Getting five starving dolphins out of a stingray petting pool was only the start of a rehab-for-release project
NASSAU, Bahamas––After getting five starving dolphins out of a former stingray exhibit where they could barely submerge themselves, most animal advocacy campaigners would be shouting “Victory!” from the rooftops, spamming appeals far and wide, touting success and seeking donations.
But Ric O’Barry, 84, long ago learned to secure victories before claiming them in his 54-year series of campaigns seeking to liberate captive dolphins and other marine mammals, even if that is not the best way to raise megabucks in the cut-throat competitive world of animal rights and animal welfare.
Charlie Brown
To secure victories before announcing them was perhaps the first lesson Ric O’Barry learned as an activist, after leaving a lucrative career as a Miami Seaquarium and Hollywood dolphin trainer to try unsuccessfully on Earth Day 1970 to free a dolphin named Charlie Brown from a laboratory in the Bahamas.
Opening a gap in the sea pen that held Charlie Brown, O’Barry gave the dolphin the chance to escape, but the dolphin did not want to go.
Instead of making a dramatic Earth Day announcement of an “open rescue” act of civil disobedience, Ric O’Barry made news all over the world as the comic relief after the day’s headlines about the Vietnam War and the many eco-disasters that Earth Day was organized to protest.
(From Google Earth.)
Three-day “victory,” but O’Barry isn’t calling it that
Often telling the Charlie Brown story on himself, Ric O’Barry has enjoyed both many victories and many setbacks since then, but few apparent victories have appeared to come faster than after his most recent trip to the Bahamas, when the ghost of Charlie Brown seemed to be on his side.
Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project on May 7, 2024 launched an international publicity offensive aimed at persuading the Bahamian government to allow the rescue of five starving dolphins at the defunct Blackbeard’s Cay resort on Balmoral Island, Nassau, Bahamas.
Eight other dolphins had allegedly starved to death there before Ric O’Barry and the Dolphin Project ever knew there was a crisis.
Just three days after launching the publicity blitz, on May 10, 2024, “The Ministry of Agriculture & Marine Resources [of the Bahamas] has advised that all five remaining dolphins have been removed from Blackbeard’s Cay/Balmoral Island,” the Dolphin Project posted to social media.
(Dolphin Project photo)
Off to Atlantis
“The dolphins have been transported to Atlantis’ animal care facility,” apparently Dolphin Cay at the Atlantis Bahamas luxury mega-resort on Paradise Island, about five miles west, “for further observation, medical attention, and continued care,” the brief Dolphin Project announcement finished.
Certainly the Dolphin Project could have used an economic boost from declaring a highly visible victory, having many other campaigns underway.
Hot Pink Dolphins
“Together with Hot Pink Dolphins,” a South Korean group, “we are asking the Lotte World Aquarium [in South Korea] to stand behind their pledge to rehabilitate and evaluate Bella the beluga for release into the wild,” the Dolphin Project reminded Facebook page followers on May 14, 2024.
“Hot Pink Dolphins held a demonstration outside of Lotte World on May 12, 2024, advocating for Bella,” the Dolphin Project continued.
“Bella is a wild caught beluga owned by one of the richest corporations in South Korea,” the Dolphin Project went on to explain. “She currently resides in a barren artificial tank at the Lotte World Aquarium. Bella is on display all day for visitors to take photos and videos with her. People are often seen banging on her tank in an effort to get her attention. It is time Bella was given the freedom she was promised.”
(See Dog meat trade ban helps signal a new day for animals in South Korea.)
(Dolphin Project photo)
Mother’s Day protests
The Hot Pink Dolphins demonstration was among 64 Mother’s Day protests encouraged by the Dolphin Project worldwide, at locations including Rancho Texas in Lanzarote, Spain; Cancún and Durango, Mexico; Padova, Italy; Durban, South Africa; Coffs Harbor, Australia; Zoomarine, Portugal; Theatre of the Sea in Islamorada, Florida; and Seattle and Los Angeles.
