Hurghada Dolphin Captivity Scandal

Maddalena Fumagalli (maddalena@hepca.com)

11/2010

Keywords: Dolphins, Red Sea, Hurghada, HEPCA, petition, conservation, marine ecosystems

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The last three weeks shook out the usually calm and orderly routine of Hurghada’s community.

The account of the affair follows; a nice video summary has been recently published at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVQSZRR7ttA.

The story starts at the beginning of September, when several members of the community reported the
presence of 4 common bottlenose dolphins ( Tursiops truncatus) kept in the swimming pool of a private
villa in one of the residential district of the city. Surprised and astonished, a representative of HEPCA
managed to inspect the site where it actually found the four dolphins in a swimming pool as big as half of
a volleyball court. The animals were bought by a private investor and brought from Japan (the suspect is
from Taiji, The Cove) to Egypt with the intent of moving them to the dolphinaria of Sharm El Sheik and
Hurghada, the latter brand new, still to be inaugurated. Papers and documents were ALL in order.

The news spread rapidly through the city, among the residents and the visitors, and reached also Europe.

A fervent discussion started: Facebook, emails, blogs and Youtube were chosen as privileged means of
communications for this issue which falls among those that usually are not treated in official Medias;
especially as the suspect of corruption of national authorities here was quite strong. The media hype
reached its peak when Ric O’Barry (“The Cove” Oscar-winner documentary) and his team came to
Hurghada, actively taking part to the campaign.

HEPCA worked hard as information point for the public and consultant for the authorities, acting to
ensure the proper and less detrimental effect on the animals: the help and advice of Whale and Dolphin
Conservation Society (WDCS) and Marine Connection have been invaluable; the experience of the vet Dr.
Pierre Gallego was essential to monitor the health status of the animals and address decisions.

At the same time, HEPCA launched a much more important campaign: beside the justifiable compassion
for the four animals, this movement of people and thoughts and malcontent was so sound, dense and
active, that we decided to raise the stake and start lobbying for a national decree to ban dolphin captivity
in Egypt.

The campaign need the support of everyone, not only from Egypt, and a petition is available at
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/16/stop-dolphin-captivity-in-Egypt.

Things can change, and something already happened: the Governor of the Red Sea, who stands on
HEPCA side since the very beginning of this story, issued a decree to ban the import of any mammal into
the Red Sea, with the exception of those born in captivity. This must be seen as a milestone decision, the
first step to bring Egypt among the few countries that legislate against captivity and play an active role
against this industry.

Rede Verde Conservation Network Inc. BN: 845495613NP0001

st
York street, 8 - 1 floor Moncton, NB E1C2X9 Canada
URL : www.rede-verde.org Email: info@rede-verde.org
The dolphins will have to be moved soon. To where, when and how is something that is still under
discussion. The dolphinarium in Hurghada is due to open soon, we are still campaigning to prevent it.

The battle is going on. We need vigor and backing of all those who condemn the dolphin captivity
industry: this is a worldwide issue; it is not a mere Hurghada issue.

For further information and updates check HEPCA website (www.hepca.com) and RSDP Blog
http://redseadolphinproject.wordpress.com/.

Rede Verde Conservation Network Inc. BN: 845495613NP0001

st
York street, 8 - 1 floor Moncton, NB E1C2X9 Canada
URL : www.rede-verde.org Email: info@rede-verde.org