By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Bahamian environmental activist yesterday said she is “very concerned” that the Government may by seeking to sell the five dolphins rescued earlier this year from the Blackbeard’s Cay project.

Sam Duncombe, reEarth’s president, told Tribune Business she has “no idea” about the purpose behind yesterday’s newspaper advertisement by the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, which was described as a “notice of claim” to the dolphins who are currently residing at Atlantis after being transferred from their previous location on Balmoral Island off New Providence’s northern coast.

The advertisement called for persons claiming to own the dolphins to produce the necessary ‘proof of ownership’ documents within the next four days, as well as pay unspecified fees. “Further be informed that the law allows for the disposal of impounded/seized animals if they are not claimed or prescribed pound fees paid within four days of this notice,” the advertisement read.

Greg Bethell, The Bahamas’ director of marine resources, who signed the notice declined to comment yesterday when contacted by Tribune Business. He referred this newspaper to Montez Williams, under-secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources, who was said to be out of the country until tomorrow and did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Mrs Duncombe, who was among those who first drew attention to the plight of Blackbeard Cay’s dolphins, said she has been unable to obtain updates from either the ministry or Atlantis as to the dolphins’ present condition. She warned that, given the global attention previously drawn to the dolphins’ fate, this again had the makings of “a negative story” for The Bahamas when it comes to animal care.

“I have had zero communication from the ministry since the middle of June when they had said they were going to let us take over care of the animals,” the reEarth president said. “I have tried to get in contact with Atlantis to find out how the animals are doing; no response. Nobody is saying a word. I did message Mr Williams, whose name is in the ad, but it’s a total black-out. He’s not responded to me.

“I have no idea what this notice is about. It sounds to me, and four days’ notice to produce paperwork saying whoever owns the dolphins is a joke to the average person, that they are trying to do this so they can go ahead and sell the animals. They continue to operate in the dark and leave us out of the situation, and I’m very concerned.

“There is a consistent concern that, once again, this is going to be a negative story about the treatment of animals in our country. Communicate with the public. Let the public know what’s going on. There were many, many people from all over the world commenting on that story, that particular situation and wanting to know what was going on. We’ve got to stop acting like we’re sitting in the middle of nowhere where nobody else knows what’s going on.” 

Tribune Business previously revealed the background to the dolphins’ fate is complex, as they were owned by a business that was ordered to shut down by the Supreme Court but remained open in defiance of its orders and amid a lack of enforcement action.

The tale also involves two US bankruptcy court proceedings, a former Cabinet minister and litigation in The Bahamas. Blackbeard’s Cay, also known as Balmoral Island, is located off New Providence’s north coast almost directly opposite the Sandals Royal Bahamian resort although the latter has nothing to do with the project and dolphins.

The dolphin encounter and marine park, designed as an attraction and excursion primarily targeted at cruise passengers, was owned by a company called Blue Illusions. That entity’s ownership was split 50/50 between two foreign investors, Samir Andrawos and his business partner, Victoria Iglesias.

However, Blue Illusions was almost immediately hit with a Judicial Review action by Mrs Duncombe and reEarth challenging the permits and approvals granted for the project. Then-Supreme Court justice, Stephen Isaacs, ruled in the environmental activists’ favour by ordering that Blackbeard’s Cay effectively be shut down.

He overruled the dolphin import licences, ordering that the mammals be moved to a suitable location and also quashed the development’s Town Planning Committee approval and ordered that the site be restored to its previous use.

However, Blackbeard’s Cay and its dolphin attraction remained in business for six further years with no enforcement action taken by the authorities to enforce its shut down until the COVID-19 forced all activities to cease. The financial impact from the pandemic-enforced closure ultimately proved an insurmountable obstacle for Blue Illusions to climb.

Both Mr Andrawos and Ms Iglesias have been embroiled in personal bankruptcy proceedings before separate US courts in Maryland and southern Florida, respectively. Each had a bankruptcy trustee appointed over their financial affairs following legal actions initiated by Blue Illusions’ main creditor, SuttonGate Holdings.

Court filings obtained by Tribune Business reveal that Mr Andrawos’ creditors view Blackbeard’s Cay as their best source of debt recovery. They allege that financial records show the dolphin attraction and other amenities were generating $7m per year in annual revenue, or a collective $49m over seven years, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The situation, though, has been further complicated by the fact Mr Andrawos’ 50 percent equity ownership interest in Blue Illusions has been claimed by Damian Gomez KC, former minister of state for legal affairs, via Bahamian legal proceedings in a bid to recover $1.25m in outstanding legal fees allegedly owed to him by the Blackbeard’s Cay developer.

It thus remains unclear exactly who has ownership of the abandoned Blackbeard’s Cay project and the dolphins, although there is no suggestion that Mr Gomez has done anything wrong. Mrs Duncombe, meanwhile, yesterday renewed her call for The Bahamas to phase out animal attractions and instead establish a dolphin sanctuary.

“What we need to do is stop the importation and exportation of animals, stop breeding at these facilities and say to the world we will not be doing this,” she argued. “Grandfather all those facilities in, no more breeding and, when those animals pass, there will be no more facilities. We should never have started this business in the first place.”

Mrs Duncombe said the idea of creating a dolphin sanctuary was raised when she met Jomo Campbell, minister of agriculture and marine resources, and his officials over the Blackbeard’s Cay situation for the first and only time this summer. However, there has been no further progress.