More than 200 residents packed into the Charles W. Turnbull Regional Library on Thursday night for an Army Corps of Engineers public hearing that signaled more opposition than support to Coral World Ocean Park’s proposed dolphinarium.
Army Corps of Engineers representatives made it clear early on that they were not there to offer an opinion on the proposal. Instead, they said, they hoped to gather enough information from both sides to complete an analysis – done in conjunction with the National Marine Fisheries Services – to determine if a permit to construct the two-acre dolphin habitat can be issued. A land and water permit needed for the project was already approved in February 2013 by the local Coastal Zone Management Board.
Army Corps representatives speaking to the Source during the hearing said public opinion weighs heavily on projects such as these, along with any information provided about issues such as marine health and impacts on endangered or protected coral and marine species.
“About 95 percent of the projects that come through, they’re projects to be modified or changed to avoid, minimize or compensate for any impacts that could be out there,” said Sindulfo Castillo, chief of the organization’s regulatory office for the Antilles region. “Our projects provide for a zero net loss of any resources that we have in the area.”
For residents testifying Thursday, the concern about potential loss of resources ranged from turtles to corals, along with sea grass beds and other marine life. Testifiers were brought up in groups of five, and speaker after speaker cited his or her concerns for the health of Water Bay and the health of the dolphins, which they said were not meant to be raised in captivity. 
One resident, Jane Higgins, said that for years there has been a global effort to limit projects such as these and referenced countries from Costa Rica to India, which she said has “outlawed” captive dolphins.
Higgins, along with other residents, also raised concerns about corals that would be displaced during the construction of the facility, and how the dolphins – a group of six that have been bred in captivity – would be protected once in the territory.
“Historically Water Bay has also been impacted from the dredging in the 1960s,” Higgins added. “Haven’t we learned yet how to expand our tourism product without major impact to our environment? When will we learn to embrace our nature?”
During last year’s CZM hearing, Coral World representatives cited the 90 percent survival rate of worldwide coral transplants in larger coral heads and the minimal shading that would potentially affect the sea grass in the area. The coral heads in question are estimated to be of softball size or less, according to testimony provided during the 2013 hearing.
On Thursday, Coral World employee Elissa Hodge said that all animals at the park benefit from “excellent care provided by a dedicated team of professionals.” The dolphins slated for the park are further part of an “intact” social group that were born into captivity and would be protected both by staff and by the federal regulations governing all aspects of the facility.
Hodge added that, over the years, Coral World has been committed to conservation education and has provided informational tours to hundreds of children each year. “We have the opportunity to inspire our children to care for the environment on a global and local level and the dolphinarium will help the park and continue our commitment to education,” she said.
Army Corps representatives also said during the meeting that the park has submitted a plan to protect the dolphins, and that if the construction permit is approved, the agency will continue to inspect the facility to make sure that it is “compliant with the scope of work” provided in the application. If the park isn’t compliant, the facility could be shut down, they said.
After the meeting, Castillo said that the next step for the Army Corps is to complete a biological assessment of the environmental impacts, which will then be turned over to the National Marine Fisheries Services.
“They will scientifically analyze that information and will come back with an opinion that will tell us if the activity is appropriate for the resources that exist in the area,” he said. “They might say no, or they might say that it can be done but that certain conditions must be adhered to in order to ensure that these resources are not compromised.”
Mllb. I was impressed by the manner in which the Army Corps of Engineers ran the impartial hearing. They presented their mission clearly, which is the protection of coastal waters, endangered and threatened species. I was amazed at the lack of understanding of the “big picture” by proponents of the project, who did not even mention water quality issues. Don,t they realize the necessity of improving, rather than degrading the water quality of Water Bay? How will reduced water circulation along with dolphin excrement affect the Margaritaville beach? There are many endangered coral species that would need to be relocated. No mention of that by proponents, or who or how water quality and relocation would be monitored. The health of every part of our fragile coastline should be a major concern of anyone concerned about tourism!
The only arguments for Coral World at last nights meeting that I heard had no mention of water quality… And this after the director spent the first 10 minutes or so introducing the Corps and it’s functions.. The Corps is not interested in how wonderful or how good Coral World is to work for.. They do not make decisions based on tourism figures.. The Coral World supporters wasted the Corps valuable time, whereas those for saving Water Bay introduced facts … Environmental protection, like the Hausch couple on endangered corals, and water quality issues like Chris Sawyers statement concerning past and present water quality.. Seems to me after sitting there at the meeting for a couple of hours, that Coral World has no qualms about exposing tourists to, and penning up their captive Dolphins in the questionable water quality of Water Bay.
