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Dolphinarium plans are still on the books
by The Daily Herald
Posted: Mar 22, 2006 14:54 UTC
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PHILIPSBURG/MEXICO - Environmentalists, animal rights and welfare activists can’t put down their protest signs yet, as Atlantida is still on track with its plans for a dolphinarium here.
While the dust has somewhat settled on the issue that caused much flurry last year, Atlantida Project Development Coordinator Jaime Babb said this was not because the company had rethought its plans. “We are most definitely not pulling out of St. Maarten. We made promises that we will deliver. … I can assure you that we are still building the dolphinarium,” he said via e-mail.
The project target date has been set back due to the reconstruction of Atlantida’s swim-with-dolphins facility in Mexico, which was damaged by Hurricane Wilma last year. This hurricane reconstruction has allowed the company to learn “new things” in the area of safety and security that are being integrated in the planned St. Maarten dolphinarium “in order to make it safer for our dolphins.”
The site earmarked for this project is the vacant land next to Dr. A.C. Wathey Cruise and Cargo Facilities in Pointe Blanche. The plans call for open pens for the animals that will be built in Great Bay.
The buzz in the anti-dolphinarium community last week was that the project had been scrapped due to continuous pressure. However, based on Babb’s response, this does not appear to be the case.
The dolphinarium idea has met locally and internationally with strong opposition and even threats from some groups to call for boycotts of the island by tourists.
The company still has to receive the nod from the Central Government, whose authority it is to grant permits for importation of mammals such as dolphins, which is regulated under the International Convention on the Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).
The dolphinarium is supported in principle by the Island Government and the Central Government through the office of Public Health and Social Development Minister Joan Theodora-Brewster, who is willing to grant an exemption based on article 11-2 of the SPAW (Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife) protocol.
A list was drafted of 13 conditions with which the company must comply to have the complete support of the Central Government.
Conditions include that the project must have “a clear educational purpose, beneficial to the conservation of Caribbean wild dolphins” and dolphins cannot be taken from the wild. However, wild dolphins captured before June 18, 2000, are allowed because the SPAW protocol came into effect on this date. Only Caribbean dolphins will be allowed and the Island Government’s support is needed.
The stipulations were made more stringent late last year when the location of the facility was submitted by Atlantida, as the Central Government Department of Public Health and Environment wants the water quality in Great Bay to be better and the animals need to be protected from heavy traffic noises in the bay that could cause them stress. (Alita Singh)
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