# Marineland of Antibes

The Marineland of Antibes was a theme park founded in 1970 by Count Roland de La Poype in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), in the French Riviera. It included a marine zoological park with dolphinarium, a water park (Aquasplash), a children's play park (Kid's Island), mini golf (Adventure Golf) and a hotel (Marineland Resort). It was property of the Spanish multinational company Parques Reunidos.
It was one of the four French dolphinariums and one of the two European dolphinariums presenting orcas. With over 850,000 visitors in 2018, it was the most visited site in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.
Since 2010, it has been accused of cetacean mistreatment, with the claim that dolphinariums can't assure proper & healthy captivity conditions for that species.
On 4 December 2024, Marineland of Antibes announced it would close permanently on 5 January 2025 due to declining attendance and increased regulation of animal captivity in France.

## History

On 25 July 2006, the park was sold to the Spanish amusement park group Parques Reunidos for about €75 million.
In October 2015, a fatal case of severe flooding and inclement weather conditions hit Antibes, killing Valentin, a 19-year old male orca born within the park. The park was deluged with mud, also killing sharks, sea lions and turtles, because it was left without electricity to pump in clean water.

## Notable exhibits and shows
### Orca Show

Once the largest Orca pool complex in the Europe, with a capacity of 11,000,000 US gallons (42,000 m$^3$) of water and a panoramic glass wall 64 metres (210 ft) long. Marineland holds two orcas: Wikie and Keijo. The two orcas were supposed to be transported to Japan in 2024 but French NGO One Voice obtained that the court prohibit Marineland from relocating the orcas before the end of the independent assessment.

### Dolphin show

As of April 2020, Marineland housed a total of 12 bottlenose dolphins. The names of the dolphins are: Malou (F), Sharky (F), Rocky (M), Dam (M), Neo (M), Nala (F), Tux (M), Ania (F), Jo (F), Kai (M), Luà (F), and Ollie (F).

### Les Coulisses de l'apprentissage (sea lion show)

A live demonstration of the training techniques used with all the mammals in the park, in which the seal and sea lion trainers disclose some of the "ropes" for preparing the show, to better understand the basis of the relationship between humans and animals.

### The shark tunnel

In a 30-metre (98 ft) tunnel through an aquarium containing nearly 2,000,000 litres (530,000 US gal) of water, visitors are surrounded by sharks and stingrays.

### Polar bears

On 11 June 2021, polar bears Flocke, Indiana, Tala, and Yuma are no longer housed within Mainland, France, having been moved to Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

## Activities
### Encounters
#### Dolphin

Guests could spend 20 minutes wading in the dolphin tank while learning more about the animals as taught by trainers.

#### Orca

Guests could spend 25 minutes interacting with orcas at "Orca Fjord" through a large panoramic window, with the aid and education from trainers.

#### Sea Lion

Guests could spend 20 minutes with sea lions in a private area and two trainers.

#### Sharks

Guests could obtain a diving suit and helmet to swim with sharks in the Shark Tunnel.

## Gallery

* Dolphin
* Nurse shark
* Humboldt penguins
* Loggerhead sea turtle
* Steller sea lion
* Antarctica Zone with king penguins, southern rockhopper penguins, gentoo penguins and macaroni penguins
* Dolphin show