What Coral World said at the 2012 CZM meeting re:”Coral World representatives cited the 90 percent survival rate of worldwide coral transplants in larger coral heads and the minimal shading that would potentially affect the sea grass in the area. The coral heads in question are estimated to be of softball size or less, according to testimony provided during the 2013 hearing.”
This is complete fabrication on their part. In fact, 95% of corals translocated do not survive to thrive and there are some coral heads the size of boulders. Having Coral World actually be the responsible party for moving corals from one location to another is like having the fox guard the hen house. These are the endangered and threatened corals on NOAA’s list which are actually within and surrounding the footprint of the Dolphin holding pen plans. If they move them, they’ll likely kill them and then they can say, “Opps! Sorry we were wrong!” but by then the ultimate damage has been done and we will have lost those corals that take decades to grow. When asked by Adrian Poe, (who actually has experience with transplanting corals) if anyone in the audience had experience with doing so, not a single CW employee raised their hands including their curator of Coral World, Mr. Keller. What does that tell us?
We do not need Coral World’s Dolphinarium to enhance our tourism product. What we need is to protect the fragile marine ecology, our reefs and our environment while we still can and produce a safe, clean and affordable product for both tourists and locals alike. Lisa Hamilton mentioned that we get the most competition from St. Maarten. Well, guess what?
St. Maarten does not have a dolphinarium and they obviously don’t need one.
The majority speaking on behalf and in favor of Coral World with “feel good” descriptions were ALL Coral World employees whose jobs depend on touting the party line. The majority of those employees are young, white, stateside transplants.
Here is a great link for our very own Virgin Islands corals:
Coral reefs make up the most complex marine ecosystem on earth, essential to literally millions of plant and animal species. Over the past three decades, coral reefs in the western North Atlantic, including those in Virgin Islands National Park, have been damaged by diseases, storms, coral predators, high water temperatures, and a multitude of direct and indirect human activities. To date, there has been little to no recovery on damaged reefs. Diseases, storms and high seawater temperatures have played a major role. Degradation from human impacts continues to escalate simply because there are more and more people living near or dependent on the sea. A damaged coral reef cannot be restored to its original condition. True recovery of a reef could take decades to centuries, making damage prevention the priority management strategy. Nonetheless, with the increased incidence of damage and the continuing lack of recovery on Caribbean reefs, interest in rehabilitation and enhancement of reefs has heightened, specifically in transplantation of coral colonies to reefs of importance to local communities or in protected areas.
If reef enhancement or rehabilitation is to be undertaken, two questions must be answered:
1.What is the best source for transplanted colonies?(degrading one reef to restore another is not an option)
2.Do the survival and growth rates warrant the cost and time required to transplant coral colonies (will it work)?
Results
1.Survival rates for all species were low and were similar for transplant and reference colonies. Only 9% of colonies were alive after 12 years: no staghorn; 3% of elkhorn transplants and 18% of reference colonies; and 13% of finger coral transplants and 7% of reference colonies.
2.One in three colonies died in place (disease, bleaching, predators, or other causes) whereas more than half of all colonies were lost as a result of physical displacement.
3.Storm-generated fragments were shown to be a plentiful and non-destructive source of healthy coral fragments for transplantation.
4.The shallow reef environment was found to be highly dynamic, with corals recruiting to the reef, growing and dying.
5.Nylon cable ties were effective at attaching fragments, inexpensive and easy to use.
6.The method was found to be simple, inexpensive and easily conducted by community volunteers and/or resource managers wishing to enhance or repair a reef. (e.g., damage from boat groundings).
Read More:
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/coral-transplant/
Please note that many of the mentioned corals in the above study are the same corals that are endangered located within and surrounding the Dolphin Pen.
These are what Coral World wishes to relocate.
This was a study conducted here in the VI by USGS.
new
Submitted by IreneQ on September 28, 2014 – 11:30am.
To Alana: Be fair. Your biased and offensive last sentence: “The majority speaking on behalf and in favor of Coral World with “feel good” descriptions were ALL Coral World employees whose jobs depend on touting the party line. The majority of those employees are young, white, stateside transplants.”
