“The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has issued the following “”Action Alert””
PLEASE HELP US TO BRING AN END TO TRAVELLING DOLPHIN SHOWS IN PERU
The travelling dolphin show company Waterland Mundo Marino is currently operating in Peru, displaying three bottlenose dolphins and two South American sea lions. Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and ACOREMA (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society-Peru) are calling for the show to end!
Travelling dolphin shows or dolphin circuses currently operate in Central and South America and in the Middle East. The mortality rate in these travelling dolphin shows is extremely high. During 1999, at least three bottlenose dolphins met their deaths while on display in a travelling fair in Mexico. These portable circus-style exhibitions continue to risk the lives of the animals involved due to dangerous transportation, inadequate holding facilities, lack of veterinary
assistance and the difficulties of readapting to each new captive situation.
The tragedy of Sherryl
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society‘ report, The Dolphin Traders (LINK) has documented the trade in bottlenose dolphins from the Black Sea over the last ten years.
In the early 1990s, Sherryl, a female Black Sea bottlenose dolphin, was one of a total of 14 dolphins imported to Argentina. In June 1994, Sherryl was reportedly transferred to Waterland Mundo Marino in Colombia. Her transfer followed the death by Pasteruellosis of two other dolphins in a Buenos Aires swimming pool in which they were held.
Throughout 1996 and 1997, reports suggest that she travelled with Mundo Marino through Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Jamaica. In September 1997, the United States National Marine Fisheries Service denied the show a permit to enter Puerto Rico, expressing its concerns over the stressful nature of travelling shows and risk of harm to the animals involved in multiple transportation.
Tragically, and in spite of the increased awareness of the problems associated with travelling dolphin shows, Sherryl died of heart failure in October 1997.
The current show
ACOREMA reports that the current show operating in Peru arrived in early February 2001, displaying three bottlenose dolphins and two South American sea lions. ACOREMA has been informed that on the 21st February, the Peruvian Fisheries Ministry stated that the show’s operation was illegal because the captive conditions the dolphins were being held under did not comply with Peruvian regulations.
The dolphins are being held in a 15 metre by 4 metre pool dug into the ground, covered with plastic and filled with tap water mixed with salt and chlorine. Peruvian dolphin conservation groups including ACOREMA, Prodelphinus and CEPEC are calling for this show to leave Peru and this time forever.
Please support these groups and Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society‘ work to end travelling shows around the world by writing to the Minister of Fisheries, Dr Ludwig Meier Cornejo. Politely state your concerns about travelling shows displaying dolphins and ask for the closure of the Mundo Marino show.
Please send your letters to Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society at Alexander House, James Street West, Bath, BA1 2BT, United Kingdom, fax number: + 44 1225 334 511 or e-mail: info@wdcs.org, so we can forward them on.
Many thanks for your help and our very best wishes!
All of us here at Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society“
