Aruba Marine Mammal                            Foundation

LETTER SUSAN BIEMANS OWNER

OF ARUBA BUCUTI BEACH RESORT

TO MINISTER C.  WEVER

(ARUBA MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT)

DECEMBER 4 2007

Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 10:27 PM

Subject: Tourism industry stakeholder Bucuti Beach Resort's position on the Dolphinarium

December 4, 2007

Honorable Minister C.A.S.D. Wever

Ministerraad

Aruba

Re:         The global environmental movement, Aruba tourism, and dolphins in captivity. 

Your Excellency Minister Wever,

 Like many other island destinations, our beautiful Aruba struggles with sustainable growth and our responsibility to protect the environment for future generations. Balancing economic growth with the long term environmental impact is a challenge that concerns us all as an island community.  

 Sustainable environmental business practices include a wide range of ethical issues.  An urgent concern right now is the planned Dolphinarium. A growing amount of international and local organizations with large numbers of members are speaking out against Dolphinariums as they learn the consequences to the Dolphins. USA based Dolphinariums are in decline (Seaworld bankrupt and closed in the Midwest) while the cruise ship industry puts pressure on naive third world and Caribbean nations to pick up the slack.  Currently, Curacao is facing challenges with the expansion of its Dolphinarium, and other island destinations are being leashed and limited in starting up or expanding their business.   

 A Dolphinarium is a serious threat for tourism as the environmental movement becomes more important, prolific and mainstream. The combination of a Dolphinarium with an environmental certification (e.g., Blue Flag, Green Globe) is, at the least, very risky and certainly a mixed signal to the international community.  The Tuna Industry suffered huge financial setbacks when they chose to ignore the dolphins captured in their fishing net fleets.  The most common remark we hear as the public learns about this project is that we can ultimately expect 'the Natalie Holloway effect' in regard to our reputation and negative publicity as the Dolphins die and more need to be imported to keep the business running.    The simple facts are that Dolphinariums are an unsustainable business.  

 Research by Marine Biologists concludes that captivity is never in the best interest of Dolphins.  Important detailed is available in a study by Dr. Naomi Rose on behalf of the Humane Society International and the World Society for the Protection of Animals. (Click here for instant download of the study).   You have already met with those in favor of the Dolphinarium and we provide you with the research for the case against a Dolphinarium to allow you a balanced decision making process.   We have and will continue to distribute the study to professional organizations, service clubs and community members, island wide.

 ISLANDS magazine honored our resort in their December 07 issue for our environmental program.  They dedicated the entire issue to environmental sustainability and awarded organizations worldwide for programs making a positive difference.   ISLANDS also award the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for its Dolphin SMART program.   ISLANDS partners with MSNBC as a content provider and these Awards will be promoted to millions of readers and viewers.

 The Dolphin Smart program offers observations of the local sea mammals in the wild.   Diversification in our tourism product has been an argument for the project and alternatives exist to a Dolphinarium.   Dolphin watching tours observe Dolphins in the wild and respect the mammals in their native habitat.  Aruba is fortunate enough to have two pods of Dolphins in the vicinity and our local Aruba Marine Mammal Foundation can elaborate their numbers and origin.   All the arguments for the Dolphinarium can be satisfied via carefully organized Dolphin watching. Moreover, studies in New Zealand and Australia indicate that these smart and responsible dolphin observation programs are sustainable in economic, ethical and environmental terms.  

These are the three basic "e's" of any type of sustainable growth and diversification of tourism, particularly in fragile island communities that depend upon their natural resources and international relationships and goodwill to thrive in an increasingly competitive environment.

 You have an opportunity to rise to the moral and ethical choice that protects our environment and all its creatures for future generations – reaping positive press and reputation for our destination in the time when our environment is the forefront of the global conscious.   The alternative is to be regarded as the greedy nation where profits reign over all. 