BEFORE making such an inflammatory statement to provoke the readers’ minds, perhaps you should first research your facts. Educate yourself and find out WHO actually are the “majority” of Coral World employees and who holds the majority of jobs there? Perhaps those who spoke are those who DIRECTLY interact with the beautiful animals living there. They spoke from their hearts of their love, devotion and endless hours for those beautiful creatures and not because their “jobs depend on touting the party line”. Perhaps those non-employee supporters of Coral World who did not speak were those who were afraid of being yelled at, cursed at and called names by some of the very rude opponents who showed no respect while CW employees spoke, even calling the clock on them just as their speaking time expired, yet the opponents went over their time continuously while Coral World displayed total professionalism, never once interrupting. How many of those rude opponents were “white stateside transplants” … to quote your words?? (The article never mentions that part.) What an embarrassing fiasco!
I personally applaud all employees of Coral World who are there because they LOVE what they do, truly care about those animals and exceed federal guidelines and compliance and not just because they need a job. I have a strong feeling that they all work together as a team: black locals, white locals, young and old, as well as the “young, white, stateside transplants”. Human beings working together toward one common goal – the welfare of the animals.
p.s. – I am local.
Your name:
IreneQ
The people of the Virgin Islands learned some important things at this meeting.
We learned that to the Coral World staff, being a conservationist is a full-time commitment involving long days of caring for and rehabilitating wildlife and maintaining life support equipment. It is performing exhausting field research, environmental cleanup efforts, and maintaining water cleanliness standards and other regulations. It is working with regulating authorities and performing countless arduous tasks that support the environment around the clock. It is sitting down with hundreds of children and teaching the next generation how to protect and preserve the wild environment through practical, positive interaction.
We learned that Coral World’s opponents believe that being a conservationist means watching shock documentaries, wearing T-shirts, seeking publicity, and diving recreationally on weekends.
We learned that Coral World welcomes local children free of charge, educates and inspires them, and employs Virgin Islanders in a struggling economy. We learned that their opponents mock human rights violations by invoking terms such as “slavery” and “imprisonment” to describe responsible interactive animal husbandry of the highest quality.
We learned that the staff of Coral World believes in conducting themselves with poise, professionalism, and civil courtesy to their hosts and opponents at public meetings, while their opponents believe in name-calling, cursing, race-baiting (the majority of them are white stateside transplants), and heckling opposing views. They disregard the struggle of local born, hard-working Virgin Islanders who put in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. It doesn’t go unnoticed that those who oppose Coral World seem secure in their own jobs while they fight to deny much needed jobs and a better and brighter future to struggling Virgin Islanders, and many of them are quick to run back to the mainland when the economy slows here.
We learned that opponents of Coral World are ignorant in what they preach, believing that dolphin excrement comes in floating turds like humans that will pollute the beach. Dolphin excrement is a silty liquid that immediately dissipates in the water and is consumed by phytoplankton on a nearly microscopic level.
Most alarmingly, we learned that opponents of Coral World profit by operating their own tours for visitors that feed and swim with wild dolphins against federal law! But in a startling display of hypocrisy, they call Coral World “greedy and barbaric” for a legal interactive dolphin program that exceeds compliance with all local and federal laws and regulations for marine mammals. Feeding and swimming with wild dolphins is “harassment” under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and is prohibited by law. Feeding wild dolphins makes them associate humans with food, and if the food is unregulated it can pose a serious health risk and even death to the dolphins. So while Coral World’s opponents teach visitors that it’s ok to endanger and harrass wild dolphin populations for personal gain, they condemn Coral World for responsible, regulated dolphin care operated within a business structure that supports the people of the Virgin Islands. Their admitted illegal exploitation and endangerment of wild dolphins in VI waters for their own personal profit while trying to stop Coral World’s responsible program is sickening and should be swiftly dealt with.
We learned that the opponents of Coral World offer plenty of complaints with no solutions, and are lost and confused in hypocrisy, ignorance, apathy toward local born Virgin Islanders, and very low standards of personal effort in conservationism.
Lee Kellar did indeed raise his hand when the question was asked of who had experience transplanting corals, and so did other employees of Coral World whose cumulative experience amounts to decades. Coral World’s exhibits contain beautiful coral specimens collected under applicable laws and regulations. How do you think they got there? Visit Coral World’s underwater observatory to view their coral restoration demonstration in partnership with the Nature Conservancy’s Coral Restoration Project. If you would stop being filled with blind resentment and bitterness and do a fraction of what Coral World employees do to protect the environment, you might make a difference and learn something useful in the process.
When an opponent of Coral World was invited to Coral World’s “Clean the Bay” initiative on October 5th, she said that instead she would be on St. John “crying for the dolphins.” This is the kind of nonsense that tries to pass as responsible conservationism. They do nothing but complain, yet want to be credited with “saving the planet”.
