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| NOAA |
| A bottlenose dolphin. |
There is good news from the island of St. Maarten (Netherlands Antilles). A proposal to build a SWTD facility there was long under consideration by the government
(1) and was heavily debated by local activists, the media, and its supporters over a period of at least two years. After a campaign by The HSUS/HSI, other international animal welfare NGOs and dedicated local activists which involved public presentations, media work, and meetings with government officials, the proposal was finally shelved in late 2006. However, as we have learned, battles may be won but the war continues: To our knowledge, the proposal has not been definitively defeated, but at least there are no current plans to proceed with building a facility or acquiring dolphins.
In the time since, the Netherlands Antilles has concluded that the continued expansion of the dolphinarium business is not consistent with its obligations under the SPAW Protocol. As a result, it has ruled that no more dolphinarium proposals will be considered for the islands under its jurisdiction. An existing facility on Curaçao and the proposed facility on St. Maarten mentioned above have been "grandfathered in" under this ruling, but there will be no additional dolphinariums in the Netherlands Antilles.
Meanwhile, over on Anguilla, the existing dolphinarium was evicted from its original site last year and started building a new one earlier this year without the proper authorizations. (The dolphins are being held in temporary pens.) Local citizens stood up and were counted, filing a lawsuit to challenge the government for failing to prohibit construction in a protected area despite strong local opposition.
In May 2008, a judge ordered a halt to this construction, citing a "lack of... licences and permissions under the Beach Control Act and the Ports, Harbours and Piers Act." She asked, "How could such activities which attract criminal sanctions, in the absence of the requisite licences and permissions, simply be allowed to occur and proceed unabated without the necessary intervention by the relevant servants or agents of the Crown?" Declaring that "the Court must step in with a view to safeguarding the interest of the ordinary citizen," she granted "interim relief...to halt the activities being undertaken in admitted violation of the provisions of" the Acts.(2)
We now await the next step from the dolphinarium's lawyers. Our hope, of course, is that Anguilla will soon be dolphinarium-free and that the dolphins will be sent to a better, permanent facility in another country before they suffer any long-term effects from their currently unsettled situation.
Updated May 9, 2008
1. The central Netherlands Antilles government is located on the island of Curaçao; a local government council handles the day-to-day administration of St. Maarten.
2. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in the High Court of Justice, Territory of Anguilla (Civil), AD 2008, claim no. AXAHCV/2008/0015.