 Aruba’s product is its environment,... nature, the ocean, flora, fauna…acting against our environment is acting against all we represent to the world.  As stakeholders in Aruba’s tourism industry, we voice our strong opposition to this project and believe it could be devastating to Aruba's reputation.   Please sir, become a champion of conservancy and the environment and say no to this project.

 Sincerely,

 Susan Biemans

Aruba Bucuti Beach Resort

 cc:  Ministry and Parliament members

 *Sources for the information:  Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Earth Island Institute, World Society for the Protection of Animals, The Humane Society International and the Eastern Caribbean Cetacean Network

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OPEN LETTER FROM AMMF TO THE PALM TOURS

Jan 11, 2008

Respectable  family Malmberg  and staff-members of De Palm Tours,

After, in September 2007,   you called me  for a private meeting, because you wished for AMMF  to stop with the protest in the media, during which  you, Ricky and Lisette,  proposed to me  a meeting with your 2 dolphin trainers  in order for you to observe and  judge who is right. When I accepted , but to come along with 2 of my international experts , you decided never again to reply to me with  a meeting-date and started  a full blown media marketing campaign with your 2 “experts”, during which many untruthful  statements  were made.

Fot this reason I am sending you this letter (see attached below) written from the bottom of my heart, directed to you in the form of  an “open letter “.  Please  take note of the attached  copies of 2 newspaper article.

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OPENLETTER FROM  AMMF TO DE PALM TOURS

Jan 11, 2008

Respectable  Mr.  Harold Malmberg, Mr. Ricardo Malmberg, Ms. Lisette Malmberg,

By means of this letter, AMMF  requests to you an answer to  whether  De Palm Tours,   still has the intention to continue with the  dolphinarium-project  in Aruba.     

AMMF  wishes to  bring forward  some points to you, which has placed   De Palm Tours as associate of  Dolphin Academy in a very bad light in Aruba and which harmed your integrity and level of ethical values.  

While De Palm Tours and  Dolphin Academy  were promoting in a full-blown media-marketing campaign to the public and  entities in Aruba, that  Dolphin Academy  is one of the best dolphinariums in the world because “supposedly”  it  “uses” exclusively  “captive born” ,  there were  6  Cuban captured dolphins on their way to the dolphinarium.    

After this  secret import of captured Cuban dolphins was revealed through the press, De Palm Tours and   Dolphin Academy ( Sra. Lindgren and  George Kieffer)  released a statement in the press that  they are against the use of captured Cuban dolphins because it is “ immoral “ and unnecessary and that

 Dolphin Academy has absolutely no ties with Dolphin Therapy Research Center and Sea Aquarium Curacao,  according to your statement  the only companies related to the buyers of these captured dolphins.   

Because the contrary of your statements was proven in the press , that Dolphin Academy , Dolphin  Therapy & Research Center and  Public Sea Aquarium indeed DOES share directors, owners, dolphins, AMMF concludes that De Palm Tours has decided  to distance themselves from the dolphinarium project immediately. 

Now that  Dolphin Academy has contributed to more material (smuggled out film-clip of dolphin-accident) for international experts  to reconfirm that swimming with dolphin-programs puts swimmers’ safety  at risk and that  such incidents are vigorously suppressed from public knowledge by the dolphin industry,   AMMF  concludes that De Palm Tours currently is relieved to have decided not to be part of this industry. 

Furthermore it is proven that  Dolphin Academy  does not take into account that it is irresponsible to use sexually active dolphins (older then 6/7 yrs) in swim with programs,  because they suddenly can turn aggressive with swimmers and/or refuse to obey the trainer,  putting the safety of clients to unnecessary risk.  

 Contrary to the explanation of  Dolphin Academy  that the accident was a mis-calculated jump unrelated to stress and exhaustion, several international experts on dolphins in captivity, who have analyzed the smuggled out  film-clip, declared publicly to state with confidence that this accident was clearly   caused by a tired and stressed out dolphin who wanted to show domination.  