From where I was standing in the back by the podium, I did not see Mr. Keller or any other CW employee raise their hand when asked the question. If anyone did and I missed it (tho I was watching carefully), then I do apologize. However, if he indeed has experience than he should know quite well the mortality rates for relocated corals is less than 95% and be familiar with the study by USGS.
The recovery rate of corals quoted to CZM is a falsehood. These are endangered corals on NOAA’s list. There is no denying that fact, either.
None of CW’s employees identified issues that opponents did with water quality and endangered corals, run-off waters and the flooding of Renaissance with every rain occurrence bringing contaminated waters from septic waste, pesticides, effluent wastes from the surrounding hillsides into the bay. Both Water Bay and Coki receive DPNR water quality warnings after rains regarding high coliform content as do so many of our beaches. This is the water you want to place those poor captive Dolphins in.
I am sure CW’s employees are dedicated and love their jobs. Would many of them be able to get the same type of a position at a stateside facility, I have to wonder? I applaud them for the work that they do and teaching children to learn about the environment but it does not justify purchasing dolphins to bring to the VI and the breeding of any more into a dismal, stagnant, boring life in captivity. I don’t have a problem with Coral World or the employees.
I do have a problem with creating a dolphinarium here in the Virgin Islands bringing 6 to 12 Dolphins to be placed in shallow, warm waters of an small enclosure with no apparent cover or protection from the sun shown in their EAR and being forced to interact with the public for food doing tricks and the swim with dolphin programs plus having their off-spring sold off shortly after birth to perpetuate the continuing and endless cycle of captivity.
If Coral World and it’s employees really cared for the environment then it would be speaking out about keeping those endangered corals in Water Bay protected, the waters clean from run-off and 6-12 plus dolphin effluent and waste that shall be impactiong the waters, coral, and swimmers and start protecting dolphins from Aquariums that wish to display them for entertainment. CW employees would do themselves a favor in educating themselves about the horrors of a life in captivity for intelligent and sentient marine mammals and stop perpetuating their captivity and enslavement. I would think that if all of you loved these creatures so much that you tend to daily, you would not wish to remove them from their natural environment to be placed in a small enclosure compared to the oceans they roam with their intact family groups and have them fed dead frozen fish when they catch live fish in the wild. Nor would you wish to sell their off-spring to the highest bidder. If that’s the kind of love and respect you have for these creatures, it saddens me and dooms them.
Read “The Case Against Marine Mammals In Captivity by the Humane Society International and the World Society for the Protection of Animals:
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/marine_mammals/case_against_marine_captivity.pdf
“The Humane Society International and the World Society for the Protection of Animals have stated that they believe that “the entire captive experience for marine mammals is so sterile and contrary to even the most basic elements of compassion and humanity that it should be rejected outright.”
Additionally: SeaWorld stock has fallen 37 percent in 2014 and finished at $18 on Thursday. That is its lowest closing price since the company went public in April 2013Shares of SeaWorld went public at $27 a share. People are moving away from marine parks with live marine mammal shows.
Still think a dolphinarium is a great idea? Do your research. There is certainly enough information out there to show you how wrong it is.
I have had the opportunity to swim with large pods of dolphins in the ocean in the past. There is never any touching or feeding as we would not encourage them to view their greatest predator (humans) as friendly.
BTW – There is very little local and federal regulations in place to check on living conditions and health of these marine mammals once sold into captivity. Do you have an agency coming monthly to check on the poor sea turtles captive in a too tiny enclosure or on those poor, pathetic sea lions that were to be the “fix” for Coral World’s losses in revenue according to Mrs. Prior?
If you really wished to EDUCATE the public and the children of the Virgin Islands you would show them the documentaries, “Blackfish” and “The Cove.”
“The Cove” is not suitable for children with it’s stark and bloody realities.
How many CW staff and employees have watched these documentaries and actually read studies by scientists and animal welfare organizations regarding the ethics of keeping these magnificent, sentient and intelligent creatures in captivity?
Do you wish to continue perpetrating this horrendous life in captivity they are subjected to?
If you do not agree with Coral World building this ill advised and ill thought out pen and breeding even more dolphins to face a dismal life of captivity, can you disagree without the fear of losing your jobs?
The size of the pen is not even adequate for one dolphin with its warm shallow waters much less to hold 6 to 12 and more dolphins when the breeding commences So y’all can just pat yourselves on the back for a job well done. Hope you’ll be proud when they start selling the babies.
