Eager to unload two orcas, French government learns more about Nova Scotia proposal

HALIFAX — French government officials met Monday in Paris with a U.S.-based group that wants to move France’s last two captive whales to a proposed coastal refuge in Nova Scotia.

No decisions were made because French officials are still considering moving the orcas, Wikie and her son Keijo, to Spain’s Loro Parque zoo on the Canary Islands — a proposal the Spanish government had previously rejected.

At the conclusion of Monday’s meeting, France’s minister for ecological transition said a final decision would be made by the end of March.

“The state is acting responsibly and methodically,” Mathieu Lefevre said in a statement. “No decision will be made without solid guarantees regarding animal welfare, respect for the law and consideration of social issues and local communities.”

Lefevre said the meeting allowed the French government to analyze the proposal from the Whale Sanctuary Project (WSP), which wants to build a 40-hectare seaside pen on Nova Scotia’s rugged eastern shoreline.

As large as 50 football fields, it would include a ring of floating nets extending from the land. Experts say whales raised in captivity can’t be returned to the wild because they lack necessary survival skills.

The WSP proposal was first announced in 2020, and the group was granted provincial approval in October of last year. But the non-profit group has yet to start construction and it also needs a transfer licence from the federal Fisheries Department before it can bring any whales into Canada.

As well, it has to raise about $15 million from private donors in a short amount of time.

The money is needed to refurbish an old wharf and to build the enclosure, which would be anchored to the bottom of the bay near Wine Harbour, N.S., a three-hour drive east of Halifax.

Completion in the warmer months is key because the two whales, accustomed to a mild Mediterranean climate, will need a few months to adapt before winter takes hold.

The French government’s decision to work with WSP marks a reversal of a decision it took in January 2025, when officials rejected WSP’s offer, saying the proposed sanctuary wouldn’t be ready in time. Concerns were also raised about cool ocean temperatures.

In December 2025, however, Lefevre announced that Wikie and Keijo would be sent to Nova Scotia, calling it the proposal the “only ethical, credible and legally compliant solution.”

But there was no agreement in place at the time. As well, the whales’ owners — Marineland Antibes in the south of France — has opposed the move.

“This committee marks an important step in addressing this particularly sensitive issue,” Lefevre said Monday. “Given the lack of consensus among stakeholders, the ministry also wished to keep the solution proposed by Loro Parque in Spain in the discussion.”

In April 2025, Spanish authorities blocked the transfer to the zoo on Tenerife Island after a scientific agency ruled that the facility did not meet minimum size standards.

Meanwhile, those at the Paris meeting included scientific experts, state representatives, local officials and the operators of Marineland Antibes, which was closed in January 2025 to comply with a 2021 French law that bans keeping whales and dolphins captive for entertainment purposes.

Canada introduced a similar ban in 2019.

Officials at Marineland Antibes have said the old pools where the whales are being kept are in poor condition. Photos from the park show the two whales swimming in water that has turned green because of algae growth.

As for those behind the Whale Sanctuary Project, they issued a statement last week saying they are aware Marineland Antibes wants the orcas to move to the Loro Parque zoo.

On Monday, the group said it was “committed to supporting a responsible transition process,” adding that the whales will need health assessments before being moved.

“We look forward to collaborating with the government of France and Marineland Antibes for the welfare of Wikie and Keijo,” the statement said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2026.

Michael MacDonald, The Canadian Press