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.
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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.
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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 2005)
A recent report in Al-Ahram stated that as part of the expansion programme at the Hilton Dreams Resort in Sharm, plans were to include an aqua park for children containing a dolphin pool. The Marine Connection immediately contacted Hilton, a spokesperson for the Hilton Dreams Vacation Club confirmed that they were building an aqua park on the site and did plan to keep dolphins.
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Dolphin show closes at Concorde el Salam
(Added :- May 2005)
When the Marine Connection were alerted to the opening of a second dolphin facility at the Concorde el Salam Hotel in Sharm el Sheikh, the charity lost no time in uncovering the history of the import. It was discovered that the two dolphins had been illegally brought from Syria, which resulted in immediate talks being set up with the authorities while we campaigned to have the animals removed. We confirm that due to continued pressure via this campaign, the dolphins have now been removed back to their place of origin, and would like to thank all who took time to email and fax to help support our aim; to ensure the only dolphins in Sharm are those living wild and free in the Red Sea and not confined in unnatural surroundings. Meanwhile, please continue to support our campaign to 'Free the Dolphinella 3'.

Egypt provisionally say NO to future dolphin/whale imports
(Added :- April 2005)
The Marine Connection would like to thank everyone who has supported their campaign to ban captive dolphins and whales in Egypt. Following constant negotiations between the charity and the Egyptian authorities, and the ensuring public pressure created by our campaign, it was confirmed verbally earlier today by CITES in Cairo that Egypt will no longer authorise imports of marine mammals into their country. Whilst this is fantastic news for the future, we still need public support to help persuade CITES to close the two facilities in Sharm which are holding dolphins and return them to their place of origin. We believe that with your help this will be done and Sharm el Sheikh can really be a captive dolphin and whale free zone. Therefore we urge you to sign our petition to have these facilities closed and continue to write/fax/email the relevant authorities. The female beluga currently held in Merryland, Cairo that was confiscated from Dolphinella is expected to return to Russia imminently following the death of her tank mate, Hook. Thank you once again to everyone who has helped us win this campaign.

Question over death of young beluga in Egypt
(Added :- March 2005)
Since the successful confiscation of two beluga whales from Dolphinella, the Marine Connection have been actively campaigning for their immediate return to Russia. We have asked CITES in Cairo why the animals were taken to another facility in Egypt and also why it is taking 5 months to arrange their re-export back to the place of origin as there are real concerns for their future welfare in they are kept in unsuitable conditions. Having been provided with copies of the relevant documentation, we can now confirm that the beluga which died at Merryland in Cairo on 13 February 2005 was 'Hook', the young male confiscated from Dolphinella. This is the sad loss of a young whale. The post mortem/anatomy reports provided to us are, in our opinion, totally inconclusive as to the cause of death and certainly do not prove the supposition by the staff at Merryland that the death was due to a heart defect. This is proof that these whales do not belong in captivity, and certainly not in Egypt. We are continuing to press CITES for answers to our questions and ensure that plans to transfer the remaining female beluga 'Feel' back to Russia are carried out within the next few days as promised.

Another captive facility opens
(Added :- February 2005)
The Marine Connection has been alerted to the importation of two male dolphins and one sea lion to the El Salam Concorde Hotel, Sharm el Sheikh. We are in talks with the authorities to determine the source of these latest imports and voice our concern at this continued promotion and support of keeping dolphins in captivity in Sharm and authorisation of imports to Egypt. If, like us you feel visitors to Sharm want to see dolphins in the wild and not in pools, please click here for details of who to write to voicing your concern.

Talks continue for belugas
(Added :- December 2004)
The Marine Connection are now in receipt of reports, photographs and video evidence from Merryland in Cairo where the belugas are being held and also with regard to the dolphins still being held at Dolphinella in Sharm el Sheikh. We are continuing talks with the Egyptian authorities, both in the UK and Cairo, to ensure the welfare of these animals and their ultimate re-exportation back to Russia and hope to have an updated report early in the new year.

Dolphin swims recommence
(Added :- November 2004)
The Marine Connection were disturbed to receive reports early this week from our representative in Sharm el Sheikh advising us that Dolphinella have re-commenced their swim with dolphins programme, despite being told by the CITES authorities in Cairo to cease with immediate effect, further to meetings with the authorities when The Marine Connection raised concerns for the welfare of these animals and the confiscation of the two beluga whales.We had also received reports that the two beluga whales which are in Cairo awaiting re-export back to Russia were participating in shows at the new facility. The charity immediately contacted the Egyptian Embassy in London, asking why the management of Dolphinella have been allowed to re-commence the dolphin swims and also to confirm or deny the reports regarding the belugas.
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