See this link from Whale and Dolphin Conservation:
http://us.whales.org/blog/courtneyvail/2013/02/confronting-yet-another-captive-dolphin-facility-in-caribbean-coral-world
Exerpt:
“Coral World and other swim-with facilities sustain an international trade in dolphins as they perpetuate the very demand for these interaction programs that instigates captures from the wild and transport throughout the Caribbean, and elsewhere.The dolphin trade is indeed lucrative, but many Islands throughout the Caribbean have refused to implement dolphin programs, including Antigua (who had even once proposed capturing dolphins in their waters), Dominica, St. Maarten, and Costa Rica. Others have banned additional imports or exports of dolphins and other marine mammals, including Mexico.”
“Furthermore, captive dolphin tourism is being questioned and the cruise industry has shown signs of change. More enlightened cruise lines are turning away from promoting swim-with and other captive programs to their patrons. Recently, Carnival UK noted its change of policy in promoting swim-with activities at ports of call by announcing in their 2010 Sustainability Report that as part of their green initiatives and as a reflection of their commitment to the environment, they have elected not to operate tours which involve interaction with captive dolphins. They join Regent Seven Seas, formerly Radisson Cruise Lines, who made the same decision in 2005 when they took a stand against the capture and exploitation of dolphins by announcing that they would be dropping all swim-with excursions from their rosters.”
“Inconceivably, many swim-with facilities are located on or near the coast, oftentimes just yards away from where these animals swim free within their family groups. I think Coral World underestimates the concerns of a public that is keen to choose environmentally-responsible activities, and contribute to the welfare and sustainability of both the local environment and a species better left and seen in the wild.There certainly are better alternatives that Coral World could pursue that don’t contribute to the destruction of the marine environment and its amazing inhabitants, and perpetuate a more compassionate ethic that isn’t reliant upon the imprisonment of another sentient species.”
You make comments such as “I’m sure Coral World employees are dedicated…” and follow it later with “If Coral World employees really cared about the environment…” proceeded by inserting your own standard and definition of what “really caring” means. Utter nonsense.
CW’s enclosure is not big enough? Then why do federal regs say it’s 10 times what’s required? Who sets the standard? You? Someone else? Based on what? Imagination? There are studies and then there are opinions.
Your stats about dolphin exhibits closing down are business decisions that have nothing to do with CW.
You say if CW employees really wished to EDUCATE children they would show them shock documentaries designed to manipulate emotions. Maybe sitting kids in front of a TV is your standard of education, but CW’s standard is practical exposure and interaction. Experiential learning. Not what film producers and script writers pen for emotional effect. The children get to THINK FOR THEMSELVES and decide what conservationism means to them. They can choose to protest, wear T-shirts, and watch documentaries if they believe this is best. Or they can get dirty and bloody doing the real work of conservationism, without glory, attention, or big paychecks. They get to define conservationism for themselves. Not have us emotionally blackmail them into believing what we want.
The glaring hypocrisy and painful ignorance of the protesters was evident in their bragging about harassing and endangering our wild dolphin populations by swimming with and baiting them against the Marine Mammal Protection Act. What is the explanation for that? Does this show caring for dolphins? Do they want to keep “dolphin profits” for themselves and are trying to keep CW out of the competition? Do you have any response, or did you not hear that while you were looking for raised hands? They even bragged about showing videos of this crime on Facebook! Do you endorse this? It seems that silence from your side of the room meant agreement with it. This is so incredibly appalling!
CW is and always has been vehemently against the Taiji dolphin hunts and any other activity that threatens or destroys wild dolphins. To keep comparing CW to those practices is more utter nonsense and emotional pandering. To suggest that the CW staff could learn from watching shock documentaries instead of the practical studies they engage in is so preposterous that it would be hilarious. While cetaceans are dying in the wild, people like you are focusing on stopping the REAL educating and inspiring people to get to know and protect these species by captive born animals under the best of care. Imagining that dolphins have human understanding of civil principles is more utter nonsense and shows a basic lack of understanding.
As far as transplanting corals, statistics can say anything you want, and everyone has a “study” that supports their cause. There are a number of variables involved, including where the coral are transplanted to, how they are handled, and most importantly, what medium is used to attach them. One study in the BVI found: “Elkhorn coral is a threatened species in the British Virgin Islands. A study took coral fragments that had been broken off by storms and transplanted them to a restoration site, where the coral fragments were then replanted to barren ground (cemented in place). It was found that the corals reattached themselves after approximately 3 months, and became large adult corals after 4 years. The methods described above required little training and could be done by volunteer recreational divers. Coral relocated near St. John in the USVI were attached with cable ties vice cement and had a very low survival rate.”
So to be accurate, put ALL the information out there rather than cherry pick the data that suits your agenda and let people decide once fully informed. To do any less is to practice deception.