Dubai Dolphinarium

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Dubai Dolphinarium
Dolphin show at Dubai dolphinarium, September 2012.jpg
2012 show
Dubai Dolphinarium
25°14′05″N55°19′36″E / 25.2346°N 55.3267°E / 25.2346; 55.3267
Date openedMay 21, 2008
Location Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Floor space5,000 m2 (54,000 sq ft)
Website www.dubaidolphinarium.ae

Dubai Dolphinarium is a fully air-conditioned indoor dolphinarium in the Middle East, providing habitat to dolphins and seals, allowing the public to watch and interact with them through live shows and photo sessions. It is located at Creek Park near the Children's City within the vicinity of Oud Metha and Bur Dubai . Dubai Dolphinarium was opened on May 21, 2008 in partnership with Dubai Municipality, and is sponsored and supported by Dubai government to provide the general public with entertainment and also educate them regarding dolphins, seals and other marine organisms. [1] It was also reflected that interacting with such friendly mammals like dolphins will motivate young generation to protect marine life and the environment.

Contents

Facilities

Dubai Dolphinarium is a 5,000-square-meter (54,000 sq ft) modern indoor facility with around 1250 seating capacity for Dolphin & Seal Show. The Dolphins have their own private habitat area with 600 cubic metres (160,000 US gal) of sea water connected to the main arena pool. There is a separate medical pool and seal pool constructed considering well-being of these marine mammals. [2]

The dolphinarium complex also features group and kids activities, birthday parties for kids, school field trips, group events, swim with dolphins, mirror maze, bird show, a restaurant providing quick and fun meals for kids and a mini 5-D cinema theater.

Marine mammals

Dubai Dolphinarium is home to bottlenose dolphins and Northern fur seals. [3] These dolphins and seals were reportedly bought from a country belonging to the Commonwealth of Independent States, an alliance of 11 former Soviet republics. [4]

Activities

Various activities like kids summer camp and Dubai Summer Surprises are held at the Dubai Dolphinarium every year during summer holidays.

Dubai Dolphinarium in association with Dubai Municipality organized an Autism Awareness Day from various autism care centres and training centres for children with special needs on April 28, 2011. [5]

Dubai Dolphinarium welcomed its one millionth visitor during March, 2012 and various promotional activities were featured during this period. [6]

Management

This establishment is managed by a staff of 60 including mammal trainers and customer supporting staff.

Criticisms

Dubai Dolphinarium had come under criticism from various animal welfare campaigners in the beginning saying, it would lead to suffering and high dolphin mortality. Activists also questioned the source of its black sea bottlenose dolphins, claiming that one of them was not born in captivity but rescued from fishermen's nets, and therefore should have been re-released. [7]

However the management has countered these criticisms stating that the dolphins in Dubai Dolphinarium are third generation dolphins who were born in artificial conditions and are perfectly happy in their current environment and role, and are healthier all year round than their wild counterparts. [8] [9]

In 2019, Dubai Dolphinarium came under heavy waves of criticism after a trainer posted on Instagram a video of them sitting on one of the dolphins, [10] [11] which caused Instagram to issue a warning to whoever had searched “#dubaidolphinarium” on the app. [12]

An Instagram user, @aurelia_1534 posted a video captured at Dubai Dolphinarium, depicting a woman trainer bouncing on a dolphin’s top. However, the video was immediately taken down due to increasing condemnation from the viewers, who called the trainer’s behaviour “unethical” and “unprofessional”. [13] [14] [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolphin</span> Marine mammals, closely related to whales and porpoises

A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the clade Odontoceti. Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae, Platanistidae, Iniidae, Pontoporiidae, and possibly extinct Lipotidae. There are 40 extant species named as dolphins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bottlenose dolphin</span> Genus of dolphin

The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus Tursiops. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bottlenose dolphin, the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin, and Tamanend's bottlenose dolphin. Others, like the Burrunan dolphin, may be alternately considered their own species or be subspecies of T. aduncus. Bottlenose dolphins inhabit warm and temperate seas worldwide, being found everywhere except for the Arctic and Antarctic Circle regions. Their name derives from the Latin tursio (dolphin) and truncatus for the truncated teeth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oceanic dolphin</span> Family of marine mammals

Oceanic dolphins or Delphinidae are a widely distributed family of dolphins that live in the sea. Close to forty extant species are recognised. They include several big species whose common names contain "whale" rather than "dolphin", such as the Globicephalinae. Delphinidae is a family within the superfamily Delphinoidea, which also includes the porpoises (Phocoenidae) and the Monodontidae. River dolphins are relatives of the Delphinoidea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toothed whale</span> Parvorder of cetaceans

The toothed whales are a clade of cetaceans that includes dolphins, porpoises, and all other whales with teeth, such as beaked whales and the sperm whales. 73 species of toothed whales are described. They are one of two living groups of cetaceans, the other being the baleen whales (Mysticeti), which have baleen instead of teeth. The two groups are thought to have diverged around 34 million years ago (mya).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common bottlenose dolphin</span> Species of dolphin

The common bottlenose dolphin or Atlantic bottlenose dolphin is one of three species of bottlenose dolphin in the genus Tursiops. The common bottlenose dolphin is a very familiar dolphin due to the wide exposure it receives in human care in marine parks and dolphinariums, and in movies and television programs. Common bottlenose dolphins inhabit temperate and tropical oceans throughout the world, absent only from polar waters. While formerly known simply as the bottlenose dolphin, this term is now applied to the genus Tursiops as a whole. As considerable genetic variation has been described within this species, even between neighboring populations, many experts think additional species may be recognized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military marine mammal</span> Marine animals trained for military purposes

