Home Commentary Open forum Bringing Dolphins to St. Thomas Makes Sense

Bringing Dolphins to St. Thomas Makes Sense

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Dear Source:
A counter proposal to Coral World’s plans for a Dolphin Habitat has been proposed. The author stated that he could accept Coral World’s plan to bring dolphins to St. Thomas if they were the offspring of dolphins born in human care who could not survive in the wild. The author notes that this “counter-proposal” would still result in construction and other jobs, would still bring in additional revenues, and would satisfy most people.
We wholeheartedly agree! Coral World has stated repeatedly throughout the permitting process both local and federal that our dolphins will all be born in human care. No dolphins coming to Coral World will be the result of wild-capture. We strongly oppose the activities in Taiji, Japan.
Coral World has been working on this project since November 2010. Some of the animals that will come to Coral World have been born in human care since then to dolphins themselves born in human care. Our staff has known them since birth. Others, while a bit older, have been receiving the loving care of other trainers since their birth in human care. These animals have only known this protected life and could not survive in the wild. A few moments talking with Coral World aquarists and animal trainers will reveal their inspiring passion for the animals in their care, for sharing their knowledge about the animals and the marine ecosystem with visitors, and for mentoring local children.
Furthermore, the Coral World dolphins will live in a natural sea pen as their habitat. It is ironic that proponents of natural sea pens in other instances, for example those urging the relocation of Sea World’s orcas from concrete tanks to sea pens, are opposing the construction of a sea pen here in St. Thomas. Everything we humans do has some environmental impact. Our focus should be on balancing the benefits of a project against the impact on the environment. Coral World’s dolphin habitat has been designed to be spacious and durable and to have minimal impact on the environment. We have incorporated energy efficiency, solar power, and water conservation as key features of the Education Center.
At Coral World, we practice conservation and educate the public about safeguarding the environment. We are confident that our dolphin project has achieved the best possible balance between economic and educational benefits on the one hand and animal and environmental concerns on the other. We hope your readers will attend the Army Corps of Engineers meeting on Thursday, September 25, at 6:00 pm at the Turnbull Library to voice their support or submit written comments.
Lee Kellar, St. Thomas

4 COMMENTS

  1. Oh Please, Mr. Keller,

    You and Coral World owners are truly delusional and behind the times and the very changed public’s opinion of the ethics behind keeping Dolphins and Orcas in captivity, due in thanks to documentaries such as The Cove and BLACKFISH!

    SeaWorld continues to lose profits while parks that do not have captive marine mammals on display doing entertainment tricks for food while being kept in sterile confines are making money. “SeaWorld Entertainment’s stock fell 33 percent on August 13, in response to the company’s announcement of fewer ticket sales and lower second-quarter earnings, an indication that the controversies surrounding recent trainer deaths, profiled in the “Blackfish,” were scaring investors. SeaWorld’s shares are currently trading at their lowest price since it went public last year.” It continues this downward trend. You should be worried.

    Tourists and all of us locals that are in opposition are just not that interested in seeing these magnificent creatures perform in captivity and due to this downward spiraling trend it is against good business practice and good sense to consider opening a dolphinarium when many are going to go out of business. Yours included.

    But then, entertainment is just a cover for your real desires which is to BREED even more Dolphins into a dismal, sterile life in captivity, isn’t it?
    Especially since the BIRTHING PEN is so prevalent in your plans when you can fetch $150,000.00 for a single captive bred dolphin.

    You and the Priors disgust me with your deceitful, money grubbing ways. The Priors are Millionaires many times over but that hasn’t kept them from keeping Coral World as a shoddy and ill kept aquarium park where I have more than once seen dreadful conditions, with dead fish floating in their tanks and dirty holding tanks and aquariums filled with green slim, dirty waters and trashy surroundings.

