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| + | == Dolphinarium will harm Water Bay == | ||
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| + | <html>The other day, I got a white and blue T-shirt that stated, "Save Water Bay and Save Dolphins." Coral World an attractive ecotourism business on the northeastern side of St. Thomas has proposed to build a dolphinarium. A Dolphinarium is simply an aquarium for dolphins. It is usually a large pool where dolphins are kept in pens within the open sea, either for research or for public performances. The proposed dolphinarium development by Coral World has created an uproar in the Virgin Islands community, specifically on the island of St. Thomas. | ||
| + | Coral World claims the dolphinarium will enhance their ecotourism product by creating this state of the art venue. They anticipated that this new venue will attract more than 25,000 to 35,000 new visitors per year to the Virgin Islands economy, specifically on St. Thomas. They claim there will be an additional 25 persons employed according to their environmental assessment report that was submitted to the Department of Planning and Natural Resources. And also, they claim that this new exhibit of dolphins to Coral World operation will generate additional revenues for the Virgin Islands Government treasury. | ||
| + | That is great news since we are in a "guava crop" where this government is robbing Peter to pay Pual. Believe me; we should support businesses that put the people of the Virgin Islands first while protecting the integrity of our natural, historical,[http://www.jerseys-hearts.com/Braves-8-UPTON-White-Jerseys-30042/ Braves 8 UPTON White Jerseys], and cultural resources. These days politics are funny. As a people, we tend to support developmental projects without seriously looking at the bigger picture of how these developments will benefit the people of these islands and have less impact on our environment. | ||
| + | HOVENSA is no longer our major economical engine of the Virgin Islands economy although they have us to believe that tourist is our number one. Tourism is now our number one industry in the Virgin Islands and an important one for expanding our economy. As they would say, when the United States economy sneezes, we catch a cold. From looking at the environmental assessment report of Coral World scientifically, culturally,[http://www.ebay.com/itm/aw-cgi-/160623306404?clk_rvr_id=401952862072 Some New Things You Need to Know About On Page SEO], and environmentally, there are too much questions about the project and very little answers forth coming to a complex operation of having wild animals such as dolphins enclosed in an open sea. | ||
| + | While Coral World tried to convince elective officials, government appointees, and the public at large that a dolphin park is a good thing for the Virgin Islands economy, other part of the world are closing down or have such restricted environmental regulations that in some cases it doesn't make sense to operate one. In May of this year a dolphin entertainment park in Turkey was shut down for a number of reasons. Other countries in the world as well as in the United States have prohibited public display of dolphins and whales. | ||
| + | In 1992, South Carolina; Maui Country in Hawaii in 2002; Nicaragua in 2003; Costa Rica and Chile in 2005; and Croatia in 2009 all discontinued the public display of dolphins. In 2012,[http://redneckhangout.com/entry.php?166673-Wenger-with-Arsenal-Soccer-Jersey-renew-their-contracts-in-progress Wenger with Arsenal Soccer Jersey renew their contracts in progress], Switzerland banned the importation of dolphins ,leaving one remaining dolphinarium open until the last three dolphins died. | ||
| + | How many projects came to the Virgin Islands and our government didn't do a thorough research job? There are cases and cases that I can cite where this government has been deceived by developers. | ||
| + | The issue of dolphin waste; the transmittal of diseases carried by bottlenose dolphins to human swimmers, exposure of loud sounds such as jet skis, potential coliform and fecal coliform bacteria from the surrounding urban setting, all have a major impact on the water quality of Water Bay. This could also have an impact on the dolphins' health because the surrounding watershed is so congested with development. Believe me, Water Bay is a dumping ground for human activity on land. | ||
| + | Then we have the marine environment. Coral World plans to relocate large number of boulder coral, which will soon be listed under US Endangered Species Act. Does this make sense? Also, Coral World claimed that corals outside the footprint of their project would not be impacted by the development due to the flushing mechanism of the enclosure area for the dolphins. Who are they fooling? | ||
| + | Facilities,[http://www.jerseys-hearts.com/2011-2012-Club-Sunderland-blue-Jerseys-7820/ 2011-2012 Club Sunderland blue Jerseys], especially a tourist based water aquarium activities with hurricanes are at risk. I could only imagine the insurance for such facility. In 2005, the land based facility in the state of Mississippi was completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina with several animals washed out to sea along with dolphins. Then, we have the physiological stress which associated with dolphins in captivity. We are talking about very intelligent and intellectual animals who work with our military and save lives. | ||
| + | Dr. Lisamarie Carrubba at National Oceanic and Atomospheric Administration office out of Puerto Rico responded in writing about the proposed dolphinarium project in Water Bay. A laundry list of NOAA's concerns was mentioned that Coral World has to address if they are to move forward with their project. I encourage the public to make their comments to these federal agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. | ||
| + | On a light note, Coral World is trying to capture visitors to their ecotourism business, for which I applaud them. However, we shouldn't be a "copy cat" because our neighbor next door Tortola has a dolphinarium. We should be creative enough and find creative ways to keep visitors at Coral World,[http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?campid=5336182395&customid=pubster&toolid=10013&mpre=http%3A//cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/4Pcs-24CM-PVC-LED-CAR-TRUCK-FLEXIBLE-LIGHT-STRIP-YELLOW-/320606899868 Guidelines To Assist You Identify The Most Suitabl], as well as other parts of St. Thomas and St. John, without creating an environment that could be detrimental to an animal such as a dolphin. | ||
| + | Historically, Water Bay already has been impacted by dredging in the 1960s. Haven't we learned yet to find better ways to expand our tourist product without major impact on our environment? | ||
| + | - Olasee Davis is a Virgin Islands ecologist.</html> | ||

