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Captivity News Archive 2009
Trainer killed by captive whale
(Added: 29 December 2009)
The Marine Connection has received news that a trainer at Loro Parque in Tenerife, Canary Islands has been killed by an orca during a training session for a new show, planned to open at the beginning of January.
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Solomon Islands dolphins flown to Malaysia
(Added: 13 December 2009)
The Solomon Islands government showed no remorse as it gave permission for another nine dolphins, captured from the wild in Solomon Island waters, to be exported to Malaysia over the weekend.
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Cliffy to remain at Sea World, Gold Coast
(Added: 08 November 2009)
The Marine Connection recently received confirmation that Cliffy, the friendly sociable bottlenose dolphin which frequented the area around the Port of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia before being captured and taken into captivity at Sea World, (located on the Gold Coast) is to remain there permanently.
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Cliffy latest
(Added: 26 October 2009)
The latest update on this young dolphin is that Sea World (SW) recently stated Cliffy has lost sight in his left eye as a result of a cataract. It is the Marine Connections' belief that SW are using this as an excuse to continue to keep this young animal.
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Broome reverses suspension
(Added: 17 October 2009)
The charity has received news that the Broome Shire Council has voted to reverse its suspension of its sister-city relationship with the town of Taiji due to the slaughter of dolphins.
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Urgent - please email NOW for Taiji dolphins
(Added: 12 October 2009)
Marine Connection was very concerned to learn from our colleague Ric O'Barry that following our previous report that the town of Broome in Kimberley, western Australia had cut ties with Taiji (its' sister town in Japan), they are now having a public vote on whether to continue this.
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The Cove - UK premiere plus release dates/venues
(Added: 07 October 2009)
The Marine Connection is delighted to announce the UK release dates of 'The Cove' - the film that exposes the truth about the international dolphin capture and trade practiced in Taiji, Japan during the annual drive hunts.
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Cliffy - not a performing dolphin
(Added: 07 October 2009)
The Marine Connection would like to thank everyone who has supported the charity's campaign so far to release Cliffy, the friendly sociable bottlenose dolphin which frequented the area around the Port of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia before being captured in July and taken to Sea World, located on the Gold Coast.
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Renewed calls for whale sharks' release
(Added: 23 September 2009)
Sammy the juvenile whale shark, taken from the wild in August last year has now spent more than 12 months in the Ambassador Lagoon - an 11 million litre fish tank at the Palm Atlantis Resort in Dubai, where it pulls in large crowds of tourists and UAE residents alike.
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Taiji under pressure?
(Added: 11 September 2009)
Has the international attention of the media and others obtained by the release of 'The Cove' put the Japanese under pressure? For years Ric O'Barry has led the campaign to stop the drive hunts in Taiji, and for years he has been supported by campaigners worldwide but little has been taken up by the media or exposed to the world at large.
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Solomon Islands' dolphin quota cut to 50
(Added: 11 September 2009)
Concerns raised over captures from the wild of dolphins in waters surrounding the Solomon Islands have resulted in the annual capture quota being reduced from 100 to 50. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment Conservation and Meteorology, Rence Sore commented; "At the 24th Meeting of the CITES Animals Committee in Geneva, Switzerland, from 20-24 April 2009 – Review of Tursiops Aduncas Trade in Solomon Islands was discussed. However, having recognized and understood the concerns of stakeholders and having acknowledged the sovereign right of the country to decide on a cautious quota – the CITES Management Authority is recommending to Cabinet a reduction in quota of 50 dolphins per year." He said the quota of 50 dolphins per year will be further monitored and evaluated and at the same time population survey undertaken to establish the Non-Detrimental Findings on dolphins.
Law suit for Professor Marino
(Added: 11 September 2009)
Ocean World S.A. launched a law suit against Dr Lori Marino of Emory University claiming Dr Marino supported the campaign to block the purchase of 12 dolphins from the Taiji Drive hunts which were due for export to a facility in the Dominican Republic. Ocean World also claim that Dr Marino was interfering with the opening of the new dolphin exhibit planned for the Georgia Aquarium, which Dr Marino denies.
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UK release date of 'The Cove' announced
(Added: 03 September 2009)
The Marine Connection is delighted to announce the UK release date of 'The Cove' will be 23 October 2009. The film, released by Vertigo films, exposes the truth about the international dolphin capture and trade practiced in Taiji, Japan during the annual drive hunts.
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Update on Cliffy
(Added: 31 August 2009)
The Marine Connection would like to thank everyone who has supported the campaign so far to release Cliffy, the friendly sociable bottlenose dolphin which frequented the area around the Port of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia before being recently captured and taken into captivity by Sea World, located on the Gold Coast.
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Australian town cuts ties with Taiji
(Added: 23 August 2009)
Online newspaper'The Australian', has reported that the community in the outback town of Broome in Kimberley, Western Australia are calling for ties with Taiji (its' sister city in Japan) to be cut over the annual slaughter and capture of thousands of dolphins in the notorious drive hunts.
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MGM Mirage granted permit
(Added: 17 August 2009)
The Marine Connection is highly disappointed to have received news that the MGM Mirage has been granted a permit to import two Atlantic bottlenose dolphins for public display in Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden on the Las Vegas Strip. The dolphins 1 male and 1 female from Bermuda will be used for breeding purposes. Many dolphins have died at this facility the latest being Sgt. Pepper, the 14th dolphin to die at the Mirage habitat since it opened in 1990.
