Visitors flock to see the last orca and dolphin shows at Marineland d'Antibes, Europe's largest marine park, which is due to close for good this Sunday evening in southern France. "I think it's a shame to close it down, to stop like this, to send the animals off to an unknown place," says one visitor, while another says "these animals need spaces that a water park will never be able to provide". Established on the Côte d'Azur in 1970, the park, which has 103 employees, has seen its attendance drop in ten years from 1.2 million to 425,000 visitors a year. A 2021 law has banned cetacean shows from December 2026. Born in captivity, they cannot survive on their own in the wild, but the law does not provide a solution. They could be sold to Spain or Japan. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES