EcoLur
The opening of a dolphinarium in Yerevan and public protest demonstration took place almost simultaneously and in the same place: in Garden after Komitas on 24 December. (See photos)
The city authorities honored the opening with their presence, Chief Archtect Samvel Danielyan and Environmental Head Department Avet Martirosyan, Chief Dendrologist Suren Maksapetyan etc, those people who didn’t dare to take responsibility to stop this illegal project.
The orchestra was playing, people were shouting “freedom to dolphins”, while people couldn’t realize what was going on. “We have a grand occasion here, but you are making noise and don’t allow us to enjoy it,” said a woman with a baby. When she was asked how she would feel if she was locked in a small cage, if they were not given any opportunity to have a rest and made them work the whole day in the guise of games, she confidently said: “It’s much better in the cage where you are fed and taken care of than in freedom.” Here is our psychology.
Any conditions where dolphins could have felt better are excluded. No natural conditions like locks. While artificial conditions are set up in a rough-and-ready fashion, and more importantly, in a rough-and-cheap manner. All six animals, 4 dolphins and 2 sea lions, will live in a small swimming pool with a depth of 5 meters. They have no individual open-air cage, and if one gets sick, this animal will have to stay will others, or it will just be killed. The question how long they will survive is from the sphere of realities, while the question who is responsible for all this is from the sphere of unrealities.
CRIMINAL DOLPHINARIUM
Lragir.am
On December 24, at 15:00, the opening ceremony of the Yerevan Dolphinarium will be held. Despite alarms by many environmentalists and ordinary citizens, nevertheless, it was build and is ready for opening.
In this connection, a press conference was held today with the participation of a number of NGOs engaged in nature protection.
As Elsik Ayvazyan noted, Dolphins swim 100 km a day, while the length of the Dolphinarium is 18 meters. The minimum deepness should be 20 meters while it is only 5. As Hrayr Ayvazyan says, every time dolphins will hit their noses up to the floor.
In order to entertain people, dolphins need to swim, so the water should be sky-blue for this much chlorine should be used which harms dolphins’ eyes and they become blind in 6 months. Studies evidence that in restricted areas, dolphins always have very bad headaches because their brains always send signals to detect fish, stones, food and dangers. In such areas, those signals always come back from walls causing pain.
Keeping dolphins in restricted areas is dangerous both for the dolphins and people.
Silva Adamyan, head of the Bird lovers’ center, noted that they sent letters to the Yerevan Municipality - Gagik Beglaryan and Taron Margaryan twice, but they got no answer. They sent other three letters to the Ministry of Nature Protection and got only one answer running that no one had turned to them in connection with the construction of the dolphinarium.
Head of the Ecodar NGO Hrayr Savzyan noted that they are preparing a court claim, and today, a protest action is going to be organized in front of the dolphinarium.
P.S. As the speakers noted recently many dolphinariums have been closed in the Great Britain, Brazil, Costa Rica and the U.S. In Croatia, the power forbade the exploitation of an already built dolphinarium.
As for the Company engaged in the construction, as the environmentalists noted, it received several refusals in many countries to build a dolphinarium, and in Ukraine, it is currently investigated charged with illegal activities.
December 24, 2010