Gib Government Says No To Dolphinarium With Animals Captured From the Wild

Chief Minister Peter Caruana said, the Gibraltar Government disagrees with keeping dolphins in captivity which were caught in the wild, the Gibraltar Chronicle wrote today, adding that the Chief Minister Caruana said "the government is not, per se, against the existence of a dolphinarium".

As said by the newspaper, this statement was a response to questions of the Opposition in Parliament last week.

Seven weeks ago, fragmented information about plans to build a dolphinarium in Gibraltar had caused a public debate: Environmentalists and private citizens were against the plans to import 18 formerly wild bottle nose dolphins and nine sea lions from Asian waters and put them on display in a dolphinarium in Rosia Bay - a declared area of special interest. The Strait of Gibraltar is inhabited by wild bottle nose, striped and common dolphins, and the general concept of dolphinariums nowadays is a disputed one. The facebook group in protest of the plans meanwhile counts 4,000 members.

According to the Chronicle the Chief Minister also has replied to the Opposition's questions regarding the discussions with the dolphinarium's promoters: He confirmed that the company Europa Point Marine Village had submitted a proposal for "…a dolphinarium and other leisure facilities in the area of Rosia Bay…", but said that "no negotiations have taken place, let alone been concluded".

Mr Caruana said that Government is thinking about using Rosia Bay for other "leisure purposes", but would not comment on any project until it had rejected or accepted a respective propsal, wrote the Chronicle.