(General Interest) Dolphins to be captured for display in West Indies

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DOLPHINS TO BE CAPTURED FOR DISPLAY IN WEST INDIES

 

Minvielle & Chastanet Ltd., a large St. Lucian company wants to capture wild

dolphins and put them in a sea pen for tourists to play with!

 

The foreign investors involved are Dolphin Fantaseas.

 

A permit will be sought for 12 bottlenose dolphins for the St. Lucia

facility to be captured in St. Lucia's territorial waters, in defiance of

the SPAW protocol of the Cartegena Convention, which St. Lucia has ratified.

St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Dominica and the islands to the north and south have

thriving whale and dolphin watching operations, generating income for many.

 

These animals are large, wild and free ranging and it is wrong to confine

them to enclosures, however " large " or " deep " . They can never be as large or

deep as the ocean which is their home.

 

The proposed St. Lucia facility is in an inlet at the entrance to Castries

harbour which is not only extremely polluted, but is directly in the path of

low flying aircraft coming in to land at the airport, and yards away from

large cargo and cruise ships entering the harbour.

 

In times of heavy rain, the bay fills up with plastic rubbish from the

Castries river. Plastic is extremely dangerous to marine mammals.

This will be a blow to the island's image as an eco-tourism destination, as

this is the exact opposite of ecotourism.

 

Please address your protests to the following people : (There is a sample

letter below, but it's always more effective if you write your own).

 

 

For the attention of

Mrs. Maria Fowell,

Acting Permanent Secretary.

Ministry of Tourism,

Stanislaus James Building,

Waterfront,

Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies

 

Fax : 758-451-7414

Email : mot

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For the attention of Dr. James Fletcher, Permanent Secretary

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,

Stanislaus James Building,

Waterfront,

Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies

 

Fax : 758-452-3853

Email : ps and chieffish

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For the attention of the Honourable Prime Minister, Dr. Kenny Anthony.

Office of the Prime Minister,

Greaham Louisy Building,

Waterfront,

Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies

 

Fax : 758-453-7352

Email : pmoffice

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For the attention of Mr. Hilary Modeste, Director of Tourism

St. Lucia Tourist Board,

Vide Bouteille,

Castries, St. Lucia, West Indies

 

Fax : 758-453-1121

Email : slutour

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SAMPLE LETTER

 

Dear Sirs,

 

We are writing to ask you not to approve the M & C / Dolphin Fantaseas

proposal for a captive dolphin facility in St. Lucia.

 

The Windward Islands are blessed with such an amazing variety of natural

attractions, it seems sad that instead of building on these existing natural

attributes, you would consider this exploitation of your region's shared

resources for the benefit of a few and to the detriment of many, including

the dolphins themselves.

 

We would like to echo the St. Lucia National Trust's recent statement where

they call into question not only the so-called education and conservation

content of the proposed venture, but the sincerity of the principals in

claiming the existence of such content.

 

Please continue instead along the path toward a long term sustainable

tourism policy your country can be proud of.

 

Sincerely,

 

xxxxxxxxxx

 

 

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