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FAQ about the dolphins

In the last days, we have received a lot of questions about the dolphins. Instead of answering all of them individually, we would like to reply to the most frequent questions and comments here: Where do the dolphins come from? The dolphins have been brought over here from Japan. This is fact. They were brought via cargo plane in the middle of August. Therefore they are NOT native to the Red Sea. Can they be released? Releasing them now might determine their death. A captive dolphin may be a candidate for release depending on several factors: health and physical condition, use of sonar, ability to catch live fish, defensive skills against predators. Some dolphins have received too many human imprints and have lost or never learnt the skills needed to survive in what was supposed to be their home. Why do you not release the dolphins to the Red Sea? Effects of releasing a non-native species (which will be addressed as invasive species) to waters it doesn’t belong to, like the Red Sea, could be catastrophic for the wild healthy animals out there: pathogens contamination and genetic pollution is a serious threat. Beside the fact that the might starve to death (see “Can they be released?”). Why do you not build a recovery station for the dolphins in the Red Sea? Establish a rehabilitation sanctuary in a natural environment where dolphins that are currently held in captivity can be held to undergo rehabilitation for potential release into the environment from which they were removed (which may involve moving them from the sanctuary to a more suitable location for release) or, if they cannot be released, for retirement for the rest of their lives IS an option. But it is NOT the option these dolphins have: first they anyway need the quarantine to be over, and second it would take too much time to finish the construction of it. The dolphins have to be taken out of their current pool as soon as possible. Why don’t you send the dolphins back to Japan? Even if we’d manage to take over the owner rights (possible), unfortunately the dolphins will be dead before they pass customs in Japan: they would be killed at the airport as the Japanese export quota needed to be filled. Everybody, who has watched “The Cove”, knows what the dolphin industry in Japan is like. Get them out of the pool as soon as possible! Any other pool is better! Yes and no. Of course, the conditions of their current pool are appalling and unacceptable! We need to find a final location, where the dolphins can stay on long-term. Several transports from bigger pool to bigger pool will do more harm to the animals than keeping them in their current pool for a couple more days until a pool has been found meeting the required standards for keeping dolphins. We have already considered many different pools, but so far there was none that fulfilled all the requirements for keeping the dolphins. As soon as we find one we will do everything we can to relocate them as fast as we can. The issue with the transport… Transport is stressing out the dolphins in a massive way. Even if it sounds unbelievable, this actually harms the dolphins more than staying in their current pool. Therefore transport needs to be kept as small as possible. Moving them from bigger pool to bigger pool will harm the marine mammals more than a couple days more in the pool until a final location has been found. In other study cases the transport lead to death, eventually. What is the legislation behind the moving of the dolphins? According to the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) the owner of the dolphins has all the papers in order to transport them in Egypt. This means that nobody in HEPCA is allowed to take the dolphins away from him and he is the only one able to move the dolphins to any other place. However the quarantine authority has the power to force their moving if the conditions do not meet the standard regulations. Since this is the case, we are working in this direction. What is the legislation behind keeping the dolphins? According to Egyptian law four dolphins living in permanent quarantine require a pool of at least 320m² surface, 896m³ volume and a depth of at least 2,5m. We all know that these requirements are not fulfilled. However, even though the law states that a quarantine pool needs these measurements, it does not say what happens, if somebody puts the dolphins in a smaller pool anyway. What was the initial plan for the dolphins? We have been told that their final destination after the 105 quarantine days (by Egyptian law) should be the dolphinarium in Sharm el Sheikh, where a bigger pool is. This might be one of the best temporary options they have. At the moment there are at least other 3 captive dolphins there, which should be relocated to Poland soon. Get international help! We do, we are in constant contact with organisations and societies specialised in marine mammals all over the world to find the best solution for the dolphins. Unfortunately, nobody has a solution. We have all their support. But this case is very problematic. Let us all join together, go to the villa and free the dolphins! And then? We are currently looking at an option that sounds very promising and are hoping to get the final “Ok” from the responsible authorities. As soon as we have their approval we will let you know! Please understand that we can only publish news once they are officially affirmed. Otherwise, there would be too many rumours spread, which actually slow down the work. Until then we would like to ask you to sign our petition to stop dolphinaria in Egypt in general and prevent that a situation like this will ever happen again! Give us your vote under www.hepca.com/petition And help to bring an end to this cruel industry!