Photo by: Clara Hennequin
We recently reported on the natural disaster that hit Antibes, France – home of Europe’s largest marine park, Marineland. Staff, rescue workers and local residents’ efforts to help restore all of the habitats to a clean and working order have been more than admirable.
It is with sadness that we have to report that Marineland lost one of its five killer whales in this natural disaster.
Valentin, a 17-year-old killer whale born at Marineland, was beloved by the training team, staff and millions of guests who visit the facility each year.
Valentin delighted guests with his playful personality.
While Marineland currently does not know the cause of death, they have ordered a necropsy to be performed on Valentin that will help scientists and veterinarians know what happened and how it can be prevented in the future.
While the staff of Marineland mourned, activists pounced. Naomi Rose, a former senior scientist at the Humane Society of the United States when Keiko died while under their care, was almost gleeful on her Facebook page when the news broke.
Naomi Rose is so dedicated to her mission to end the display of animals in human care, she instantly took to Facebook to wish death on the rest of the animals in the loving care of Marineland.
What we want to remind Naomi Rose is that Marineland is taking the proper steps by ordering a necropsy for Valentin to understand how he died. Unfortunately for the killer whale Keiko, no necropsy was done.
Dr. Rose’s team simply buried him under a pile of rocks in Norway so the world would never know the exact cause of death.
And those actions, unlike Marineland’s, are less than admirable.