Watch: Campaigners fight for ‘lonely’ sea lion Junior to be moved

In a crumbling concrete tank at the Mediterraneo Marine Park, a lone and aged sea lion named Junior swims endless laps, waiting to perform in another show. 

Activists want him moved to a “less exploitative” facility, where he can socialise. They say the plight of the 22-year-old is urgent. 

“He doesn’t have much time left,” said marine environmentalist group TideBreakers. 

Through videos and international media campaigns, they are raising awareness of the sea lion, which has been living in “total isolation” since his companion, Dana, died of cancer in 2023 after 26 years in captivity.

Junior has also spent his entire life at the Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq park, which has long been the focal point of activists angry over the treatment of the animals that live and perform there. 

In 2022, Times of Malta revealed that three bottlenose dolphins, Mar, Onda, and Melita, died of lead poisoning, most likely due to a split-weight bag that had shed pellets in the dolphins’ pool and got caught in the filtration system.

Last month, the Junior Minister for Aquaculture and Animal Rights, Alicia Bugeja Said, announced a study into the conditions at the Mediterraneo Marine Park.

The group claims Junior’s health is deteriorating and despite Junior going blind and suffering from arthritis, he is forced to perform daily. They say they visited the park in August, watched him perform and spoke to his trainer.

“He keeps his eyes jammed shut for most of the show,” they said.

The marine park says it is committed to giving Junior “optimal clinical conditions, but also a high level of overall well-being, respecting his habits and the strong bond he has built with his environment and with the people who have cared for him throughout his life.” 

A spokesperson for the park told Times of Malta the sea lion, who was born in the park in July 2003, is at ease in his environment. “His health and well-being are our absolute priority. He is monitored daily by a team of two in-house veterinarians and is also regularly examined by a third external specialist veterinarian, who visits the facility every six months.”

The park said Junior has a strong and positive relationship with his carers, who look after him and ensure constant attention and appropriate environmental enrichment. 

Addressing the social needs of sea lions, the Mediterraneo Marine Park said it developed a new expanded area dedicated to them and will soon host four additional ones.

Transferring Junior to another facility would be a “potentially harmful choice”, the park said. 

“After more than 20 years spent in the place where he was born and raised, in excellent physical and mental health, such a relocation would carry significant risks to his psychological and emotional balance.”

It said the park is an active member of the European Endangered Species Programme for both the bottlenose dolphins and the Patagonian sea lion, and emphasises its commitment to the conservation and welfare of the species within a structured European framework.

Activists are not convinced. In the summer, some 29 NGOs protested outside the park, calling for its immediate shutdown