- Target:
- Minvielle & Chastanet Ltd.
- Region:
- GLOBAL
- Website:
- www.stluciaanimals.org
Minvielle & Chastanet Ltd., a large St. Lucian company wants to capture wild dolphins and put them in a sea pen for tourists to play with!
St. Lucia and the Commonwealth of Dominica currently have captive dolphin facilities in the planning stages. The one in Dominica is partially constructed.
The two foreign investors involved are in St. Lucia, Dolphin Fantaseas and in Dominica, DOLPHINS PLUS.
A permit will be sought for the first 6 bottlenose dolphins for the St. Lucia facility to be captured in St. Lucia's territorial waters, in defiance of the SPAW protocol of the Cartegena Convention, which St. Lucia has ratified.
The dolphins for Dominica have recently been transferred from the Dolphins Plus facility at Prospect Reef in Tortola, which has closed down.
Our dolphins are a shared resource. Both St. Lucia, Dominica and the islands
to the north and south have thriving whale and dolphin watching operations, generating income for many.
These animals are large, wild and free ranging and it is wrong to confine them to enclosures, however "large" or "deep". They can never be as large or deep as the ocean which is their home.
The proposed St. Lucia facility is in an inlet at the entrance to Castries harbour which is not only extremely polluted, but is directly in the path of low flying aircraft coming in to land at the airport, and yards away from large cargo and cruise ships entering the harbour.
In times of heavy rain, the bay fills up with plastic rubbish from the Castries river. Plastic is extremely dangerous to marine mammals.
The Dominica facility is in a quieter area, but the irony is striking - Dominica, the Nature Island of the Caribbean, pioneers of the whale and dolphin watching industry, promoting swimming with captive dolphins?
This will be a blow to the images of both islands and any others which chose to go this route. We are hoping that the recipients of this petition will reconsider their positions and follow the example of so many countries in South and Central America whose authorities have come to realize that cetaceans are totally unsuited to captivity.
We, the undersigned, want the Eastern Caribbean islands to be dolphinarium-free.
There is no need to keep dolphins in captivity. We have many species of dolphin in our waters year-round, providing our visitors and residents with opportunities to see them exhibiting normal behaviours, in their natural habitat.
Dolphinaria are banned in some countries. In others, they are being phased out or replaced by other attractions.
Let's be the leaders in the region and just say "NO" to captive cetaceans in the Eastern Caribbean.
If you need more information on mortality rates and other facts on the captivity issue, please visit
http://www.captivitystinks.org and then sign this petition.
HELP US KEEP THE CARIBBEAN'S WHALES AND DOLPHINS IN THE WILD WHERE THEY BELONG! Thank you.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Keep Caribbean dolphins in the wild where they belong! petition to Minvielle & Chastanet Ltd. was written by Jane Tipson and is in the category Environment at GoPetition.