Also contrary to the declaration of Dolphin Academy  that witnesses to the incident  weren’t   segregated in to a room and were made to delete  all documentation, in the Dutch press several witnesses confirmed that indeed this did happen.   

Furthermore AMMF wishes to point out to you once more the fact that Dolphin Academy chronically   attempts to  mislead the public through the media.  Attached please find one more proof of this, the  2 copies of newspaper articles.   One published dd. Aug 10, 2005, in which Dolphin Academy  advertises 

that  World Society For the Protection of Animals (WSPA) gave them a rating of 10 on a scale of 10. The second article is the published reaction of WSPA dd.  Aug 11, 2005, in which they DENY  catigorically  ever to have send a WSPA –staff member and to have ever given Dolphin Academy a rating. 

Dolphin Academy in the past has also published pictures of a man wearing a WSPA t-shirt  as advertisement of  the “supposed”  Dolphin Academy approval by the  WSPA.

 AMMF is in direct contact with WSPA,  who is one of the 126 international organizations  in alliance with AMMF. Here in ARUBA   Dolphin Academy  WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LIE ANYTHING!!     

We assure De Palm Tours,  that the movement of  protest against a dolphinarium in Aruba will only grow!

AMMF will NEVER stop to inform the local and international public about the truth behind the dolphinarium –industry which includes a long list of all which the Dolphin Academy has already lied here in Aruba as an example!

The same love for the dolphins  the dolphinarium- industry created with a fictitious  image  to make money from them,  will end  the business , once they know the truth.  AMMF has already given more than 40 presentations, and this is only the beginning!  

You are welcome to join our side, that truly respect s and protects the free and wild dolphins “The Angels of the Sea” .  Captivity is never in the best interest of these beautiful  creations of God.

If you love them, let them be free!

Awaiting your reply in the hopes of a positive one,

I remain,

Angiolina  Henriquez

Aruba Marine Mammal Foundation

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AN OPEN LETTER TO:

Minister President Nelson O. Oduber

Aruba

Dear Minister President Oduber,

We the undersigned represent 130 international organizations comprising more than 15 million members, including leading members of the financial and entertainment industries. With one unified voice, we urge you to not allow captive dolphins to be commercially exploited in Aruba.

People around the world associate Aruba with pristine beauty. A magnificent country, your extraordinary coral reefs are the envy of many countries. Allowing a captive dolphin facility to be established in your waters will severely cripple Aruba's image as a country that respects and protects its wildlife.

De Palm Tours and Dolphin Academy are telling the public and the media that they are going to confine dolphins because they want to teach people respect for nature. This is the hypocrisy that the dolphin captivity industry is based upon. The capture, confinement, and captive breeding of dolphins does represent a form of education, but it's a form of bad education, in that it teaches the public that exploiting nature in the name of profit is acceptable. If the tourists who visit Aruba want to see dolphins and get a real education about the complex lives of these animals, as opposed to seeing them in a distorted and controlled way, they have the opportunity to do so, in a respectful, non-invasive manner. It's called Dolphin Watching, and you can find information on this alternative on the World Wide Web.

In attracting tourists, film companies, and financial organizations, every country's greatest resource is its reputation. Standing up against animal cruelty on this high profile issue will greatly benefit your people and Aruba's economy for many years to come.

Please keep Aruba DOLPHIN FRIENDLY. By denying any capture, import, and dolphin display permits you will be sending a powerful message to the rest of the world -- a message about Aruba's respect for nature and its inhabitants.