    How are those poor, pathetic, captive Sea Lions doing, whom Mrs. Prior said would bring the much needed cash revenues into Coral World when she applied for the permits to import them? That didn’t work so well for Coral World did it? It sure didn’t work well for them. How are they enjoying the confines of their sterile, tiny, cement pool and being dragged out to perform several times a day for food rewards and then back into the pit with water in it.

    Hope it’s all worth it for the tax write-offs and EDC benefits you get as a company that hasn’t made any money, according to Mrs. Prior herself, in 14 yrs.

    Build a Water Park where everyone can come and enjoy…….and support.

    Meantime: See this link:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nC4dCVChik&feature=youtu.be
    Please pay special attention to what the scientists have to say.

    Keeping marine mammals such as Dolphins and Orcas in captivity when in the wild they roam hundreds of miles daily is wrong. That’s like keeping you confined to your bath-tub for the rest of your life.

    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.”

    Entertainment and exploitation is what you will be trying to sell, not thinly, disguised education element that you tout.

  2. The Dolphin Project at Coral World should be stopped immediately and not brought up again. This project is a terribly bad revenue idea. I am very much against the use of intelligent dolphins for profit enterprises. The dolphins deserve respect and not to be treated as slaves for entertainment.
    Ms Gertrude Prior has conceived a money making scheme and expects us to help her imprison dolphins for her personal gain. I say NO and I think we should all tell her NO. The dolphin project will only cause many more ecological problems we do not need. It will also cause Moral problems associated with allowing people to become dehumanized by watching slavery of dolphins. These animals do not belong in captivity and they are not entertainment options. I find it repugnant that millionaires can dictate what they want and the island goes along with the bad idea thinking only of money and greed.
    There is noting educational to be found here so stop trying to propagandize that you care about the environment and about Dolphins. All that is cared about is Money and tax loss schemes.
    If you care about the water quality? simple do not allow the project. If you care about the hurricanes? simple do not allow the project. I think it is morally and ethically wrong to allow this project. The dolphins will be kept pregnant and the dolphins will die, all for Ms. Prior’s bank accounts.
    The time to stand up and say no is now. There will not be another time. It can only get worse with multiple problems to be had at Coral World.
    I think they think we are ignorant because Coral World is always trying to change the subject and misdirect the true purpose by bringing up many other unrelated points. The point is STOP Coral World NOW.
    The Humane Society is against this project. The Animal Welfare Institute is against this project. I am against this project.
    What does your personal FREEDOM Mean to YOU? Why would we allow the dolphins freedom to live peacefully in the sea to be taken away? This is wrong, it will never be right.
    I do not care how much money Coral World has spent in trying to imprison dolphins. Tell Coral World NO. It will feel good and your children and grandchildren will respect you for saying NO Captive Dolphins at St Thomas.

  3. Water Bay has endangered corals. That is fact.
    Dendrogyra is within the impact zone of the Coral World project, as is the already-listed Acropora palmata, so a Section 7 consultation will be necessary. The main coral to be impacted, Montastrea annularis (boulder coral), which is actually within the footprint of the project and Coral World says it will need to translocate it. It is called Orbicella a complex of corals which is also on NOAA’s new list.

    These coral are presently healthy and thriving in Water Bay due in part to the fact that there has been considerably less human made impact in this area due to the Renaissance Grand being closed for so many years.

    Now these endangered Corals are being threatened on 2 fronts.

    The rebuilding of the new Margaritaville in place of the old structures presently there and Coral World’s proposed dolphinarium.

    These corals have managed to thrive and survive in spite of epic runoff conditions due to heavy rains that storms and near brushes with hurricanes have brought over the last several years. However, we will find them challenged even more to continue to do so with the building of CW’s dolphin pen directly impacting those corals that lay within the actual foot print of the pen, not to mention those in the surrounding areas. These corals will not survive the translocation that Coral World wishes to do. There is a 95% mortality rate for relocated corals.

