19 October, 2007

Dead dolphins found near Dubai-bound dolphins

AFP:
A company in the Solomon Islands exported 28 live dolphins to the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, four years after the government halted the trade when such a shipment caused international outrage.

The dolphins were taken amid tight security to Honiara from their holding pens on an outlying island and then escorted by police to two cargo planes for the 30-hour journey to Dubai.
...
Lawrence Makili, a director of the San Francisco-based Earth Island Institute, said photos published this week showing dolphin carcasses on the side of a road leading to the pens were a sign the animals were under stress.
The Canadian Press:
The dolphins' new habitat on Dubai's palm tree-shaped island complex will be called the Dolphin Bay. It is still under construction and scheduled to be completed sometime next year.
7 Days (Zaywa)
Twenty-eight bottlenose dolphins destined for the Atlantis, The Palm on Palm Jumeirah arrived safely in Dubai yesterday. Kerzner Istithmar, which is developing a "dolphin programme" for Atlantis, said in a statement it had received the dolphins from a facility in the Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Centre where the mammals had lived for the past few months.

"We are proud to welcome all 28 of our Dolphin Bay family who arrived safely in the hands of an incredibly experienced and dedicated team," said Frank Murru, Chief Marine Officer for Kerzner International. "The dolphins are now eating, swimming and acclimatising in their seven million gallon habitat."

Murru added that a staff of more than 85 marine mammal specialists, veterinarians and professionals will be monitor the dolphins 24 hours a day to ensure their comfort, care and feeding and any unforeseen medical needs.
Islands Business:
A spokesperson from Kerzner International - the owners of Atlantis, said the resort will open in a year and will include a large marine mammal rescue centre and a conservation education centre.

“Atlantis, The Palm and Kerzner Istithmar are planning to include a world class dolphin interactive programme at Atlantis, The Palm ... we cannot disclose information about where we acquire our dolphins or details of the transport at this time as a matter of security,” said the spokesperson.

Dolphin Bay is planned to be a state-of-the-art, eleven-acre coastal facility with seven million gallons of salt water - one of the largest man-made coastal facilities in the world, it was stated.

11 comments:

liberosis said...

"Murru added that a staff of more than 85 marine mammal specialists, veterinarians and professionals will be monitor the dolphins 24 hours a day to ensure their comfort, care and feeding and any unforeseen medical needs."

while nobody gives a dolphin's ass about the absymally low wages being paid to labourers.

i*maginate said...

muhaafiz, and you give a dolphin's ass about what exactly?

Anonymous said...

muhaafiz, you’re no match against Dubai’s self-proclaimed, wannabe PR queen.

Anonymous said...

Is that just PR? I thought she just craved the spotlights and want to be better than anyone else in anything

clayfuture said...

I think u all just lost the point of this topic!!

Anonymous said...

Dolphin Bay is planned to be a state-of-the-art, eleven-acre coastal facility with seven million gallons of salt water - one of the largest man-made coastal facilities in the world, it was stated.

And they're going to use these intelligent mammals for entertaining dumb tourists?

Man, what a waste of talent & creativity of these gorgeous beings!

Dubai Blogger said...

Yeah it is easy to fix dolphin problems because making a dolphins life better does not really make anyone else's life worse.

And using dolphin stories in the media distracts people from real issues. They get all caught up in dolphins that they forget about 200 people dying in bomb blasts or human trafficing right outside their windows.

I hope they also stock the palm with Kangaroos. Maybe everyone can get their own Kangaroo if they buy enough space?

D.Blogger

Lirun said...

as a surfer i love dolphins because they defend us from sharks.. please be kind to them

Anonymous said...

Dubai Blogger, this is a bit of a cynical post..

Agree that there are more pressing issues, but does that mean we shouln't talk of anything else? Dolphins are beautiful creatures, I agree with Lirun's comment. Please take care of them.

Anonymous said...

There was actually 30 but 2 of them died in the holding tank before the
were put on the plane, apparently there are pictures in a Canadian news
paper of 2 dead dolphin bodies floating in the tank.

Anonymous said...

its true.. if you google the first news comming out in this topic it says 30 dolphins were bought.. how come one 28 were exported?

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