BBC<\/a> said.<\/p>\nAfter aerial video captured Aug. 12 by marine activist group TideBreakers surfaced showing a trainer grasping Keijo\u2019s flipper while another stimulated him as he wriggles around in the water, Marineland said it was a necessary step to relieve Keijo\u2019s \u201ctensions\u201d as he reaches sexual maturity.<\/p>\n
Marineland closed in January ahead of a new French law prohibiting the use of whales in marine zoo shows. Anadolu via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cIn order to avoid inbreeding with his mother, but also to prevent them from fighting and injuring each other, Marineland decided to sexually stimulate Keijo [to relieve him of his] tensions,\u201d the zoo told the outlet.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is natural and totally painless for the animals,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
France\u2019s ecology ministry \u2014 which is tasked with giving a green light to where the killer whales wind up \u2014 said Marineland told it that it performs the procedure once a month under consultation with a veterinary expert.<\/p>\n
But Valerie Greene, a member of the marine-animal activist group TideBreakers and former longtime SeaWorld Orlando employee, told the outlet that sexually stimulating Keijo in such a manner is highly unusual and raises questions about Marineland\u2019s intentions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a former killer whale trainer, I\u2019ve never seen this behavior performed for anything other than attempting semen collection for use in artificial insemination,\u201d Greene said.<\/p>\n
Breeding laws have tightened over the past decade including in the US and France, but Japan \u2014 whose only male orca, Earth, died earlier this month \u2014 has looser restrictions.<\/p>\n
Activist groups warn conditions at the park are deteriorating and urge leaders to take steps to ensure the orcas get a new home before it\u2019s too late. TideBreakers \/ SWNS<\/p>\n
This has led to speculation that Japan may be looking to purchase Keijo\u2019s semen for artificial insemination, which Marineland managers denied, noting the sale of semen is prohibited.<\/p>\n
\u201cKeijo is inbred, so it\u2019s even more concerning that his semen might be used for breeding of captive orcas,\u201d Greene said, noting that Keijo\u2019s parents are half-siblings.<\/p>\n
\u201cRegardless of the reasoning, it\u2019s sad that this is a priority when Keijo desperately needs to be rescued because his environment is unsafe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe notion that trainers are providing sexual relief to an orca \u2026 is a perverse new low in the captivity industry\u2019s morally bankrupt practices.\u201d<\/p>\n
So far, attempts to move the orcas to Japan, Canada or Spain have all fallen through or been rejected, leaving the animals \u2014 along with a dozen dolphins living at the zoo \u2014 treading water as they wait for more permanent lodgings, the outlet said.<\/p>\n
In July, \u201cStar Trek\u201d actor William Shatner delivered an impassioned plea<\/a> to French President Emmanuel Macron on behalf of nonprofit Earthday.org, urging the leader to move the whales to a safer location.<\/p>\nThe country\u2019s ecology ministry told the outlet that a task force is being formed to develop a \u201ccoordinated strategy\u201d on how to deal with the stranded animals at Marineland.<\/p>\n
TideBreakers co-founder Marketa Schusterova said the group has pushed for a temporary tank to be built until a sanctuary opens its doors, warning, \u201ctime is running out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And you thought your job was bad. Trainers at a marine zoo in southern France say they have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[55970,55971,49,48,637,55972,66,16580,323,883],"class_list":{"0":"post-95810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-amusement-parks","9":"tag-artificial-insemination","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-france","13":"tag-masturbation","14":"tag-science","15":"tag-whales","16":"tag-wildlife","17":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}