Leader of Government wants dolphins

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

The Minister of Tourism, Environment, Development and Commerce, the Hon McKeeva Bush, said that he supports the opening of swim-with-dolphin operations in the Cayman Islands in an exclusive interview with Cayman Net News on Monday.

Mr Bush made the comments in response to a recent letter from the Chairman of the Marine Conservation Board (MCB), Don Foster, which took the position that captive dolphin facilities were not advisable in Cayman from either an environmental or tourism standpoint.

“I don’t think they’re experts on the subject,” Mr Bush said of the MCB, “I believe that this dolphin facility can do nothing but good for us.”

The Leader of Government Business noted that swim-with-dolphin facilities are thriving in many other places. “I don’t see what all the hoopla is about,” he said, “Miami has had these things for years, and at Sea World in Kissimmee – they’re wonderful shows. They’re also in Europe, all over the Caribbean, and in Mexico. I think they’ve become part and parcel of the tourism product of the world.”

The MCB’s letter denounced captive dolphin facilities as inhumane. “… it is downright cruel to keep captive in any restricted enclosure, this animal whose physiological and psychological needs are so acutely adapted to, and inextricably linked with, the open ocean environment,” the letter stated.

Another reason the MCB sided against the dolphin facilities is the possible adverse affects they could have on tourism because of the possible damage to Cayman’s international marine conservation reputation.

The local ‘Keep it Wild’ group has also been very vocal in its objections to the proposed facilities, and recently hosted a public meeting with Marine Mammal Scientist Dr Naomi Rose of The Human Society of the United States to discuss the harm captivity does to dolphins.

Mr Bush acknowledged that dolphin facilities in Cayman would have to be well regulated. “It must be done scientifically,” he said, noting that the Department of Agriculture has demanded that certain regulations be met for the facilities.

The Minister indicated that some of the opposition to the proposed facilities might merely be a case of sour grapes. “Some of the environmentalists who are objecting to the facilities were the ones who were involved in wanting to bring dolphins here in the past,” he said, “but now that someone else is doing it, they have a problem with it.”

Mr Bush said that Cayman could not stand still with its tourism product. “We have to do things, and do it right so it impacts us positively.”

Other subjects covered during Mr Bush’s exclusive interview with Cayman Net News will be published over the next few days.

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