The prosecutor's office in Grasse (Alpes-Maritimes) had the boats of three companies seized in early July which offered to swim in the Mediterranean with dolphins, a practice prohibited since 2020, we learned on Wednesday July 27 from these companies and the wooden floor.
For around 300 euros per person for the day, these companies based in Mandelieu-la-Napoule and Antibes, on the Côte d'Azur, offered to jump into the water, in the open sea, with mask and snorkel, in the middle of a school of dolphins, previously spotted using a microlight.
However, since a ministerial decree of September 3, 2020, which entered into force on January 1, 2021, “
we no longer have the right to approach within 100 meters of a dolphin, even less to jump into the water. with a dolphin
,” said the prosecution.
After a first information meeting with the three operators in December 2020, "
we noted in February 2021 that the activity was still offered on their website
", added the prosecution.
After a recall by the maritime gendarmerie in April 2021, the three companies “
continued all summer 2021, because it is very lucrative
”.
Two years imprisonment and 300,000 euros fine
At the beginning of July, while the maritime gendarmerie noted that this swimming with dolphins was continuing and after a report from the France nature environment association (FNE), the prosecution placed the three managers of the three companies in police custody and conducted searches.
A judge of freedoms and detention “
issued an order for the seizure of the four boats belonging to the three companies
”, further specified the prosecution.
The three managers will be heard again "
to be tried by the end of the year
", in particular for "
misleading commercial practice
" and "
willful disturbance of a protected non-domesticated animal species
", added the prosecution.
The managers risk up to two years in prison and a fine of 300,000 euros.
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“
We have never been convicted, we work with scientists and yet we are treated like serious criminals
,” reacted Magalie Grimont, wife of the manager of Le Bateau d'Annett, one of the three companies targeted.
“
While we offer other activities, such as fishing or whale watching, we are deprived of our working tool and threatened with judicial liquidation,
” she added, estimating that around ten jobs are in play.