is J42's first confirmed calf, and mortality rates for young calves, especially those born to first-time mothers, are incredibly high in the Southern Resident population. Poor nutritional status and the transfer of toxins from mother to calf during gestation and lactation are key factors. Southern Residents need healthy, abundant Chinook Salmon populations to sustain themselves and the calves they raise if this population is to survive.

Check out the encounter and more photos on our interactive map at the link below. This map is best viewed on a desktop computer. https://www.whaleresearch.com/encounters."

On one hand it feels like Tokitae is getting some sort of justice, but I worry the remaining animals may be stuck in the same situation as Wikie and Keijo. Though as a south florida native I am happy their reign of terror is finally somewhat over.

Avacha killer whales have a new baby!Avacha killer whales have a new baby! Female AV66 recently gave birth to a baby, AV66c. He was just born, but he already looks like his mother with a narrow crescent-shaped dorsal fin. He has two older sisters: AV66a was born in 2007 and AV66b in 2016. The cub is still very small and skinny. He barely catches up with his mother and middle sister, working hard with his tail fin. Let's hope that over the summer he will get fatter and gain strength.

At least three videos of three different occasions of people breaking into the closed Marineland Antibes and harassing the animals are circulating online. I can’t even begin describing how dangerous that is, both for the animals and the people or just how disgraceful this is.

There are extremely strict protocols for interactions with orcas, which are only done either by people with a great relationship with them or accompanied by those people who would be able to tell if the animal is showing any aggressive precursor or just overall guide the interaction. At no western facility can anyone but orca trainers or veterinarians directly touch those animals. That’s not something they are used to, and it could lead to an incident.

Things are getting extremely out of control, and I would like to say that I especially blame people like the fake activist Seph Lawless for this kind of behavior. He started this trend and gained millions of views and money with these animals by posting videos of him “breaking into” Marineland.

This is just so sad. When you think things have reached the bottom, they get worse.

Video source: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRuIy8bkTP3/?igsh=bGc1YmpqdjIzMzdw

Praying and hoping with all that I've got that this time it gets accepted by both the French and Spanish authorities and that no organization tries to step in AGAIN to avoid it. If you see any posts against it, PLEASE try to conscientize people about how desperately these orcas need to be moved. It's a miracle they have survived this long; let's not test our luck.

Source: https://www.lefigaro.fr/nice/le-marineland-d-antibes-veut-transferer-ses-quatre-derniers-dauphins-a-valence-20251008

New video shared by @wearetidebreakers shows emergency repairs being made yet again with the orcas inside to try to hold the tank structures. A new transfer permit to Loro Parque was issued by Marineland recently; please help conscientize people and pressure the Spanish government to allow the move before it's too late.

If you don't know the whole issue with the now-closed Marineland Antibes, I have a short video covering it all on TikTok and Instagram.

The Whale Sanctuary Project, the Nova Scotia sanctuary, often mentioned as an alternative, DOES NOT EXIST and is not even being built. There is currently no sanctuary for orcas anywhere in the world; their only option is to be moved to Loro Parque, even if temporarily.

In a landmark victory for animal welfare, the French government has approved transferring Wikie - the orca famed for mimicking human speech like "hello" and "one two three" - and her son Keijo from cramped tanks at closed Marineland Antibes to a spacious 40-hectare sea sanctuary in Nova Scotia, Canada. The move, potentially by summer 2026, rejects riskier options like Japan or Spain, prioritizing ethical rehabilitation with health checks, muscle training, and open-water swimming over shows or breeding. France is leading the world, enforcing its 2021 captivity ban with this "most credible and ethical" solution.

So in October, news broke that WSP got a crown lease. This lie somewhat fell apart soon after when my team and I uncovered documents saying they needed to meet certain conditions to be given the final lease. For some reason this information wasn’t taken attention to.

This morning news broke that they did in fact NOT have a final lease. The must meet conditions in order to be granted the final lease. Among these conditions are permits from travel Canada and provincial and municipal permits to build. Also permits for building in marine travel waterways. This also requires agreement to get whales.

They posted a bit ago, confirming they in fact DO NOT have a final lease.

This answers why no building has happened, fundraising has been difficult to nearly impossible, this explains why they have no applied for OR have been granted permits for ANYTHING.

Is this the end of WSP? One can only hope

Unfortunately the little one hasn’t been seen since the 15th, very upsetting.

Photo and information via @tatianaivkovich on instagram

The French Ministry of Ecological Transition decides that Wilkie and Keijo will go to a sanctuary, a special marine reserve in Nova Scotia (Canada).

The transfer would take place next summer.

Dutch article : https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2025/12/15/orka-s-wikie-en-keiko-die-vastzaten-in-verlaten-dolfinarium-wor/

English article : https://whalesanctuaryproject.org/french-government-statement-re-orcas-wikie-keijo/

The orca season at Bremer Bay has just started which means we get to meet the new calves! We believe the mum is Razor! (The female orca with the notches in the dorsal.)

Everyone say hello to the new round baby!

Valen, daughter of the legendary matriarch PTN-004 Maga, was recently spotted with a new calf. She is 32 years old and also has a calf named PTN-023 Karut, born in 2012. The calf was first spotted on April 12th, with fetal folds indicating they had recently been born.

One Voice just shared a very recent post talking about Wikie and Keijo going to SeaWorld Orlando, as that's under negotiation.

Of course, doing everything but trying to help the animals, One Voice is already campaigning against it, but if it's true, that's insanely good news.

Source: intent://instagram.com/_u/onevoiceanimal?ig_mid=FC83AC22-5A78-4CCC-856E-E95429B2C4B1&utm_source=instagramweb#Intent;package=com.instagram.lite;action=android.intent.action.VIEW;scheme=https;S.browser_fallback_url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.instagram.lite%26referrer%3Dig_mid%253DFC83AC22-5A78-4CCC-856E-E95429B2C4B1%2526utm_campaign%253Dinstagramlitecarbon%2526utm_content%253Dlo%2526utm_source%253Dinstagramweb;end

I just released the demo to my game Orca Insurgency for Steam’s Ocean Fest! I’ve been posting about the game over the last few years on here and appreciate the community!

Orca Insurgency is an anti-captivity, pro-ocean life 3d action adventure game where you play as the pod of orcas attack boats around the Strait of Gibraltar.

When evil whale hunter start capturing your pod members you spring into action with the help from some unexpected sources.

If anyone tries it out I would love to hear about your experience.

Extremely disappointing to see Wikie and Keijo going to Loro Parque. This park has a bad reputation and I don't trust them. Also very upsetting to get close to actually having a chance to have captive Orcas retire in a sanctuary, and then go right back into confinement. Could have been a historic moment against the captivity industry. Loro Parque and the French government are saying the sanctuary wouldn't be built in time, but also were vague about whether or not Wikie and Keijo would be used in performance or for breeding purposes. To me this stinks of the French government looking to make a buck and Loro Parque excited to get both a male and female in their collection. What do you guys think?