Respectfully,

Aruba Marine Mammal Foundation - Aruba 
Fanapa - Aruba 

Stimaruba - Aruba

Accion Ambiental - Aruba

Advocates for Animal Rights - Bahamas Islands

Animals Asia Foundation - China

Animals R Friends St Maarten

Animal Defenders International – UK/USA.
Animal Friends - Croatia

Animal Welfare Institute - USA

Animal Rights Hawaii - USA

Animal Rights Action Network - Ireland
Animals Require Kindness - Bahamas Islands

Animalisti Italiani - Italy.
APRADAP - Panama

Alianza Bocas  - Panama

ABITPC - Antigua West Indies

Antigua & Barbuda Humane Society Inc
Alianza para la Conservación y el Desarrollo - Panama

Antigua & Barbuda Humane Society Inc
Asociación para la Conservación de la Biósfera - Panama

Australians for Animals - Australia

Ben White Legacy - International

Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh - India

Blue Cross of India - India

Blue Voice -USA

Born Free Foundation - UK/USA

CATCA - Canada

Campaign Whale - USA

Canadian Marine Environment Protection Society - Canada

Cetacean Society International - International

CMMR Levaithan - Chile
Coalition For No Whales In Captivity - Vancouver - Canada
Captive Dolphin Welfare Foundation - USA

Care of Animals &Protection of Environment - India

Care for the Wild - UK

Comité Panameño por la Paz - Panama

Comitee for Dolphinarium-free Belgium - Belgium

Coordinadora Campesina por la Vida - Panama
Conservacion de Maíferos Marinos - Mexico

Dolphin Defenders - St Maarten
Earth Island Institute - International

Earthtrust Hawaii - USA

Eastern Caribbean Coalition for Environmental Awareness -Caribbean

EcoRED Internacional - Panama

Een DIER Een VRIEND - Holland
Elsa Nature Conservancy - Japan

Environmental Investigation Agency - UK/USA

Free Willy Keiko Foundation - USA

Friends of the Gray Whale - USA

Finns for the Whales Society - Finland

Friends of the Dolphins - Toronto Animals R Friends
Fundación Altarriba - International

Fundation Humanitas - Panama

Fundación para la Protección del Mar - Panama

Fundación Quebro para el Desarrollo - Panama

FUNDAVISAP - Panama

Fundación Dobbo Yala - Panama

Fundacion Valentina - Puerto Rico

Frente para la Defensa del Delfín - Panama

Fundación Mar Viva - Panama

GAIA - Belgium
Gesellschaft zur Rettung der Delphine - Germany

Grupo Parques Nacionales - Panama

Grupo Activista Ambiental - Panama

Grenada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals - Granada

Groupe d'Etudes des Cétacés de Méditerranée - France

The Humane Society - International

Humane Society of Grand Bahama, The Bahamas
Humane Society of Canada - Canada

International Animal Rescue Malta
In Defense of Animals - USA

International Animal Welfare Society - India

International Primate Protection League - USA
Jamaica Environment Trust - Jamaica

