STOP the proposed Dolphin Lagoon in the Maldives!

  • by: The Nautical Tribe
  • recipient: President Mohamed Nasheed and Dr. Ibrahim Didi, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture

The Maldives are known for being forward thinkers in climate change, but now they have a project that will make them a new addition to the dolphin trade that is under international  ridicule after dolphin hunts in Taiji, Japan were exposed in The Cove.  Maldives Haveeru put up a news article on their website: Government to lease lagoon to develop dolphin lagoon. The Maldives has declared its whales & dolphins as protected species and we always had peace of mind that no harm might come to them. Dolphin and whales can be seen in the wild every single day around the islands. Local resorts and dive centers have regular dolphin watching cruises that happen on a daily basis. This will not only hurt your international image with conservationists, but will hurt small local businesses that depend on ecotourism visits with dolphins and whales in the wild. We ask our Nautical Tribe from all around the world to join us in protesting this new setback for cetacean captivity.

 

 

President Mohamed Nasheed and Dr. Ibrahim Didi, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture,

We strongly urge you to veto the proposed dolphin lagoon that is planned to come to the Maldives.  Your nation is known for being leaders in climate change, but this project will undermine your integrity.  Do you want to be associated to the dolphin trade and international ridicule of Taiji, Japan who were exposed in the documentary "The Cove?"  The Maldives has declared its whales & dolphins as protected species and we always had peace of mind that no harm might come to them while in your waters. Local resorts and dive centers have regular dolphin watching cruises that happen on a daily basis. This will not only hurt your international image with conservationists, but will hurt small local businesses that depend on ecotourism to visit dolphins and whales in the wild. We ask you from our voices all around the world to join us in protecting cetaceans from captivity.

Many signing our petition are from the Maldives.  If the people proposing this lagoon were going to retire or rehabilitate captive born dolphins by creating an intermediate environment for introducing dolphin back to the wild, we would gladly promote the project and many of us would dig into our pockets to donate money for such a project. This proposal doesn't appear to be that case at all. Those who propose this are simply participating in the dolphin slave trade to turn a profit.  It might be that they are creating a prettier cage, but it's still a cage.  Dolphin need an enormous amount of free range and we should ABSOLUTELY clean up the messes we make in their ocean world. No lagoon can replace an ocean just as no marine program could replace a dolphin's family.  Other lagoon projects like this in the Caribbean have huge problems with excrement being so concentrated that it kills off all the neighboring coral and therefore drives away all other species. If the people of the Maldives want to increase their (already existent) wild dolphin tourism industry and protect their nation from the effects of global climate change, they should invest in preserving habitats that attract large animals (including humans). The good people of the Maldives and all those signing our petition understand that the true source of wealth is not in possession, but in preservation.  Re-grow your bleached coral and fish show up, then shark show up, the dolphin show up, and yes, the humans will show up too. 

Thank you ≈ The Nautical Tribe

Sign Petition
Sign Petition
You have JavaScript disabled. Without it, our site might not function properly.

Privacy Policy

By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.

Having problems signing this? Let us know.