By AVA TURNQUEST

Tribune Staff Reporter

aturnquest@tribunemedia.net

ENVIRONMENTAL activists pledged to intensify protests against a planned dolphin facility at Blackbeard’s Cay after a site visit revealed alleged breaches of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

Pens used to house dolphins appeared to be too shallow, with inadequate protection from the elements,

according to ReEarth spokesperson Sam Duncombe and Bahamas Humane Society president Kim Aranha, who surveyed the outside perimeter of the facility yesterday.

The pair conducted the visit to confirm how many dolphins were being housed at the facility in a bid to keep pressure on the government and developers over what they claim are unethical conditions.

Developer Samir Andrawos spoke briefly with activists yesterday. In response to concerns, Mr Andrawos told activists that the pens were 17 ft deep and that they were dredged before they began operations. He explained that the permit for the facility was approved 15 years ago.

Mr Andrawos added that he was open to meeting with activists to discuss concerns.

Reearth is the environmental activist group that has led the public opposition to the Blackbeard’s Cay project, particularly its planned dolphin facility.

The group announced plans last month to launch Judicial Review proceedings against the Government and developers of the $5 million Blackbeard’s Cay project through Fred Smith, QC, the Callenders & Co attorney and partner, and the Save the Bays coalition.

Mrs Duncombe said: “Essentially we’ve been blocked every step of the way, we asked to see the permits, we’ve never seen the permits, we’ve asked to see the line of documentation that would allow that facility to operate, we’ve never seen it.”

“We do not allow captures in our waters, so then why is it okay to go and capture them somewhere else?”

“There’s no shade for the dolphins,” said Mrs Duncombe, “those animals get sunburnt and there’s no water depth to keep them cool in the heat of the summer. They are exposed to hurricanes, if a hurricane rolls around there those dolphins are going to die, they’re going to be smashed about in those pens and they have no way to escape. We’ve heard there’s an emergency contingency plan, but what is that plan?”

Blackbeard’s Cay is located on Balmoral Island, a site opposite Sandals Royal Bahamian resort on New Providence’s north coast. The Bahamian shareholders include Insurance Management chief, Cedric Saunders; Spanish Wells community leader, Abner Pinder; and well-known media owner, Charles Carter.

It’s developers, who are headed by St Maarten businessman, Samir Andrawos, believe they have complied with everything required of them by the Government, with the latter’s site visits and inspections said to have gone well.

The depth just outside the pens, where some seven dolphins were counted, was measured at 5.9 ft.

The area is historically prone to shallowing, according to Mrs Duncombe, who feared that dolphins will be adversely affected by the tidal currents and sand deposits.

Mrs Duncombe said: “The other issue that we kind of put aside is, is it ethically correct to put animals that live in family groups just like humans do, they form life-long bonds with their family, they swim 50 miles a day and dive to depths of over 30ft, they routinely make choices about what they do every single day and yet we’ve put them in a swimming pool size container.

She added: “It is morally repugnant.”

“We need to start making those moral connections in terms of how would you feel if you were taken from your family and put into some little tourist trap to perform stupid tricks for whoever, that is what we are essentially doing to those animals every single day.”

Mrs Duncombe also called on the government to prohibit the breeding of dolphins in captivity.

India became the fourth country to ban captive dolphin and Orca shows earlier this year. Following behind Costa Rica, Hungary and Chile, India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests stated that “confinement in captivity can seriously compromise the welfare and survival of all types of cetaceans by altering their behaviour and causing extreme distress.”

The policy statement, released in May, continued: “Whereas cetaceans in general are highly intelligent and sensitive, and various scientists who have researched dolphin behaviour have suggested that the unusually high intelligence – as compared to other animals – means that dolphins should be seen as ‘non-human persons’ and as such should have their own specific rights and is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment purposes.”

In an interview with Tribune Business, developers pointed out that Nassau is desperately short of excursion/attraction/tour options for visiting cruise ship passengers, hence Blackbeard’s Cay’s design as a beach break getaway. They have pledged that the project will create 200 jobs.

The developers have also pointed out that the existing “dolphin encounters”, at Atlantis and Blue Lagoon, lack the capacity to meet the demand from cruise ship passengers for such an attraction.

It is unclear how many dolphins are at the facility at Blackbeard’s Cay, or whether they were bred in captivity.

Mrs Duncombe said: “[Dolphins] all call each other by a specific name, they call each other by signature whistles, they found that dolphins separated for 20 years recognized the signature whistle of another dolphin that it was in captivity with.”

“We need to understand that these animals are highly intelligent, highly socialized, and as a country that is hopefully moving forward, this has to end.

She added: “This is not a PLP or an FNM thing, this is a moral and ethical question. Is it something that we’re going to continue to do as a country and allow, because it degrades us.”