Antibes Marineland: Show or Tell?

Marineland, Antibes, Cote d'Azur, France:

Not everyone had the day off on this May 1st (Fête du Travail) on the French Côte d'Azur.

Orcas or Killer Whales dashed under water, shot their 5,000 pound shiny bodies out of the water and splashed everyone watching around the "splash-zone" in the pool. "Such a Shame" music by Brian Ferry pounded from speakers around the stadium. It was business as usual, if not busier than usual, at Marineland in Antibes, France.

The orcas (Orcinus orca) are likely the most popular animals at Marineland in Antibes. Crowds love to watch them perform. The animals are huge, majestic. They move like torpedoes under water (up to 30 MPH). There's more than a tinge of danger to their show. After all, orcas are the largest predators of warm-blooded marine mammals. In the wild, they feast on seals, sea lions, otters, in addition to plain fish

Yet, as you watch these large predators slide out of their water tanks to give their trainer a kiss, audience applauding, you can't help but think of them out in the wild. Many of the Marineland orcas come from the waters off Iceland. You picture them surfaced in family pods of three or four, spraying mist from their blow hole above the cold waters, with the wide expanse of water around them.

Orcas live in many oceans and seas around the world. They live in the Arctic, the Antarctic, along the coast of Washington, Oregon, California, Baja California. Rumors have it that they have been spotted in rivers as well, traveling up from river mouthes to follow their preys.

By most accounts, the animals are treated with great care at Marineland Antibes. Some of the orcas were born in captivity rather than hauled out of oceans. We've probably learned something about them from keeping them here. And Marineland has likely sparked a lifelong passion for oceanography in a few kids. Few of us could ever watch these animals in the wild.

Yet personally, I would prefer a Marineland more focused on education rather than show. Tell us about these animals in the wild: where, how do they live? To meet the orca's and otters up close with more detailed information about them, you need to pay an additional fee.

What are the endangered marine mammals in the Mediterranean? What is Marineland doing to help? It supports the banning of fish nets where dolphins end up tangled up and injured or killed. That's good. Why is this not explained at the park?

I would prefer a facility where local injured sea animals are nursed back to health with the help of school kids, a facility that sponsors scientific research and protection, a facility we could feel entirely good about supporting.

With 1 Million annual visitors, I'm a minority with this view. Share this viewpoint? Drop them a constructive note. Unfortunately, the issue is so polarized that it often fills with nothing but anger, shutting ears on both sides of the debate.

Also in Antibes and far less controversial: Heidi's Antibes Books. They carry a huge assortment of English-language books.

You'll find  our latest hiking guide there: "26 Gorgeous Hikes on the Western Côte d'Azur".

Also available at all of the international Amazon.com sites (US, UK, Germany, France, Japan).