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| Hency Aponte, age 12 |
| A child's drawing for an educational brochure. |
There is good news from Venezuela. There is only one dolphinarium in this country: Mundo Marino, on Margarita Island. The HSUS/HSI has been working on marine mammal conservation issues for many years with an excellent local organization, Sea Vida, and when they asked for our help in fighting Mundo Marino in the 1990s, we gladly agreed. With our assistance, Sea Vida has launched an educational campaign, giving talks in grammar schools, printing posters, and developing and distributing a brochure (view
p.1/
p.2) with pictures drawn by children asking people not to contribute to the capture and captivity of dolphins. The campaign has promoted responsible whale and dolphin watching as an alternative to captivity.
More recently, Sea Vida has been working to ensure that those accused of being involved in a capture of dolphins for Mundo Marino are prosecuted under Venezuelan laws that protect wildlife.
In 2003, the CITES authority in Guyana (which borders Venezuela to the east) issued a permit to capture 50 dolphins. In 2004, this same agency issued a permit authorizing the export of four bottlenose dolphins to Venezuela. Despite the fact that this export permit holder was not registered as a wildlife exporter, the Venezuelan CITES authority said it would allow Mundo Marino to import the four animals.
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| HSI/Naomi Rose |
| These four dolphins are free. Others are not so lucky. |
In May 2004, the Venezuelan Navy discovered 10 bottlenose dolphins in a sea pen in the Peninsula de Paria (in Venezuelan waters). While they were questioning people on site, the troops found two more recently-captured dolphins. One of these dolphins, a female, died—we believe due to mistreatment during capture. A local official traveled to the site and ordered the release of the remaining 11 dolphins. A criminal investigation was initiated on the basis of article 59 of the "Criminal Environmental Act" (Ley Penal del Ambiente, 1992).
One of those arrested on site was a Mexican dolphin trainer. He and another Mexican national who was also involved both eventually left the country. The court ruled in mid-2007 that all of the people arrested on site must face a public trial. Managers and representatives of Mundo Marino were also indicted, as alleged directors of the captures.
The defendants claim that the dolphins were being transported from Guyana, but we feel that their stories and travel documents do not corroborate this story. In our opinion, the evidence strongly supports that the dolphins were captured in Venezuelan waters—the defendants were too far from their supposed starting point in Guyana, using small boats. In addition, the Venezuelan CITES permit was valid for import of only four dolphins, and 12 had been captured.
The defendants, including the representatives from Mundo Marino, sought to have the case dismissed, but the court recently ruled against them. All the parties charged will have to face trial. It is rare that those capturing dolphins for public display are charged under wildlife protection laws in any country, and it is heartening to see Venezuela enforce its laws conscientiously. We await updates from Sea Vida as the trial progresses.
