2024 Year in Review: The Sanctuary, the Whales, the Future

• Wednesday, December 18th at 7:00pm Eastern Time
• Register for the webinar here.

As 2024 ends, we enter a critical phase in our effort to complete the sanctuary and welcome the first whale residents. We invite everyone who supports and follows the work of the Whale Sanctuary Project to join us for a gathering that will detail the project’s most pressing updates and discuss the crucial support still needed to bring it to life. 

The year began with our formal proposal to Marineland Antibes, a theme park in the south of France, to retire a family of orcas – Wikie, Inouk and Keijo – to the whale sanctuary in Nova Scotia.

And the year ends with our expectation that, any day now, the French Minister of Ecological Transition will issue a decision over whether Wikie and Keijo (sadly, Inouk died in March) should come to the sanctuary or be sent to the Loro Parque Zoo in the Canary Islands.

At this year-end wrap-up webinar, Dr. Lori Marino, our founder and president, and Charles Vinick, our executive director, will review the urgent international diplomacy, fundraising efforts, and developments at the sanctuary site that have been at the heart of our work to save Wikie and Keijo from further grief and loss.

Charles and Lori will also discuss how we may be able to help the 30 surviving beluga whales at Marineland Canada, along with the Letter of Intent we have signed with the Lotte World Aquarium in South Korea to bring the lone beluga whale Bella to the Nova Scotia sanctuary.

All three of these situations point to the growing need for a global sanctuary movement to address the plight of whales and dolphins in captivity around the world.

And these will be the topics for a review of this pivotal year – along with a look ahead at the progress to come in 2025.

Join us on Wednesday, December 18th at 7:00 PM Eastern

Register for the webinar here.

And bring your questions to the meeting or send them in advance by email.