See Red campaign awareness, Belgium

The Marine Connection was recently contacted by Michel Weil, who works for magazines within Belgium. Passionate about sea life, he regularly visits the Red Sea and enjoys free-diving and observing marine life in its natural environment. Michel was appalled to see Belgian tour operators advertising Dolphinella and after talking to a local dive company about the Marine Connection See Red! campaign wrote an article in Belgian magazines "Télé Moustique". See the translation of his article in "Télé Moustique" below.

Free Flipper!

I have just spent three dream weeks in Egypt - more precisely at Sharm el Sheikh, at the southern tip of Sinai. The Red Sea is truly an aquarium harbouring a thousand and one underwater riches. In past years I have been able to observe and photograph whale sharks, hammerheads, turtles, dolphins, mantas and other such creatures. I admit to having a weakness for the 'amphiprions', in other words the 'clown fish', who fiercely defend their sea anemones.

This year I was lucky enough to swim for a few minutes with two eagle rays during the mating season. Terrific… But best of all is an encounter with dolphins. Rarely seen along the coast, they travel for most of the time in important groups. These highly developed and intelligent mammals travel staggering distances in these groups and love to play under boats.

On the other hand, to be able to swim with truly wild dolphins is very rare. They are very shy and do not easily allow themselves to be approached underwater. Nonetheless it can happen and, without doubt, there have been unforgettable occasions. In 1999 I was incredibly lucky to be able to swim for two hours with a female and her baby. I cried with joy in my diving mask.

Unfortunately I must now get to the main subject of my letter: dolphinariums exist almost everywhere in the world where dolphins are trained to perform circus acts. These performances hide a terrible reality. Enclosed in tiny tanks, the dolphins quickly lose all their natural faculties and, amongst others, their echolocation system. One fact is particularly revealing: after giving birth, the female refuses to breastfeed the baby, and the male is placed in a separate tank, otherwise he kills the baby by butting/ramming it to avoid it becoming a martyr of captivity.

In Belgium, the Bruges dolphinarium remains open in spite of many criticisms. However, there is worse still than Bruges. Sharm el Sheikh also has a prison for cetaceans called Dolphinella. Just a few cables from the sea there are several dolphins suffering the torments of imprisonment. The worst thing, however, is that the tour operators sell the excursions at extortionate prices in order that you can allegedly 'swim with the dolphins'. By this they mean finding yourself in a tank for a few seconds hugging in your arms a completely spiritless (passive) dolphin while a photograph is taken to mark the occasion. Fifty people queue up behind you - waiting for their turn at this 'magic' moment.

This rip-off is so pitiable that most of the tourists come away from it feeling disgusted. And, yes, they went there through money-grabbing tour operators. The latter carry a grave responsibility because they intensely promote this nasty practice. During my stay I could see that the two principal Belgian operators were being handsomely rewarded at the expense of the cetaceans. A letter has been sent to them, which they have promised will be discussed at a higher level.

Different organisations are actively fighting to have this commercial exploitation of dolphins stopped. www.marineconnection.org is particularly active and has recently launched the campaign SEE RED (a play on words of Red Sea). Discover the sad reality of Dolphinella on www.marineconnection.org/news/general/sharm06main.htm

Having been passionate about diving for many years, I have the surname of Flipper (thanks to Sébastien Ministru). I entreat you to boycott from now onwards the unnatural exploitation of cetaceans. If you are on holiday, do reserve sea excursions, hence discovering true nature. Encountering dolphins in their natural environment is always random, but it will only be more beautiful…

Michel Weil (dit Flipper)
Correcteur Télé Moustique

For the original article in French please click here

Kindly translated by Irene Murrell