A number of representatives of civil society oppose the opening of the dolphinarium in Chisinau because, according to them, those aquariums represent a real jail for dolphins. Also, the conditions in which the mammals are held reduce the length of their life and affect their health. In a news conference at IPN, a number of activists said they will mount a protest on May 27, when the first dolphinarium in Moldova is to be opened in Chisinau. They also signed an online petition by which they ask the Government to ban dolphinariums in Moldova.
Head of the NGO “Human society” Karl Luganov said the protest will take place near the Athletics Arena, where the dolphinarium was built up, starting at 1pm. The protest will involve defenders of animal rights and other representatives of civil society.
Karl Luganov noted that all those who want can sign a petition on the organization’s Facebook page, addressed to the Government and the Ministry of Environment. By this they request to ban the dolphinariums in the country. In the EU states, the number of dolphinariums has decreased. Laws are introduced there to ban the construction of these.
According to Karl Luganov, the mammals in the dolphinarium in Chisinau were brought not from Odessa, as the pool’s administrator asserted, but from Japan. The aquariums for dolphins are just a business for some. The mammals in dolphinarium are in a permanent state of hunger and are fed only after they do particular tricks. Moreover, the dolphins are fed on frozen fish, but when they are free they eat only living fish.
Chairman of the “Eco-TIRAS” International Environmental Association of River Keepers Ilya Trombitski said the conditions in which these marine mammals are held now are noxious and considerably decrease the length of their life. The dolphins must live in the sea, at a depth of at least 200 meters, while the depth of the dolphinarium in Chisinau is at most two meters. Also, the chemical substances used to disinfect the aquariums affect the dolphins’ health.
Biologist and independent expert Corneliu Busuioc said the conditions in which the dolphins are transported from Japonica to dolphinariums are inhuman, while the containers in which these are taken are too small and contain not enough water.
The first dolphinarium in Moldova will be opened in the afternoon of May 27. The dolphinarium’s administrator told a news conference that initially the visitors will be able to admire four dolphins and two seals brought from the Ukrainian dolphinarium “Nemo Odessa”.