Calls to 'Free Lolita' continue
(Added: 08 August 2009)
Our colleage Ric O'Barry joined protestors outside the Miami Seaquarium calling for the facility to give Lolita the orca, who has been in captivity since 1970, the chance of freedom.
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Kiev to open new dolphinarium
(Added: 08 August 2009)
Reports just received confirm that the first indoor dolphinarium will be opened in Kiev, Ukraine in early September, construction of the Nemo dolphinarium started in June. This will be the third branch of the Odesa dolphinarium which has facilities in Kharkiv and the largest dolphinarium in the former Soviet Union in Odesa itself. We believe the new facility, with its 4.5 x 20m pool, plan 3 performances every day with evening peformances at weekends involving pop stars. This follows examples by other facilities such as the Atlantis resort in Dubai who had performances by Kylie Minogue and others plus an enormous firework display at their opening night, and their subsequent 'Summer Nights' events, subjecting the dolphins to a large amount of noise and vibration - as if being held in captivity wasn't enough to tolerate!
Solitary/social dolphin taken to Sea World, Australia
(Added: 31 July 2009)
A friendly, sociable bottlenose dolphin which frequented the area around the Port of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia has been captured and taken into captivity by Sea World, Gold Coast (located in Main Beach), and the Marine Connection are calling for this animal to be returned to the wild.
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Bayworld dolphins head for Ocean Park
(Added: 07 July 2009)
Domino and Dumisa, the two remaining dolphins at South Africa's 'Bayworld' in Port Elizabeth are to be flown to Hong Kong's Ocean Park on breeding loan.
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Gulf World's baby dolphin dies suddenly
(Added: 30 July 2009)
A male Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin who was born on July 21 at Gulf World Marine Park, Florida has died. It is unclear what caused the animal's death, park officials said in a news release. Sandy, a 24 year-old Atlantic Bottlenose dolphin gave birth after a 12-month gestational period. The mother and calf were being housed with Luna, the mother's 4 year-old daughter, and another young female Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin named Indy. A necropsy will be performed today to hopefully learn more about the untimely death.
Palm Atlantis sponsors dolphin therapy programme
(Added: 31 May 2009)
The Dubai Autism Centre has joined forces with Palm Atlantis to incorporate dolphin therapy into their course of interaction and communication therapies.
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CITES asked to act on SI dolphin capture quota
(Added: 29 April 2009)
At the latest annual meeting of the CITES Animal Committee, it was recommended the Solomon Islands' government reduce their annual bottlenose dolphin capture/export quota from 100 to 10 for up to four years as a precautionary standard until population surveys are completed.
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Update on fate of Bayworld dolphins
(Added: 30 March 2009)
In October 2008 Marine Connection reported that plans were underway to capture dolphins from the wild to secure the future of Bayworld. Since that time we have supported the work of our colleagues at Dolphin Action and Protection Group in Cape Town in an effort to ensure these captures were not authorised.
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Solomon dolphin export quota agreed
(Added: 21 March 2009)
At a recent forum held in the Solomon Islands to discuss the capture and export of live wild bottlenose dolphins from the area (see report 18 March below), the government agreed captures should continue and have authorised that up to 100 animals per annum can be exported.
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Forum on Solomon dolphin trade
(Added: 18 March 2009)
The Ministry of Environment and Conservation in the Solomon's recently held a meeting to discuss the capture of Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphin from its Islands. Representatives from government agencies, non-government organizations and others discussed their views and concerns with regards to the captures and the legality and sustainability of the trade and the welfare of the captured animals although groups who have been working on this issue were disappointed at the late notification given to them, meaning that most were not able to be represented at the meeting to air their views.
Is the market shrinking for dolphin traders?
(Added: 22 February 2009)
With 70 recent job cuts at Atlantis, Dubai (added to the 80 last year at Atlantis Bahamas), and more rumoured redundancies planned within the Jumeirah group we have to consider if this downturn in the economic climate have a possible impact on the future for dolphin traders with their sights set on the Middle / Far Eastern market?
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Merlin Entertainments in Busch Bid?
(Added: 19 January 2009)
In the wake of Belgian brewers InBev's $52bn takeover of Anheuser-Busch, Busch Entertainment, the group's theme park business, which owns SeaWorld Orlando, is expected to be one of the first business units put up for sale with a possible price of up to $4bn. Potential bidders include Merlin Entertainments, the Blackstone-owned theme park group whose UK assets include Sealife Centres, Madame Tussauds and Legoland.
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More Solomon Islands dolphins sent to Philippines
(Added: 18 January 2009)
An air cargo plane owned by Turkish airline company Kuzu arrived in the Solomon Islands on 14 January to take 11 dolphins to the Philippines, who accepted 7 wild caught dolphins for the Subic Aquarium in December 2008.
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Airline drop dolphin charters
(Added: 05 January 2009)
The Marine Connection is delighted to report that United Parcel Service (UPS), one of America's large cargo air transport service which owns the cargo jet that recently transported seven live dolphins from the Solomon Islands to the Philippines has decided not to ship any live dolphins from the Solomon Islands in the future.
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