Archived news from Sharm El Sheikh

See Red campaign awareness, Belgium
(Added :- August 2006)
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 Michel's article in "Télé Moustique" here

No dolphins for Hilton (Cleo Park), Sharm el Sheikh
(Added :- July 2006)
The Marine Connection is delighted to hear that the Hilton Sharm Dreams Vacation Club in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt has taken the decision not to accommodate any type of marine mammals on site either now or in the future.
For more information please click here

First Choice Holidays PLC stop promoting Dolphinella
(Added :- June 2006)
The Marine Connection have received excellent news that First Choice Holidays PLC, and their subsidiary companies such as Hayes & Jarvis and Sovereign will no longer be promoting the captive facility Dolphinella, in Sharm El Sheikh. This is a real step forward for First Choice and we applaud them for their decision. Sadly, several other Tour Operators such as Thomson and TUI still continue to sell Dolphinella as an excursion. If you see these companies or any other Tour Operator promoting or selling Dolphinella in Sharm El Sheikh as an excursion, please contact us with full details including any leaflets, video or photographs. Write to our Captivity Officer Andrina Murrell via mail at Marine Connection, PO Box 2404, London W2 3WG or via email here.
For more information on the Tour Operators which continue to promote Dolphinella click here.

British Tour Operators continue to promote Dolphinella
(Added :- May 2006)
With the exception of Kuoni Ltd., the Marine Connection received a poor response from British Tour Operators in reply to our investigative report into Dolphinella, Sharm El Sheikh. The report highlighted many problems at the facility, potentially jeopardising both the dolphins themselves as well as the human participants. In view of this, the Marine Connection met with the Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) to discuss their members' inaction.
For more information please click here.

Update about the beluga whales from Dolphinella, Sharm El Sheikh
(Added :-April 2006)
After receiving no confirmation from CITES in Egypt regarding whether "Feel" the beluga whale at Merryland, Cairo was sent back to Russia, we have today had confirmation that Merryland still has two beluga whales. This includes Zizo, their original beluga whale and Feel which was transported to Merryland temporarily in 2005 from the poor facilities' at Dolphinella, Sharm El Sheikh.Marine Connection will endeavour to contact CITES in Egypt to find out why the beluga whale has not returned to Russia which was indicated to happen before Christmas.
For more information on the journey of the belugas please click here.

Are Concorde set to re-import dolphins?
(Added :-April 2006)
There has been much confusion regarding whether the Concorde Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh was preparing to re-open its dolphin facility. We can confirm that at this time there are no dolphins present at the facility. however representatives at the hotel are however giving out leaflets advertising Dolphinella, another dolphin facility in Sharm. We have attempted to discuss this with the Egyptian CITES Authority to confirm whether they have received any applications for dolphin imports to Egypt but to date they have not commented on this, however we will keep pressing them for an answer regarding this. We will also be keeping a very close eye on the facility because the last time the Marine Connection visited Sharm el Sheikh, the Concord el Salaam was redeveloping its pool which may potentially mean that there will be dolphins in future.

Take Action! If you are travelling to Egypt and see any developments within the Concorde el Salaam Hotel in Sharm el Sheikh with regards to implementing their dolphin programme please contact our Captivity Officer to enable us to follow it up.

Who cares about Dolphinella's dolphins?
(Added :-March 2006)
Following the Marine Connections’ recent inspection of Dolphinella and subsequent report raising our concerns over conditions for the animals at the facility, we have yet to receive any feedback from CITES in Cairo, despite constant requests. We also forwarded a copy of our report to tour operators who promote this facility namely Kuoni, Thomsons, Olympic/Odyssey, Thomas Cook and Hayes & Jarvis/First Choice; to date only two have responded. Kuoni (UK) have advised us that they will not send customers to the facility after considering our findings, however Thomas Cook have informed us that they have carried out their own inspection and, based on that information, feel that there is no cause for concern for the animals there.
More

Kuoni also say NO to Dolphinella
(Added :-January 2006)
The Marine Connection have been busy researching into which holiday and tour companies are offering excursions to Dolphinella. At the beginning of January the charity contacted companies concerned giving them a copy of our inspection report conducted during a recent visit to Dolphinella. The companies were given until the end of January to respond to our request, and cease promoting Dolphinella. Kuoni Travel have been the first to reply stating “We have made it very clear to our agents that we do not want this excursion offered to our clients.” This is fantastic news for the charity, and we applaud Kuoni on this decision and quick response. It is good to see a company putting animal welfare ahead of profit; it is a shame that other tour companies do not have the same level of commitment to this cause. I hope that our supporters will remember Kuoni's stance when it comes to booking their holidays and support an ethical travel company.

Lastminute.com cease Dolphinella promotion
(Added :-January 2006)
Following the Marine Connection's correspondence with Lastminute.com and Mosaic holidays on Friday 13 January regarding their promotion offering a free excursion to Dolphinella, we were delighted to learn that they have now withdrawn it. If only every tour company would respond and act so promptly and positively, we could see an end to these facilities. The charity has contacted the company thanking them for their decision.

Lastminute.com / Mosaic Holidays promoting Dolphinella
(Added :-January 2006)
The Marine Connection has discovered that lastminute.com are offering free excursions to Dolphinella in Sharm el Sheikh.
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Another sub standard facility for Sharm?
(Added :- January 2006)
During a visit to Sharm El Sheikh in December 2005, the Marine Connections' Captivity Officer, discovered that another captive dolphin facility was due to open in Sharm El Sheikh within a couple of weeks.
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Dolphinella update
(Added :- December 2005)
On Wednesday 7th December 2005, the Marine Connections' Captivity Officer visited the captive dolphin facility ‘Dolphinella’ in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt as part of the charity's ongoing campaign.
More

Olympic Holidays profit from captive dolphin facility
(Added :- November 2005)
In the past week the Marine Connection discovered to our horror that Olympic Holidays and their sister company Odyssey Worldwide are promoting Dolphinella in Sharm el Sheikh on their website. Whilst the facility is not named in their promotion, there is no doubt that refers to Dolphinella, as currently, it is the only dolphinarium in Sharm el Sheikh.
Further details and Olympic Holidays contact details

Hilton Dreams - not a dream for captive dolphins
(Added :- July