Mairie de Port St Père
Mr. Jean Claes,
Commissaire enquêteur
29 rue de Pornic
44710 Port St Père
France

7th July 2006

Dear Mr. Claes,

Re: Planète Sauvage plan to construct a dolphinarium

We have recently been informed that the "wildlife entertainment park" Planète Sauvage situated at Port St-Père plans on constructing a dolphinarium within the park. As Captivity Officer for the Marine Connection, a dolphin and whale conservation and welfare charity based in the UK, I felt compelled to contact you.

As I am sure you will be aware, dolphins are wide-ranging and complex animals. Swimming numerous miles in straight lines and diving to depths of 100 feet, dolphins live in complex family groups and use their extensive echo-location or sonar skills to forage and make sense of their water-based world. They spend over half their time underwater and have adapted over millions of years to their specific and huge habitat which is so full of life.

To confine these animals to an artificial, lifeless tank without currents, live fish or their family pod, in order that they perform for human entertainment is unacceptable. Dolphins, whether born in captivity or captured from the wild, still have the desire to swim hundreds of miles, dive hundreds of feet, use their exceptional echolocation skills to explore their surroundings and catch live fish. Simply, in captivity each one of these abilities and desires are rendered useless. All captive dolphins, whether born in captivity or taken from the wild, suffer mentally and physically from having their natural, instinctive skills inhibited. Captive dolphins become a caricature of their wild counterparts and simply for the entertainment of humans.

However, attitudes are changing. Today, tourists are far more aware of how dolphins suffer when held in captivity and, as wild dolphin watching becomes more and more popular, the differences in behaviour and obvious well-being between captive and wild animals are becoming increasingly blatant and abhorrent to the general public. Tourists are far more keen to visit areas which have ethical, sustainable and environmentally friendly roots and dolphinariums are a stark contradiction to this.

Therefore, I urge you, not to authorise any permit allowing "Planète Sauvage" to display dolphins. This would only provoke international condemnation and discourage many tourists from visiting your district. On the other hand, to refuse these permits would earn Port St-Père and the surrounding areas of Nantes and Pornic and international reputation as a forward-thinking and environmentally aware area.

Thank you for taking the time to read my correspondence, please do no hesitate to contact me if you would like any further information at all. I would be very interested to receive any comments regarding my letter and hope that the right decision is taken.

Yours sincerely,

Andrina Murrell
Captivity Officer

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Préfecture de Loire Atlantique
Mr. Bernard Boucault,
Préfet de la Région Pays de la Loire et Préfet de la Loire Atlantique
6 quai Ceineray
44000 Nantes
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Mr. Jean Marc Ayrault, Député-Maire
2 rue de l'Hôtel de Ville
44094 Nantes Cedex 1
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