October 23, 2007
Cayman Islands Swim-with-the-Dolphins Attractions
Update, August 2010: Two dolphinariums are now in operation in Cayman Islands, with the first 10 dolphins (six to a facility called Dolphin Discovery, four to one called Dolphin Cove) arriving in late 2008. In spring 2010, the first dolphin born in captivity in Cayman died at nine months of age.
Questions remain regarding the legality of the dolphin exhibits, as it is not clear that all necessary permits were properly issued before the dolphins arrived in 2008.
At least one proposal to build a dolphinarium made progress in the Cayman Islands in 2006. During the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association trade show last year, NGO representatives took a field trip to the construction site. The site is at the remote end of a road, directly adjacent to a small cemetery. A backhoe was digging a hole, clearly meant to become the tank or artificial lagoon that would hold dolphins. This construction was going on even though no permits to import dolphins had yet been issued. This is a common tactic dolphinarium operators use: get the building permits first for an “attraction” and then, when several thousands of dollars have been invested (and considerable local environmental damage has been done), use this to pressure the government to issue the permits. Nevertheless, to date, we believe no permit to import has been issued. We have not heard from our colleagues on progress or lack thereof on this construction site for some months now.
Another proposal was to build a dolphinarium in conjunction with the new Boatswain’s Beach development near the Cayman Island Turtle Farm. A visit to their web site suggests no dolphins are there yet, although many of other species (including lizards, sharks, and sea turtles) are on display. The 2005 hurricane season was a rough one for Cayman and it may be that plans to build dolphinariums have been put on hold by the developers.