    There is a reason they and the sea grass beds are where they are and presently as healthy as they are. Moving them will likely kill them.
    Additionally, we will then have impact from the construction of the proposed facility as well as that coming from Maragritaville whose property was originally a mangrove lagoon before it was bulldozed over and this entire area floods heavily with runoff during storm and gets massive beach erosion. Their entire parking area and beach front is inundated with flood waters during heavy rains and it all goes into Water Bay.

    Then we will have additional impacts on these endangered corals from human activities once Margaritaville is up and running as well as from Coral World.
    These include humans wearing sunscreen while swimming in the water of the bays, increased boating activities with wave runners, charter and fishing boats, dinghies coming and going, people peeing in the water and dumping all kinds of things plus the waste from a min. of 6 dolphins, not to mention the 6 additional ones they wish to import. Then they shall proceed to breed even more. Who knows how many dolphins they will actually end up with and all of their fecal matter and food wastes impacting a once clean bay and thriving corals, if any remain, from the construction and ill advised relocation.
    We shall have increased traffic both at Margaritaville and Coral World which will likely increase the contaminants from car exhausts and dripping vehicular fluids on the roads and parking areas that will end up in the bay after any rain, in addition to heavy pesticide and waste laden runoff waters from heavy rains and storm occurrences. We also have Pt. Pleasant on the other side of the bay so we could call this a triple threat to Water Bay from all the increased proposed human activity.

    Coral World refuses to realize that public opinion has changed regarding the ethics of keeping large marine mammals in captivity thanks in large part to documentaries such as BlackFish and The Cove as well as the many scientists and organizations that have educated the public to the stark realities of the deprived and sterile lives these creatures must endure in captivity.

    SeaWorld continues to lose profits while parks that do not have captive marine mammals on display doing entertainment tricks for food are making money. “SeaWorld Entertainment’s stock fell 33 percent on August 13, in response to the company’s announcement of fewer ticket sales and lower second-quarter earnings, an indication that the controversies surrounding recent trainer deaths, profiled in the “Blackfish,” were scaring investors. SeaWorld’s shares are currently trading at their lowest price since it went public last year.” This downward trend continues and Coral World is way behind the times in believing tourists and locals will support this endeavor.

    Please…………………Just say “NO!” to the permitting of Coral World’s proposed Dolphinarium.

    Thank You,
    Alana Mawson

  4. It is truly a sad and sickening commentary on the state of our society when “slavery” and “freedom” are invoked in response to responsible animal husbandry. If you are truly concerned about slavery, I wonder how active you are in fighting against the human trafficking of men, women, and children that continues to plague our society. If you are truly concerned about freedom, I wonder how actively you fight the corruption in Washington. If you are truly concerned about imprisonment, I wonder how involved you are in fighting wrongful incarceration. I wonder if you own a dog and let that dog roam as dogs are naturally inclined to do, or do you keep it “imprisoned” in a yard or on a leash or in a house and feed it dry kibble filled with preservatives every day. I wonder if you drive around the island freeing all the dogs that are tied to trees, or petition the Humane Society to release their “imprisoned” dogs at once, and for all dog owners to release their dogs “imprisoned” inside houses.

    I wonder what you propose should be done with these captive bred dolphins.

    To anthropomorphize animals and endow them with human and civil understanding is a pathetic demonstration of ignorance while feigning compassion. Shock documentaries like “Blackfish” are not meant to inform. They are meant to instigate emotional reaction without thinking. They are meant to manipulate, and by the looks of it, the gullible are jumping on board. So much of what they “documented” has been refuted. To ignore the issues that are killing our ocean’s wildlife by the millions, including cetaceans, and instead attack organizations dedicated to their care and preservation is ignorantly backward at best, disingenuous at worst.

    To call legitimate business that employs locals, provides benefits, and generates revenue for taxi drivers and food and gift shop vendors a “money making scheme” is laughable nonsense…especially when speaking of the Priors and their lifetime of magnanimous philanthropy and service.

    The more I read opposition to this project, the more ignorance and utter nonsense I see. It seems people are just jumping onto a cause because it makes them “feel good” as you mentioned, and not because it makes any sense to oppose it.

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