Environmental campaigners have said they are taking legal action against a French marine park over the treatment of its orca whales and other animals after a number were killed during a storm, reports The Guardian.
Marineland in Antibes reopened a week ago after suffering severe damage in deadly storms that struck the Côte d’Azur in southern France in October.
Many animals and fish at the park died, including Valentin, a 19-year-old orca that succumbed to internal injuries a week later.
The park was deluged with mud, killing sharks, sea lions and turtles, because it was left without electricity to pump in clean water.
Sea Shepherd, an international NGO, organised a protest attended by about 250 people outside the park on Sunday.
It said the orca enclosures remained highly unsatisfactory and that the animals should never have been subjected to such danger.