France rejects bid to move two killer whales to proposed refuge in Nova Scotia – Halifax [Video]

The group behind a plan to build a coastal refuge in Nova Scotia for captive whales says its bid to provide sanctuary for two orcas from a marine park in France has been rejected by the French government.

Lori Marino, president of the U.S.-based Whale Sanctuary Project, issued a statement Tuesday saying her group received a letter last week from the Department of Ecological Diversity saying experts had turned down the proposal to build an oceanside pen for Wikie and Keijo, the two surviving killer whales at Marineland Antibes.

“Not one member of this (expert) panel ever reached out to us to discuss any concerns they might have had,” Marino’s statement says. “We cannot help but question why the ministry would reject the relocation of Wikie and Keijo to a natural … sanctuary without discussing any of this panel’s concerns with us.”

Wikie and Keijo are France’s last two captive, …