Mexican facility needs funds for therapy for kids

Plagued by budget problems and two missing dolphins, a dolphin aquarium in Sonora, Mexico will open its doors this month to the public, hoping tourists will help offset the cost of providing therapy to disabled children. Acuario Delfinario Sonora originally opened in Autumn, the result of a campaign promise by the then-candidate for governor of Sonora, Eduardo Bours Castelo.

Cesar Salazar Platt, director of an ecology commission in Sonora, said Bours was approached by parents of disabled children, asking for better facilities and rehabilitation centers for their kids. That is how the idea of building the aquarium for mainly therapeutic benefits in San Carlos Bay came to fruition.

The aquarium's main goal is to provide "dolphin therapy" for children suffering neurological disorders, such as meningitis, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other ailments.

Salazar Platt said running the operation is expensive and that the aquarium has developed a plan that will generate more income to help buffer these costs.

The plans include two seaside restaurants, gift shops, and recreational swimming with dolphins. The interactive swims are currently available at $120. The restaurants and shops are set to open next year. The costs they are hoping to offset include having a fully staffed facility with dolphin therapists, psychologists and trainers year round, even during the winter months when the aquarium is closed.

Also, the facility treats more than 500,000 gallons of water daily, which is used in the dolphin's habitat and changed up to six times a day to avoid infection in the four mammals that call the aquarium home.

The aquarium almost didn't open
The state government gave Exotic Reptiles, a Mexican company, a $300,000 deposit for six bottlenose dolphins to be delivered to the aquarium no later then September, and according to state officials, the company never delivered.

The dolphins at the aquarium are rentals from an aquarium in Mexico City. It is unlawful to capture, sell, import or export marine mammals under Mexican federal guidelines, so the aquarium is not able to capture dolphins in the nearby San Carlos Bay, where colonies of 200 or more dolphins live, Salazar Platt said.

He said aquarium officials are in the process of petitioning the federal government to permit the capture of dolphins for scientific and therapeutic applications.

The alternative therapy being practiced is called the "Dolphins Effect." It is believed to be a powerful catalyst on emotional and neurological disorders. The theory draws from the mystical relationship between man and dolphin, a relationship that dates back to ancient Greece, where the wonders of dolphins were first discovered, according to therapists.

The therapy is centered on the notion that dolphins send inaudible high pitch sound waves that are used in stimulating the brain, thus impacting motor, sensor, cognitive, emotional and language skills of a mentally disabled person. "The therapy is centered on the kind nature of the dolphins, their constant playful state and apparent smile makes them the perfect catalyst for these types of therapies," according to Federico Quiroz, a dolphin therapist from Acuario Delfinario Sonora.

Dolphin therapy is based on an indigent patient status. If a patient is
unable to pay, the state will pay for the six sessions. Otherwise, there is a cost for the therapy and it is based on first-come basis, no reservations accepted.

Marine Connnection comment:
Andrina Murrell states that "It is concerning to hear that another centre is opening under the guise of a dolphin "therapy" centre and evenmoreso that the government is willing to subsidise this unproven and potentially harmful experiences. It is also very worrying that aquarium officials are petitioning the government in Mexico to reverse their decision to ban the capture and trade of marine mammals, this would only subject the dolphins captured to an impoverished and shortened lief in captivity and potentially decimate populations of local wild dolphins."

For more information on the Marine Connection's view on dolphin therapy please click here

Source: tusconcitizen.com