March 1999

The Dolphins are no More

The last of the three dolphins imported from Bulgaria by the dolphinarium near Chennai in March 1998 died in September 1998. The other two had died over a month earlier. Repeated attempts by the Blue Cross during September and in the first week of October to contact the management of the dolphinarium proved unsuccessful. Finally, on October 5, after obtaining clinching evidence that the dolphins were dead and that at least one of the sea lions had also died, the Blue Cross issued a press release. For three days, none of the papers carried the story. Only after NEWS TODAY carried the story on its front page on October 8 did the story find its way into the national papers all over the country. The management of Dolphin City refuted the story. When asked why the shows continued only with the sea lions and no dolphins were performing, the answer was that the dolphins "were safe and the dolphins would start performing once they became alright".

A reporter from The Hindu went to Dolphin City on the 8th of October and insisted on seeing the dolphins. Otherwise, he told the management, he would have to assume the Blue Cross report was true. Only then did the Director of the dolphinarium tell the Hindu reporter that the dolphins had indeed died.

SUN TV carried the story on October 9 and STAR TV the next day on its Nationwide program. UNI and PTI spread the news all over India and magazines like India Today gave prominent coverage.

In the meantime, we received reliable information that the management of Dolphin City were in the process of importing more dolphins. The Ministers for Social Justice and for Environment immediately responded to our appeals and the Commerce Ministry turned down an application for import of more dolphins. The Central Zoo Authority withdrew its recognition of Dolphin City.

On October 12, Mr. A. R. Pinheiro, Chairman of the Corporation owning the dolphinarium, met with Blue Cross officials at our office. He requested a joint TV program to debate the justification for dolphinariums. We explained that in view of the fact that animals that normally live for close to fifty years in the wild died within a few months of coming to Chennai, and even more important, that no proper medical assistance was available to the dolphinarium, we had no choice but to oppose any moves to bring in more dolphins.