A military marine mammal is a cetacean or pinniped that has been trained for military uses. Examples include bottlenose dolphins, seals, sea lions, and beluga whales. The United States and Soviet militaries have trained and employed oceanic dolphins for various uses. Military marine mammals have been trained to rescue lost naval swimmers, guard navy ships against enemy divers, locate mines for later clearance by divers, and aid in location and recovery of equipment lost on the seabed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolphinarium</span> Aquarium for dolphins

A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or public performances. Some dolphinariums consist of one pool where dolphins perform for the public, others are part of larger parks, such as marine mammal parks, zoos or theme parks, with other animals and attractions as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minnesota Zoo</span> Zoo in Apple Valley, Minnesota, USA

The Minnesota Zoo is an AZA-accredited zoo in Apple Valley, Minnesota. The zoo is one of two state-supported zoos in the United States, with the other being the North Carolina Zoo. When it opened on May 22, 1978, it was fairly revolutionary in its exhibit design. The zoo, built in a suburbanizing rural area, had more space to house exhibits and was one of the first zoos to organize its animals by their living environment as opposed to their species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Attica Zoological Park</span> Zoo in Spata, Greece

Attica Park, officially Attica Zoological Park (AZP), is a private zoo located in the suburb of Spata, approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Athens, Greece. It is the only zoo in Greece. The zoo is home to more than 1,500 animals representing 220 species, in an area of 20-hectares. It is open 365 days a year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolphin drive hunting</span> Method of hunting dolphins

Dolphin drive hunting, also called dolphin drive fishing, is a method of hunting dolphins and occasionally other small cetaceans by driving them together with boats, usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the open sea or ocean with boats and nets. Dolphins are hunted this way in several places around the world including the Solomon Islands, the Faroe Islands, Peru, and Japan, which is the most well-known practitioner of the method. In large numbers dolphins are mostly hunted for their meat; some end up in dolphinariums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine mammal park</span> Type of amusement park

A marine mammal park is a commercial theme park or aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, beluga whales and sea lions are kept within water tanks and displayed to the public in special shows. A marine mammal park is more elaborate than a dolphinarium, because it also features other marine mammals and offers additional entertainment attractions. It is thus seen as a combination of a public aquarium and an amusement park. Marine mammal parks are different from marine parks, which include natural reserves and marine wildlife sanctuaries such as coral reefs, particularly in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marineland of Antibes</span> Theme park in Antibes, France

The Marineland of Antibes is a theme park founded in 1970 by Count Roland de La Poype in Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), in the French Riviera. Covering 26 hectares, it includes a marine zoological park with dolphinarium, a water park (Aquasplash), a children's play park, mini golf and a hotel. It is the property of the Spanish multinational company Parques Reunidos, whose main shareholder are the investment funds EQT Partners and Elliott Management. Since 2017, the director is Pascal Picot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marineland of New Zealand</span> Former marine mammal park in Napier, New Zealand

Marineland of New Zealand was a marine mammal park in Napier, New Zealand. The park opened in 1965 and closed to the public in 2008. During the time it was open, Marineland housed several species of native and introduced marine wildlife, most notably including the common dolphin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolphin Research Center</span> Zoo in Florida, United States

The Dolphin Research Center (DRC) is a dolphinarium on Grassy Key, Florida. The 90,000-square-foot (8,400 m2) series of saltwater lagoons is home to several dolphins and California sea lions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolphin Encounters</span> Dolphin facility

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Planète Sauvage (zoological park)</span> Zoo in Port-Saint-Père, France

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiji dolphin drive hunt</span> Annual event in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

The Taiji dolphin drive hunt is based on driving dolphins and other small cetaceans into a small bay where they can be killed or captured for their meat and for sale to dolphinariums. The new primary killing method is done by cutting the spinal cord of the dolphin, a method that claims to decrease the mammal's time to death. Taiji has a long connection to whaling in Japan. The 2009 documentary film The Cove drew international attention to the hunt. Taiji is the only town in Japan where drive hunting still takes place on a large scale.

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References

  1. Johnson, Alice. "Dubai Dolphinarium opens in Creekside Park". gulfnews.com. Al Nisr Publishing LLC. Archived from the original on 9 January 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  2. "Dubai Dolphinarium Travel Guide". www.holidayfactors.com. Archived from the original on 9 March 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
  3. "Marine Mammals". www.dubaidolphinarium.ae. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  4. "Dubai Dolphinarium denies wild dolphin report". www.uaeinteract.com. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  5. "Autism Awareness Day at Dubai Dolphinarium". www.ameinfo.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  6. "Dubai Dolphinarium to welcome its 'one millionth visitor' in March". www.gulftoday.ae. Archived from the original on 11 June 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  7. "Dubai dolphinarium on track". www.ameinfo.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  8. "Dubai Dolphinarium at the Creekside Park". nadiamasood.com. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  9. "Fun at Dubai Dolphinarium". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  10. "'Dirty secrets' of dolphin tourist parks revealed as 'abuse' video emerges". Yahoo News. 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  11. "'Disturbing': Outrage at video of Dubai trainer straddling dolphin". Newshub. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  12. Ryan, Patrick (2019-08-07). "Instagram issues abuse warning against content at Dubai Dolphinarium". The National. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  13. Dahlstrom, Michael (5 August 2024). "'Dirty secrets' of dolphin tourist parks revealed as 'abuse' video emerges". Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  14. Ryan, Patrick (5 August 2024). "Dubai attraction launches probe into woman riding dolphin in video". Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  15. "Petition: Send Dolphins at Dubai Dolphinarium to a Sanctuary!". OneGreen Planet. 28 August 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2024.