A dolphin Park? Or a dolphin cage?

Photo: holistictour.com

Dolphins of course, are intelligent cetaceans around the world. They are mammals just like us. They are free living lovers of nature. They are closely related to whales and porpoises. They live around shallow waters mostly in the tropical region. They eat mostly fish and squid. We all love dolphins for what they are. But does this mean that we need to capture them and show the world what they can do?

In Maldives, different types of dolphins are seen. Spotted dolphins, striped dolphins and dwarf sperm whales are seen mostly. Dolphins are seen in almost all waters within Maldives. Dive centers, safaris and other organizations do conduct dolphin watching programs for tourists and locals. It seems that the Government of Maldives is leasing a lagoon to create a dolphin park. The Cabinet has approved a proposal to lease a lagoon for 21 years to Maldives top tennis player Amir Mansoor to develop a dolphin lagoon and training center.

Is this acceptable?! Dolphins are completely protected species in the Maldivian waters. I don’t think dolphins deserve to be in a cage for the rest of their life. They are fast swimmers and its hard for me to see them swimming in circles. Training dolphins is an impressive move, but is it impressive to train them for the use of human entertainment? Even though special care and medical attention are given to them. They are friendly creatures of course, but does this mean we could use them? According to the government gazette, the Cabinet on October 4 deliberated on a paper presented by the Finance Ministry and approved the proposal to lease the lagoon located between Thilafushi and Baros to Mansoor as decided by the National Planning Council.

Photo: indritours.com

Also Amir Mansoor says the dolphins that are gong to be brought for this project are bottlenose dolphins which were born and raised in captivity. So does this mean that bringing a creature raised from captivity should be again in another cage!?

Dolphins in captivity is not acceptable! These types of actions should not be done in a country like Maldives. In a country where environment protection law isn’t enforced, it is hard to trust the government that they are doing a good thing. They want to raise money by tricking the intelligence of these creatures for human entertainment and general amusement. Several environmentalists and marine animal lovers have shared their concerns against this project. We don’t need a dolphin park to see dolphins. Dolphins are seen anywhere around Maldives, a safari boat or a dive center can arrange a dolphin watching program on demand. This has shown me a question, is the Maldivian government planning to raise more money by creating animal cages?

Please share your concerns below or this website: http://scuba-tribe.com/news/governmentleasinglagoontocreateadolphinpark