In The Daily Herald of today (Monday, September 7) was an article titled “Court orders govt. to issue long-lease water rights to Alegria Real Estate NV”. It mentions the plans to construct a breakwater and a sea aquarium at Burgeaux Bay, Beacon Hill. Well, this smells very fishy. Curaçao also started with a sea aquarium and, poof, suddenly they had dolphins swimming in circles. Curaçao is now infamous for their poor dolphins in captivity. But that is a whole different chapter.
We have had several investors interested in starting a dolphinarium here in SXM since 2000. They are not interested in the animals because if they were then they would also be fighting to keep them free. The entrepreneurs are only interested in investing money to make more money for themselves; their business is only about money.
Over the past 20 years, people all over the world have learned so much more about keeping dolphins in captivity. Many videos, books, documentaries, and Oscar-winning movies have educated us what the marine mammals in captivity have to endure. The dolphins are literally dying to entertain us.
We do not want the dolphins in captivity, we do not want to swim with them. What we wish is to have all animals in their natural habitat and in freedom. What is the added value of a sea aquarium? Nobody and no money can top what our creator created for us. We can only destroy nature and when it is destroyed it is done so forever.
It is not normal to have dolphins on one and the same spot daily. These animals are huge and eat huge amounts of food. Each dolphin creates a whole lot of waste several times a day. Would you like to swim in their waste? The accumulated waste has to go somewhere so it goes downstream along the coast. In Mexico they have done many tests on the water quality because of all that waste creating algae problems that keep on growing on the fences. Cleaning the fences makes it all worse and spreads the algae. The concentration of waste will create problems along the coastline and also swimmers downstream, as far as Long Bay, can eventually get skin problems.
Up ’til now there has never been a tourist who said not to come back because St. Maarten has no dolphinarium. To the contrary, many people are ready to give up this destination if we are so cruel to put animals in captivity. There is nothing positive to learn from animals in captivity.
What we humans should learn from animals is to accept life as is and make the best of it.
Tourists are aware of the plans here in St. Maarten and are already protesting the Alegria plans. Mind you, these are tourists not living here but purely love the island as is. They are contacting Dolphin Defenders SXM and asking how to help keep the dolphins in freedom. We do not need a dolphinarium and neither do we need a Sea Aquarium. What the island needs is respect for nature and other life forms. The tourists and locals are willing to continue to protest ’til we are convinced 100 per cent that there will be no dolphinarium on St. Maarten.
Dolphin Defenders SXM has previously suggested legislation which would finally prohibit these developments in the future and keep marine mammals in their wild habitat. We urge government and parliament to discuss the proposal and would be happy to resubmit to you if needed.
Dolphin Defenders has been writing to Alegria before the COVID-19 lockdown and we were brushed off with an intimidating letter that we should approach their lawyer.
We urge you, Minister L. De Weever, to please stop any plans for a dolphinarium and for a Sea Aquarium, plus to make sure and confirm that our government really, really knows who they are planning to deal with and which people the so-called “specialists or professionals” this Alegria NV will get into SXM to set up this whole cruel project. Before you know it, this island is sold and there is no way back.
Dolphin Defenders SXM
Mercedes De Windt
