Year of the Dolphin

In September 2006 the United Nations launched the Year of the Dolphin 2007 Campaign which was to highlight the many dangers faced by dolphins at the hands of mankind.

Marine Connection is well aware of the perils which threaten wild dolphins around the world and very much welcome any attempts to raise awareness about these issues. However the charity immediately had concerns over 'World of TUI' being one of the main partners of Year of the Dolphin - as the company actively profits from selling excursions to captive dolphin facilities to their customers.

One threat to wild dolphins is their direct capture and trade to supply marine parks. TUI sends its customers to over 20 facilities which hold captive dolphins, many of which were captured from the wild.

It is therefore, a moral travesty for 'World of TUI' to continue to profit from dolphins in captivity whilst at the same time publicising their work with other partners in the Year Of The Dolphin initiative to eliminate threats to wild dolphins.

It is astounding that the other partners in Year of the Dolphin (UNEP/CMS/ACCOBAMS/ASCOBANS/UNESCO/WDCS) accepted TUI's inclusion in such an important initiative, especially as it was recently revealed that TUI/Thomson are promoting the Palm Atlantis resort in Dubai to their customers - a new facility that imported 28 Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins captured from the wild in the Solomon Islands.

The threat to wild dolphins from tour operators such as TUI