Karuna Society for Animals & Nature - India

Liquid Jungle Lab - Panama

Lifeforce Foundation - Canada

Linking Individuals for Nature Conservation - China
Marine Connection - UK

Marine Mammal Research Center - Isrial

Marine Mammal Research Leviathan - Chile

Marine Mammal Connection Society - USA

Massachusetts Animal Rights Coalition - USA

Morigenos - Slovenia

Minds in the Water - Australia

Mundo Azul - Peru

Morigenos - Slovenia

New York Whale and Dolphin Action League - USA

No Whales in Captivity - Canada
OceanCare - Switzerland

Ocean Care Foundation - St. Maarten

Ocean Friends - USA

Oceanic Preservation Society - USA

Orca Network - USA

ORCA -  Serbia

OrcaLab/Pacific Orca Society - USA

PARE Foundation - Ruerto Rico
Pegasus Foundation - USA

People for Animals - India

People 4 Animals - Canada

PETA - USA

POD - South Africa

Pro Wildlife - Germany

Rattle the Cage Productions - USA

Rainforest Concern - UK

reEarth - Bahamas Islands

Roba Morena Group - Panama

Saba Foundation for Protection of Animals - Saba

Sahayog organisation - India

Sarasota Dolphin Defenders - USA

Sanoma People for Animal Rights - USA

Servicio Paz y Justicia en Panamá - Panama

Shark Research Institute - USA

Sociedad Audubon de Panamá - Panama

Stichting Dolphinmotion - Holland

Surfers For Cetaceans - Australia

Tursiops.org - USA

The Animal House - Jamacia

The Bahamas Humane Society - Bahamas Islands

The Kohn Foundation - USA

Udruga Zivot -Croatia

Visakha SPCA - India

Voice for Animals Humane Society - Canada

Wealth Effect Media - USA

Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society - International

World Whale Police - USA

World Society for Protection of Animals - International

Wal- und Delfinschutz-Forum - Germany

Zoocheck - Canada

Aruba, say NO to captive dolphins!  We know better! 

His excelence Minister of Environmental Affairs Drs. C. Wever, His excellence Minister of  Economic Affairs  Sr. N.J.J. Swaen, Lic.,  and owners of  De Palm Tours,  Mr. H. Malmberg and family. 

I am directing this letter to you regarding the information I received of  current plans of the De Palm Tours, Dolphin Academy of Curacao, and the Aruban government to develop a project at De Palm Island involving dolphins in captivity. 

Ironically, this project is planned for the same location where a sick dolphin was stranded for 6 weeks in 1998.  The dolphin was named “Baby” and had been captured in Colombia, held captive in a sea-pen, and taken through a cruel regimen of training for commercial shows.  “Baby”, a rough toothed dolphin,   was intelligent and rebellious, continuously finding ways to escape his enclosure to find freedom.  These incidents were costly, and the owners finally gave up and let him free with 4 other dolphins.  He made it to Aruba and entered Spaanslagoen in bad health.  Very soon as many as 150 Arubans took part in a group of volunteers that took turns over 6 weeks for 24 hours a day to protect him from the public and help him regain health and strength, under the supervision of an American veterinary clinic specializing in dolphins.

Some well-intended local citizens wishing to see “Baby” and watch him eat/play gave him toys,  inappropriate food, like fried chicken, fried fish, candy, bread in plastic wrappings, fruit. Accidently fallen articles by the adoring public, like hairbows, juicebottle caps, cigarette packs, were swallowed by Baby.  The dolphin died. “Baby” sought refuge with humans and was ultimately killed by humans.

The two fatal threats to dolphins are sharks and people.

One of the biggest symbols of  crime against wildlife is the “dolphin in captivity”. There are no valid-arguments to support human- need for a captive dolphin facility.

We, humans, don’t need to do any further scientific research on captive dolphins.  It doesn’t contribute in any way to the betterment of a dolphin’s life in the wild, and we already have the information we need to help them medically when necessary. What we need is more information on how they live in their natural habitat, so we can learn how to protect them better.

We, humans, don’t need  deceptive commercial practices involving the mistreatment of animals in order to supposedly find cures for human mental ailments.  What we need is the absolute truth about the dolphin’s mental and physical state during capture, captivity, transportation, and training.

We, humans, don’t need more trained animal shows to prove that people can dominate over God’s other creatures.  We all know our power and how humans have dominated, abused, and destroyed nature.  What we need is to use our power to protect, conserve,  and restore nature. 

When dolphins are captured, many die during the process of capture, transportation or while trying to adapt to a confined area.  The public ends up seeing the very small percentage of dolphins that survived this process.  This is one of the many reasons former dolphin trainers have become passionate anti-captivity activists, including Richard O’Barry, Flipper’s famous trainer. 

Some captive dolphins find a way to escape, but they can’t survive anymore in the wild, because they have been trained to depend on humans and lost their ability to hunt or defend themselves against sharks.  Sometimes they will not be accepted by new dolphin -families, leaving them to a solitary life and death. 