But back in the Bahamas, Ric O’Barry warned the activists who started the campaign on behalf of the “Blackbeard Five” dolphins, bringing the Dolphin Project into it, that winning a real victory for the dolphins––a successful release back to the wild––would take considerably more time, planning, negotiation with various other entities and authorities, and of course the money needed to do everything that needs to be done.
“Finding the right body of water”
“Finding the right body of water isn’t as easy as finding the right land location to create a forever dolphin sanctuary,” Ric O’Barry began.
“There are plenty of beautiful islands and locations to build a dolphin sanctuary in the Bahamas. Lutra,” 50 miles east, “is one of many possibilities. But building the sea pen [for a dolphin rehabilitation site] in the best coastal location takes a bit of research,” Ric O’Barry cautioned.
“Good water flow is imperative”
“Good water flow is imperative in order to flush out the area, in and around the sea pen,” Ric O’Barry emphasized.
“Dolphins create three to five times the amount of body waste that humans do. This means a sanctuary for five dolphins needs a good flow of water when the tides change every day. The sea pen must be flushed out daily by the changing tides.
“Thus the facility must be close to the opening of a large bay, cove or lagoon. Not at the bottom, or back end. Eleuthera,” fifteen miles south of Lutra, “looks good on a map,” Ric O’Barry said, “but the chosen area for a coastal sea pen at Eleuthera has to be researched carefully for drainage, water flow as well as depth and water quality.
“So we really don’t really know yet if any of the chosen areas [for a sea pen] will actually work—at least not yet,” Ric O’Barry continued.
(Dolphin Project photo)
Needs “full cooperation from government”
“And there is no point in doing that research until we get some kind of a signal from government officials stating they will partner with us in this project. It is impossible to do this without full cooperation from government. This is the most important lesson I’ve learned in my 54 years of doing this,” O’Barry offered.
Ric O’Barry also expressed concern about doing business with the present Bahamian government, in view that the whole Blackbeard’s Cay issue originated, his son Lincoln O’Barry recounted on May 7, 2024, when eight dolphins were “imported from Honduras in 2013 for a planned swim-with-dolphins tourist attraction,” in violation of Bahamian law.
(Facebook photo)
Sam Duncombe sued & won
“Environmental activist Sam Duncombe and her Bahamian environmental organization reEarth sued the government one year later,” Lincoln O’Barry continued, “and won.
“Part of the judgment called for moving the dolphins to a suitable location,” Lincoln O’Barry narrated, “one that wasn’t exposed to potential hurricanes and curious tourists, yet nothing was done.”
Asked Ric O’Barry, “Do we really want to be involved with this particular government, which soon may be under investigation for refusing to obey a lawful order by the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas Islands?
“We would have to consult with our lawyers to be sure an agreement, contract or a memorandum of understanding would be honored and respected by the current ministry if we signed an memorandum of understanding with them.
(Dolphin Project photo)
Charges for ignoring Supreme Court order?
“They apparently don’t respect or honor the decision of the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas Islands,” Ric O’Barry said, “so why would they honor and respect a contract or a memorandum of understanding with reEarth or the Dolphin Project?”
“How can anyone partner with the current government,” Ric O’Barry asked rhetorically, “when there is a possibility they will be facing charges for ignoring the Supreme Court order of 2014?
“It makes no sense,” Ric O’Barry suggested, “to plan a dolphin sanctuary project until we know the answer to the burning question, ‘Will the government ministers actually be charged with the crime or not?’”
“Vexatious litigation”
Bahamian agriculture and marine resources minister Jomo Campbell meanwhile blamed months of delay in rescuing the Blackbeard’s Cay dolphins on “vexatious litigation.”
Nassau Tribune business editor Neil Hartnell outlined the litigation on May 8, 2024.
“The dolphin encounter and marine park was owned by a company called Blue Illusions,” Hartnell began.
“That entity’s ownership was split 50/50 between two foreign investors, Samir Andrawos and his business partner, Victoria Iglesias.”
Blue Illusions
Andrawos and Iglesias “are presently embroiled in personal bankruptcy proceedings before separate U.S. bankruptcy courts in Maryland and southern Florida, respectively,” Hartnell explained. “Each has had a bankruptcy trustee appointed over their financial affairs, following legal actions initiated by Blue Illusions’ main creditor, SuttonGate Holdings.
