No violation of any laws in import of dolphins

The 28 dolphins that arrived in Dubai yesterday, have been legally traded under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which has involved export and import permits and site inspections, Federal Environment Agency (FEA) CITES office manager Abdulnasser Alshamsi yesterday confirmed to Khaleej Times.

“The management authority has been working on this for two to three years,” he said.

“The dolphinarium (Atlantis owned by Kerzner International) has worked with the Ministry of Environment and Water and the exporters in the Solomon Islands, and have consulted CITES and FEA.”

CITES and FEA also provided scientific advice to ensure there was no harm to the dolphins.

“With such rapid development in the UAE, we work with these groups to ensure sustainability,” Alshamsi said.

After the Solomon Islands issued an export permit, the UAE inspected the dolphin sites as part of checks before an import permit was issued two weeks ago.

The bottlenose dolphins are endangered, but not to a degree that they cannot be exported according to the CITES agreement. A statement from Kerzner International also indicated that the dolphins had not been living in the wild for several months.

“We have received our dolphins from an existing dolphin facility, the Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Centre, a location where the dolphins have lived for the last several months,” the statement said.

“We chose this location based on the country’s non-detrimental finding of its dolphin export quotas, CITES membership, our knowledge that both the Dubai and Solomon Islands governments enforce strict regulation of exports in compliance with all international standards and that a professional and highly respected team has cared for the animals and assist us in a safe and technically sophisticated transport.”

The dolphins are destined for Atlantis Dolphin Bay, one of the largest man-made, coastal, open-air dolphin habitats in the world with a focus on research in animal care, marine mammal reproduction, and aquatic disease.

However Dolphin Bay is not due to open for one year, according to local media reports.

This trade has attracted controversy and local and international media attention because of the concerns of environmental groups particularly after a dolphin export deal four years ago from the Solomon Islands to Mexico resulted in the deaths of nine dolphins.

However CITES Secretary-General Willem Wijnstekers issued a statement following concerns about the deal, that there was no justification to stop the trade.

“Similarly, it has received no evidence to demonstrate that trade which is now taking place, or is intended to take place, will have a detrimental impact upon wild dolphin populations,” he said.

“If the Secretariat receives any information to show that there is such a justification, we will certainly act.”