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“People want to be really close to animals,” she said. “Being a spectator at a small aquarium is not going to cut it.”
Prior said the proposed dolphin swim is also an effort to make Coral World more financially viable, after struggling for several years.
The goal was to open in the 2013-14 tourism season, but Prior said the summer of 2014 is more realistic because there have been delays in the Coastal Zone Management process.
She said the Planning and Natural Resources Department’s State Historic Preservation Office must complete a study to determine if there are any historic artifacts in the area before the project can go to public hearings.
Coral World already has a swim-with-animals attraction. Prior said its sea lion swim, which opened in 2007, is very successful.
The dolphins that Coral World plans to buy already live in captivity. Prior said several facilities across the Caribbean have breeding programs, and the up to 10 dolphins at Coral World will come from one of those programs. Prior said the dolphin swim will probably start with six dolphins.
“We’ll build a natural and normal social group with these dolphins,” Coral World curator Lee Keller said.
The group will have a matriarchal female and several young females as well as a couple of young males.
“A sort of bachelor group,” Keller said.
The dolphins will live in confined space in the ocean at Water Bay that’s about two acres in size. Keller said that concrete pilings will connect four-inch stainless steel mesh that serves as the pen’s walls.
Prior said it will have a sanctuary where dolphins who are tired of company can retreat.
“Nobody’s going to bug them while they’re there,” Keller added.
Additionally, the pen will have a maternity area where pregnant dolphins will give birth.
An area in the pen will have a liner that can filter water if for some reason the water in Water Bay becomes contaminated.
“And we’ll be able to lift dolphins out of the water in case of a hurricane,” Prior said.
Keller said in that case the dolphins would remain inside a building in transport boxes until the hurricane passes.
“They should be able to ride it out without any problem,” Keller said.
A viewing platform will sit adjacent to the pen so people who want to just look rather than swim can gather.
The cost of the project is roughly $7 million, and when completed, will add 24 full-time positions to the company’s current payroll.
The project has been controversial with many travel forum participants who live on the mainland signing petitions against it. Additionally, many V.I. residents also signed the petition. As of 4 p.m. Monday, 1,228 people signed petitions stating that they were against the dolphin swim.
“We can see the dolphins when we are out sailing,” wrote Marie Pohlman of Connecticut when she signed the petition. “We don't have to get personal with them in a pool. Let the dolphins live as Mother Nature intended, FREE.”
The petition drive was spearheaded by St. Thomas resident Fiona Stuart, who said the petitions will go to CZM, Gov. John deJongh Jr. and the Legislature. She’s also started a group called V.I. Dolphin Voices.
“I object to the captivity of wild animals forced to perform solely for commercial reasons,” Stuart said.
The petition reads: “We urge you to say NO to captive dolphins on St. Thomas. Keep wildlife in the wild!”
“Dolphins are highly intelligent, sentient beings that swim up to 100 km a day in the wild. In captivity they suffer restricted movement, forced human contact, artificial social groupings, being fed dead fish, exposure to loud sounds and the performance of unnatural activities in exchange for food rewards,” the petition continues.
“The proposed Dolphinarium is an open water facility in Water Bay, a problem area with sewage runoff from surrounding homes during heavy rains,” the petition says. “Captive dolphin waste sinks to the ocean floor and currents don't wash it away. This ‘attraction’ is proposed purely for commercial gain and teaches people that exploitation of animals is acceptable for the sake of turning a profit.”
Calling it a modern-day circus, Stuart said the Virgin Islands should take a leadership role in preventing the dolphin swim from happening.
Stuart said she’s also concerned about the planned location. She said there is little wave action in Water Bay as well as sewer runoff from Smith Bay in heavy rains.
“Sometimes there is human sewage floating in Water Bay,” Stuart said.
She said the dolphins will be swimming in an area already polluted, and their feces will further contaminate the water.
“Furthermore, they’re asking tourists to get into the water,” she said.
it's so nice that the petitioners can afford trips to see animals in the wild on sailboats and otherwise.
sucks to be someone else who can't afford to be sailing around. swimming with dolphins is life changing. poorer folks coming off cruise ships should have that opportunity. BTW -- do you folks eat meat? Maybe protect a few cows and the environment instead of worrying about captive dolphins, who've always been captive. they cannot survive in the wild. god forbid someone should be able to meet them.
Dolphins belong in the ocean!
Captive dolphins have been captured from the wild purely for their entertainment value which is wrong.
These mammals are an intelligent species and do not belong in captivity for any reason, muchless your entertainment.
As much as I sympathize with the desire for local business to make a profit and for people to swim with dolphins, I have to say that I think this is a bad idea. Dolphins, like all the great cetaceans, are truly sentient and do not deserve to be captive, whether trapped into it or bred into it.
I have interacted with a number of dolphin while out swimming or diving and when they want to they will be most accommodating of human contact - but they deserve to be the ones to make that choice. After all, we are in their environment, and it behooves us to act as guests, not as overlords.
Seriously Annie?
You think admission to Coral World or the dolphin swim is free? Cruise ship tourists can just as easily pay for a day sail with snorkeling and see the amazing sea life in its natural environment. Maybe not a dolphin but almost certainly turtles, rays and other amazing creatures.
Dolphins are intelligent, aware animals that suffer a myriad of issues in cages (skin sores, water pollution, stress from noise, etc...) Have you ever been underwater and heard a jet ski or boat go flying by? They are all over in Water Bay. I visited the dolphin swim on Tortola once and once only, just to observe, what a hell hole...
Your "solution" of opening another dolphin breeding attraction just so MORE dolphins can be born in captivity doesn't exactly solve the problem, now does it?
