STOP the proposed Dolphin Lagoon in the Maldives!

President Mohamed Nasheed and Dr. Ibrahim Didi, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture,

We strongly urge you to veto the proposed dolphin lagoon that is planned to come to the Maldives.  Your nation is known for being leaders in climate change, but this project will undermine your integrity.  Do you want to be associated to the dolphin trade and international ridicule of Taiji, Japan who were exposed in the documentary "The Cove?"  The Maldives has declared its whales & dolphins as protected species and we always had peace of mind that no harm might come to them while in your waters. Local resorts and dive centers have regular dolphin watching cruises that happen on a daily basis. This will not only hurt your international image with conservationists, but will hurt small local businesses that depend on ecotourism to visit dolphins and whales in the wild. We ask you from our voices all around the world to join us in protecting cetaceans from captivity.

Many signing our petition are from the Maldives.  If the people proposing this lagoon were going to retire or rehabilitate captive born dolphins by creating an intermediate environment for introducing dolphin back to the wild, we would gladly promote the project and many of us would dig into our pockets to donate money for such a project. This proposal doesn't appear to be that case at all. Those who propose this are simply participating in the dolphin slave trade to turn a profit.  It might be that they are creating a prettier cage, but it's still a cage.  Dolphin need an enormous amount of free range and we should ABSOLUTELY clean up the messes we make in their ocean world. No lagoon can replace an ocean just as no marine program could replace a dolphin's family.  Other lagoon projects like this in the Caribbean have huge problems with excrement being so concentrated that it kills off all the neighboring coral and therefore drives away all other species. If the people of the Maldives want to increase their (already existent) wild dolphin tourism industry and protect their nation from the effects of global climate change, they should invest in preserving habitats that attract large animals (including humans). The good people of the Maldives and all those signing our petition understand that the true source of wealth is not in possession, but in preservation.  Re-grow your bleached coral and fish show up, then shark show up, the dolphin show up, and yes, the humans will show up too. 

Thank you ≈ The Nautical Tribe