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Further captures - are Solomon Islands dolphins headed for Dubai?
The Marine Connection have been advised that the Solomon Islands have allowed a further 12 dolphins to be captured from the wild, and these unfortunate animals have joined the 20 previously captured. All are now languishing in a sea pen awaiting their fate. Some of the dolphins are believed to be destined for the Atlantis Hotel Resort which forms part of the Palm Jumeirah development in Dubai.
A multi billion dollar development, The Palm is a unique man-made island built in the shape of a date palm tree, consisting of a trunk, a crown with 17 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that will form a water-breaker. The Atlantis Hotel, located on one of the fronds, will consist of two towers housing 2000 rooms, as well as a 162 thousand square meter water-theme park, an 8,000 square meter two-storey conference centre and 1.85 thousand square meters of retail space. Stretching out into the ocean off the coast of Dubai, the developers have named this development the eighth wonder of the world and amongst all of this, captive dolphins.
The Marine Connection are campaigning to prevent this export. Both the Solomon Islands and Dubai (part of the United Arab Emirates) are members of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna), and under CITES law before any captures from the wild are authorised a non-detriment study has to be undertaken and a report provided. In the case of these latest captures (and previous captures in 2003), these conditions were not adhered to and the charity believes that the Solomon Islands should be held accountable for violation of these international laws.
Judith Scott, Campaigns Officer comments; "It is extremely distressing that despite international outrage over these captures and IUCN (The International Union for the Conservation of Nature) writing to the Solomon Islands Government informing them that any export will be illegal under CITES law, the government continue to allow further captures of wild dolphins for export. Although it is difficult to campaign against a development such as this due to the immense investment which has been made, it is vital that we highlight the source of these animals in the event that Dubai may be considering accepting this import from the Solomon Islands. The Marine Connection will continue to do all we can to prevent this export taking place as we believe this to be illegal under international law and will continue our attempts to persuade the relevant authorities to release these dolphins back to the wild."
Take Action
Please email H.E. Abdulla Bin Abdal Aziz, the CITES representative in Dubai, explaining that allowing the importation of these dolphins will be illegal under CITES law due to the fact that no scientific study of the population was undertaken prior to capture being allowed. As the Convention’s representative in Dubai, it is his duty to address this and prevent CITES law being violated by refusing the importation of these dolphins into Dubai.
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