And no, I'm not a PETA member and certainly eat meat, comparing dolphins to beef cattle is just plain silly...
Mllb
Annie, a few years back, on Christmas Day, a dozen or so dolphins swam into Magen,s Bay, cavorting, breaching, having a wonderful time, it appeared, and also delighted all the beach goers for the entire day. That day, admission to the beach is rescinded, so everyone got to enjoy their play, for free, and when they tired of their show, they swam out to their offshore playgrounds and feeding grounds. I am sorry you were not one of the ones lucky enough to see these wonderful creatures in the wild, where they belong, their home.
I can take exceptions to some of the comments made by Ms Stuart as well as her commitment to the health of this planet. She mentions human waste floating in the bay. I have never seen her out to fight to clean up this island. In fact if you look into their proposal Coral World is having to spend a great deal of money and effort to protect the dolphins from human pollution in the bay. Ms Stuart; captive dolphin waste does not "sink" to the bottom and it is a rich source of food for much of the ecosystem. Important to state facts not misrepresent them. The bay has a great "flushing" action that is why it remains so clean even after all the waste man pours into it. (Megan's Bay is far worst and we all swim there and is one of the prime destinations for our tourist guest.) While we all seem to love dolphins and think of them as intelligent creatures, some say smarter then us. I say nicer but if they are so smart why do they not simply jump out of fishing nets as they close? It hardly requires them to even jump a floating line? While I generally disagree with her thinking I applaud anyone who seeks to be heard, but please relate all the facts and not only the facts that help her cause. Present the whole truth. "Human kind is the most domesticated animal on the plant"
Okay then, let's breed your offsping to be held in captivity for generations for "purely entertainment value." Opps! I think that was called slavery. Is this really much different, ethically speaking?
Why must we treat God's living creatures with such disrespect?
Captive is captive whether captured from the wild or bred to be born into it.
I love Coral World and I try to go a couple times a yr. and encourage all my guests to do so as well but I simply have to disagree with this project and I shall not encourage visitors to do so in the future.
I simply believe that we should stop encouraging these types of exhibits and the capture of free, wild dolphins simply for selfish entertainment value.
I visited Zealand many years ago and one of the attractions I went on when I vistited Kiroura on the South Island was a swim with wild dolphins.
We got into wet suits and a boat took us miles out in the middle of the ocean where there were several huge pods of wild dolphin in their natural environment. The group of people on the trip was small and there were strict guildlines about not touching the dolphins but to be allowed to be in the ocean with these magnificent creatures, swimming freely, all around us, was truly a marvelous adventure. They chose to interact or not and it was definately one of the highlights of my life.
Let's not perpetuate a wrong by continuing to support such projects as using captive dolphins for entertainment.
Let's face it, it is the wrong thing to do.
Anyone who suggests that seeing dolphins in a swim-with or at an aquarium is less expensive (especially on a cruise destination) has not seen them in the wild, from their car, where it is free.
People do not have the right to expose dolphins to a life of captivity, just so that a few paying customers have have an "awesome" experience.
Please do some reading, watch A Fall from Freedom, http://afallfromfreedom.org/ and think. Human beings are not given carte blanche to run rough-shod over other beings for their "feel goods."
The awareness of this is growing, and may happen just in time to see the USVI endeavor find itself with huge bills and no way to pay them.
@mobrock
Anyone who suggests that seeing dolphins in a swim-with or at an aquarium is less expensive (especially on a cruise destination) has not seen them in the wild, from their car, where it is free.
People do not have the right to expose dolphins to a life of captivity, just so that a few paying customers have have an "awesome" experience.
Please do some reading, watch A Fall from Freedom, http://afallfromfreedom.org/ and think. Human beings are not given carte blanche to run rough-shod over other beings for their "feel goods."
The awareness of this is growing, and may happen just in time to see the USVI endeavor find itself with huge bills and no way to pay them.
@mobrock
Seeing dolphins in an aquarium or a sea pool is like going visiting someone in jail and laughting at him!!!
These beautiful and intelligent animal (like every animal though) belong in the wild.
When do people will understand that we don't have the right to lock up animals just for our entertainment?? It's so selfish!! Dolphins are paying the price of their kindness... Poor things, they would prefer to swim in the ocean with their family if they had the choice to decide.
Captivity kills, Kills animals prematurly and human values.
For people who think that it's a chance to swim with them in a pool because they don't have the money to go on a boat... So what?? Because YOU don't have enough money THEY have to go to you?? Wake up people, they are not slaves!!! Watch TV documentaries till you'll get the money to see them in the wild!
Animals in captivity have nothing in common with the ones in their environment, they just are sad muppets.
Me as a nature defenser say NO to that kind of projects!
Please do the same
As a mother, I plead with you not to tear any family apart whether it be a marine mammal pod or any living being on this planet and place them in a life of captivity purely for "entertainment purposes". Please have compassion and awareness to say no to Coral Worlds plan for a dolphin exhibit. When have we as humans become so complacent?
I have worked and have family in the VI, and know the people to be caring and kind. The oceans surrounding the Islands are your home... Please allow it to remain theirs. Please be their voice..
As a mother, I plead with you not to tear any family apart whether it be a marine mammal pod or any living being on this planet and place them in a life of captivity purely for "entertainment purposes". Please have compassion and awareness to say no to Coral Worlds plan for a dolphin exhibit. When have we as humans become so complacent?
I have worked and have family in the VI, and know the people to be caring and kind. The oceans surrounding the Islands are your home... Please allow it to remain theirs. Please be their voice..