“Andrawos’ 50% equity ownership interest in Blue Illusions has been claimed by Damian Gomez, former Bahamian minister of state for legal affairs,” who is trying in court “to recover $1.25 million in outstanding legal fees allegedly owed to him by the Blackbeard’s Cay developer.”
(Dolphin Project photo)
Took info 10 days to travel one mile
Jomo Campbell told Nassau Tribune staff reporter Lynaire Munnings that his ministry was first made aware of the dolphins’ plight on April 9, 2024––ten days after Ric O’Barry, who lives in Sweden, personally visited Blackbeard’s Cay, meeting with caretaker Luis Arturo Hernandez.
“On April 9, 2024, Ms. Sam Duncombe, president of reEarth, met with me and ministry officials and informed us of this matter,” Campbell said.
“A site investigation was requested and conducted ten days later,” Campbell continued, on April 19, by the Department of Marine Resources.
“The results of that investigation were under active review, culminating in the government officially requesting assistance from Atlantis on May 8, 2024.”
Note that Blackbeard’s Cay appears to be less than one mile from Campbell’s office, across open water, but boats for day rental in the Bahamas are scarcely in short supply.
“Bottle of water”
Wrote Munnings, “Pressed on the one-month delay, Campbell said that given the history of the matter, which involves continuous legal dispute, the ministry was focused on taking a holistic approach.
““You have to look at the tide, you have to look at the time of day, you have to look at the conditions the dolphins were in,” Campbell told Munnings.
“People tend to think that dolphins are like a bottle of water where you can just pick them up and move them from point A to point B, but these are mammals, they think and act just like us, they have their own minds, and all of that had to be taken into consideration. Nobody knew what they would go into when they got there.
(Beth Clifton collage)
“I’m quite certain that we can simply go there with a speedboat and some sheets and maybe some nets and just move them that same day, but who knows if they would have all been alive and improving as they are now.”
Continued Munnings, “Campbell reported that the mammals are currently being housed at Atlantis Animal Care Facility under a 30-day quarantine process. He could not say where they were expected to go.”
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Sharing with gratitude. It is tragic that the ignorance of the public so often means the innocent pay with their lives.
Statement on the “Blackbeard 5 dolphins” in the The Bahamas, from Dolphin Project Founder/Director Ric O’Barry:
“Atlantis Resorts and government ministers “rescued” the five survivors from Blackbeard Cay. It was a farce. They could have done the blood work, medical tests right there on Blackbeard Cay and eliminated the stress of the violent and sloppy capture that took place. An unnecessary transport by boat and truck followed.
All of this added to the stress of ‘separation anxiety syndrome’ as Luis Hernandez, the dolphins trainer of nine years was left behind. This was the first time they’ve ever been separated. Nobody at Atlantis actually knows these five dolphins like Luis. They never will—Luis was the dolphins security blanket. Two of the five dolphins are only two years old. The new social dynamics at Atlantis Resorts may now include separation from each other by dolphin trainers who can’t tell them apart.
Atlantis didn’t even want the dolphins in the first place, in my opinion. The government orchestrated this unnecessary transport to take everybody’s attention off of Blackbeard Cay and the secret graveyard where eight bodies are buried. And to take media attention away from the fact that the Bahamas government was ordered by the Supreme Court to remove the dolphins from Blackbeard Cay back in 2014. Ten Years Ago!
The decision makers had plenty of time to create a proper sanctuary for the dolphins. That decision would’ve brought a windfall of positive international media attention to the beauty Bahamas Islands. But no…The government ignored the Supreme Court all of these years while eight dolphins died in their care.
This little known fact is still being covered up by government spin doctors today. And that’s what killed the eight dolphins on Blackbeard Cay; ignoring the Supreme Court order, it was treated as a “suggestion” by the ruling government.
The press conference at Atlantis Resort will now allow government and Atlantis to control the narrative of this story. It’s a way to keep the Supreme Court Order and Blackbeard Cay story out of sight and out of mind.”