French Orcas on the Move

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Six Flag Marine World

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Two orcas will be moved from their home in the south of France to L'Oceanographic in Valencia, Spain.

At present, Freya, Sharkan, Valentin, Inouk and Wikie live together in their 8 million gallon home at Marineland Antibes, France.

After purchasing the park last year for 75 million euros, Parques Reunidos chiefs (owners of L'Oceanographic) decided that two of the whales would be sent to Spain. It is heavily speculated that the two youngest whales will be chosen to make the trip in 2008.

The youngsters, Valentin (11), Inouk (8) and Wikie (6) were all born at the French marine park and have lived with their mothers, Freya and Sharkan, their entire lives. Another young orca, Shouka, was sent to the U.S in 2002 on a breeding loan and now resides at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, formerly Six Flags Marine World, California. She was Europe’s first successful killer whale birth, but there are no plans to return her to Europe at this time.

The father of the young whales was Kim II, an Icelandic orca who sadly passed away in November 2005.

Photo: [left to right] Inouk, Wikie, Sharkan, Freya, Valentin. © 2007 howsentimental