Dolphinarium

The Present State of the Dolphinarium. The Dolphin Discovery facility at Meads Bay is closed down. It appears to have been abandoned by the previous management. There seems to be only a handyman present on the site during the day. He tries valiently and without management guidance to keep up with basic maintenance. The dolphins are left to swim in their own waste. The water has become badly polluted. It is now in what must be a dangerous state for the health of the dolphins and anyone else, for that matter, venturing into the water.

The relevant authorities are in the process of deciding whether to permit Dolphin Discovery to move to a new site at the Sandy Spit at Blowing Point. They are said to be going to make an independent judgment. They will consider the track record of these people and they will study the Environment Impact Statement presented to them by Applied Technology and Management Inc of West Palm Beach, Florida, and dated November 2007 [link here]. I thought I would help you to see what the authorities will find when they consider the present facility in conjunction with what the EIS says. This is a sort of photo-essay. It is only a few of the photos that were sent to me. Each has as its caption a quote from the EIS.

EIS, page 22: “Dolphin Discovery currently operates an existing facility on Anguilla at Meads Bay, an operation that has been a substantial contributor to the tourist-based Anguilla economy.”

EIS, page 1: “The Developer has demonstrated that they will ensure the animals’ welfare and veterinarians will monitor the dolphins’ health and provide appropriate care.”

EIS, page 17: “Ongoing observations will occur daily by both the behaviour and medical staff. . . . The Dolphin Discovery project will employ numerous highly qualified professionals with experience in the area of marine mammal care. . . . All relevant staff members will be trained on animal evaluation, including diseases, pathogens, and injuries that are known to occur in captive bottlenose dolphins.”

EIS, page 40: “Fish and other aquatic organisms depend on dissolved oxygen (DO), which is the oxygen present in water, to live. . . Dissolved oxygen can drop to dangerously low concentrations in water bodies that are very warm and/or have an excess of organic matter. Organic matter can originate locally via large growths and subsequent deaths of living organisms (oftentimes phytoplankton responding to an enrichment of nutrients), or organic matter can originate elsewhere and enter the water body via waste water treatment plants, failing septic tanks, and agricultural and urban runoff.”

EIS, page 17: “Cleaning, food preparation and personal hygiene procedures such as hand washing and the use of footpaths will be taught to each staff member.”

EIS, page 19: “All food preparation equipment (including buckets, sinks, scales, etc) and facilities will be cleaned and disinfected daily or more often as needed. The project will follow the US Department of Agriculture’s regulations for preparation of food.”

EIS, page 20: “The wastewater collection and transmission systems will transport the wastewater via gravity in order to minimize the use of pumps and mechanical equipment which require additional maintenance and power.”

EIS, page 20: “The wastewater collection system will be designed to handle estimated peak hourly flow conditions such that even during peak conditions, the wastewater will be transported away from the event/entertainment areas in order to eliminate any potential nuisance from overflows and backups in the system.”

EIS, page 25: “Legislation in Anguilla regarding environmental management and conservation is limited.”

EIS, page 27: “Legislation pertaining to waste disposal and noise quality and pollution is very restricted and would not apply to the present development.”

EIS, page 27: “There are no local standards for dolphins that are kept in captivity that apply to this project. The Developer will comply with accepted standards for other Caribbean nations as presented by the Government of Anguilla. Minimum suggested standards to use are the human swimming water quality criteria used in the state of Florida. Secondary guidance from similar facilities such as in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, include ensuring that the water quality criteria that are maintained are within human criteria as these are considerably more stringent than those established for dolphins.”

EIS, page 41: “In marine waters, particularly those of the Caribbean, nutrients are present in low amounts. When they become available in large quantities in surface waters, they can cause excessive growth of algae and other plants.”

EIS, page 42: “Total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN) is the sum of organic nitrogen and ammonia in a water body. The measurement of TKN can indicate the origin of nitrogen loads. For example, high measurements of TKN typically result from sewage and manure discharges to water bodies.”

I don’t think it would be unfair to say that Dolphin Discovery has provided government with all the evidence it needs to determine the commitment of these people to maintaining the highest health and animal care standards at their Anguilla facility. Let us hope government will make their decision based on the evidence.