There have been many anecdotes of dolphins rescuing people in distress at sea.  It’s no surprise they have been lovingly referred to as “Angels of the Sea”, and that their altruism has been described repeatedly in mythology and indigenous legends. 

Dolphins have large brains like humans,  high intelligence, and sophisticated cognition.  They live in a tight and complex social structure, have families, and each are identified by their own name in the form of a whistle.  Each dolphin has a function within their social group, from hunting to protecting the weaker members.  Mother, sister, and aunts assist during a birth, while the others  form a large circle  for protection.

AMMF has had the delightful opportunity to observe dolphins up close in their natural habitat off the Aruba shores, and discovered their use of Aruba as a birthing place. For several years now, a group of mothers and their young feed on flying fish and squid in Aruban waters.  On a few occasions, we have witnessed adult dolphins bringing sick calves to Malmok or Spaanslagoen to recover.  They trust us, by coming near us with their weakest.  These are animals that have helped us and have trusted us! We can not betray this trust by considering a captive dolphin- facility! Ever!  On the contrary, we should show the world that we know better!!

Please don’t allow “Baby” ‘s death be in vain!   Don’t allow the efforts of AMMF over the past 9 years be in vain.  Let Aruba be one of the countries that stands up for the rights and protection of wildlife! Let Aruba be a country that is smart enough not to sacrifice dolphins for the sake of profit!   Instead, attempt to improve tourism by improving Aruba’s natural environment.  Avoid a controversial project, that invites yet another international boycott.

Will Aruba maintain the right stand?

A human being understands what he knows. What he understands he can love.  What he loves he will automatically protect.  One either protects God’s creations or one destroys them.

         BEHIND A DOLPHIN’S SMILE                                           

    Ex-trainer  of “Flipper” in Aruba

Internationally known author and activist Ric O’Barry  will discuss his efforts, chronicled in his books, to release captive dolphins back into the wild, at 7 p.m. on October 12, 2007 at the Westin Resort, Palm Beach, Aruba (free entrance).

O’Barry has long been a controversial figure whose life story Hollywood has planned to turn into cinema. For many years O’Barry worked on-camera as a diver and stuntman for commercials and the big studios, appearing as a stunt double for the villains in two of the James Bond movies, Thunder Ball, which won an Academy Award for the underwater filming, and Never Say Never Again.

Richard (Ric) O'Barry, once trainer of the five dolphins who played the role of Flipper in the popular American TV-series of the same name, founded the Dolphin Project, dedicated to freeing captive dolphins and educating people worldwide to the plight of captive dolphins. He has since freed 24 captive dolphins and launched an international campaign against the billion-dollar dolphin captivity industry. He is often compared to "the horse whisperer" for his ability to understand the feelings and needs of the animals he works with.

In 1993, he succeeded in one of his most extraordinary projects: to free the last captive dolphin in Brazil and reunite him with his wild mother. O’Barry has worked to free and rehabilitate captive dolphins in Central and South America and the Caribbean, often at personal risk.

O’Barry has received the Environmental Achievement Award, presented by the Committee for the United Nations Environmental Program (US/UNEP) who recognized him as one of the top 500 environmentalists in the world.

Today, O'Barry is the Marine Mammal Specialist for Earth Island Institute, an environmental organization based in the United States.  Among the goals of Earth Island is to stop the trade and commercial exploitation of dolphins throughout the world.  Furthermore, O'Barry represents a coalition of four organizations that work to stop the slaughter of dolphins in Japan: Earth Island Institute, Animal Welfare Institute, In Defense of Animals and Elsa Nature Conservancy (www.SaveJapanDolphins.org)  His book Behind the Dolphin Smile was published in 1989. A second book, To Free a Dolphin, was published in 2000.

The Aruban public is cordially invited to attend this unique lecture and book-signing event.

For more information pls contact the Aruba Marine Mammal Foundation, Giolina Henriquez, 5924048 or Angiolinah@gmail.com