Marineland of Antibes
| Marineland of Antibes | |
|---|---|
 Global view of the killer whales tanks | |
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| Type | Amusement park, dolphinarium, public aquarium, marine zoo |
| Location | Antibes, France |
| Area | 26 ha |
| Created | 1970 |
| Operated by | Parques Reunidos |
| Status | Closed until march 21th due to storm damage. |
The Marineland of Antibes is a theme park founded in 1970 by Roland de La Poype in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), in the French Riviera. On 26 hectares it includes a marine zoological park with dolphinarium, a water park (Aquasplash), a children's play park (Kid's Island), a mini golf (Aventure Golf) and a three-star hotel (Marineland Resort). It is the property of the Spanish multinational company Parques Reunidos, whose majority shareholder is the British investment fund Arle Capital Partners. The actual director is Arnaud Palu.
It is one of the four French dolphinariums and one of the two European dolphinariums presenting orcas. With 1.2 million visitors in 2014, it's the most visited site of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. The zoological park is one of the most visited in France.
Since the 2010s, it is more and more criticised by the opponents to cetacean captivity, which claims that dolphinariums can't assure captivity conditions that fits to the proper needs of those species, leading to a prematurate mortality of individuals.
History
On July 25, 2006, the park was sold to the Spanish amusement park group Parques Reunidos for about 75 million Euros[1]
Animal exhibits
 | This article contains promotional content. (October 2015) |
- Killer whale show
The largest killer whale pool complex in the world performing in 11,000,000 US gallons (42,000 m3) of water, with a panoramic glass wall 64 metres (210 ft) long. Marineland holds four orcas: Inouk, Wikie, Moana and Keijo.
- Dolphin show
Marineland’s family of bottlenose dolphins deploy all their charms: speed, accuracy, agility and complete trust in their trainers. The dolphins are Ecume (F), Lotty (F), Sharky (F), Malou (F), Éclair (M), Alize (M), Rocky (M), Dam (M), Neo (M), Mila-Tami (F), Nala (F), Ania (F), and Joseph (M).
- Les Coulisses de l'apprentissage (sea lion show)
A live demonstration of the learning 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, the better to 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 manta rays.
- Polar bears
Marineland is one of few places in Europe where one can see polar bears. As of 2015, there are 3 of them: one male (Rasputin), one female (Flocke), and their cub (Hope).
- Life under the sea (The tropical aquarium gallery and The touch pool)
The tropical aquarium gallery shows the world of coral reefs, and the touch pool is a chance to touch skates and rays - fish that seem to "fly" in the water.
Beaches featuring California sea lions, South American sea lions, black seals and grey seals.
- Aquatic birds
Beaches featuring penguins, pelicans and flamingos.
- Meeting with dolphins
Each session lasts approximately 1 hour, to discover the biology and ecology of dolphins, before approaching the dolphins for 20 minutes under close supervision by trainers on a sunken deck.
Gallery
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Antarctica Zone with king penguins, southern rockhopper penguins, gentoo penguins and macaroni penguins -
Dolphin show
References
