A UK Collection applies for Dolphins

MARK said:
Chris I hope you take this the right way as I feel what this comes down to is a "mid set", sure the collections in the UK CAN build a first class exhibit to house these animals BUT they never have, the mind set to do things "on the cheap" is a major block in building something like they have at San Diego, the doing things on the cheap has only given reasons for people who do not want captive animals in zoos like PETA and the like, WHY feed ammo to these guys buy having any animals in sub-standard exhibits and conditions. Give them the best and you will find much less can be said
Click to expand...

I agree with much that you have said but please bear in mind that we are talking of faculties constructed 35 or more years ago. Yes some were appalling; I have first hand experience of a number of them but others like Flamingo Park, Brighton Aquarium and Morecombe’s Marineland were not bad for their day and purpose built.

Brighton costs a quarter of a million pounds to build which was no small amount of money in 1972. Morecombe which was the idea of George Cansdale (formerly of London Zoo)

Obituary: George Cansdale - People, News - The Independent

and Robert Jackson (owner of The Welsh Mountain Zoo) who consulted the *Miami Seaquarium regards design. The Seaquarium actually supplied Marineland with it's first dolphins and trained the staff who looked after them.

One would hope that all zoos and aquariums would review and rebuild their animal facilities, as we understand more as the requirements of the species concerned. For example, London Zoo no longer has elephants at London but now has the herd at Whipsnade because the London elephant house was consider out of date although it was considered by some state-of-the-art when it was constructed in 1965.

*If anyone is interested there are two excellent books on the design and operation of the Seaquarium:

Craig Phillips. The Captive Sea (1964)
William B Gray. Porpoises Tales. (1964)
 
ollielloyd said:
Wow! That site has tons of great photos and floorplans that show alot about dolphins in the uk back in the day! Thanks :)

What are your views in dolphins being brought back to the UK?
Click to expand...

Thanks Ollie. As I said a work in progress but I will keep adding to it.

Dolphins back in UK? Well you first have to build any facility to the standards formulated off the back of The Review of Dolpharia by Dr Margaret Klinowska. Pools for Tursiops would have to be at least an average of 24 feet deep. This was, in fact, the reason that the remaining dolphinaria closed in the UK because they did not come up to the new standards. Ironically Morecombe nearly made the depth criteria at having a pool 18 feet.

Personally I don't think it will happen as the money involved is huge and to be honest if you want see these animals you only have to go to Holland, Germany, France or Spain. I also think the animal rights lobby in the UK has been allowed to become to powerful.

This is not helped by people within the zoo industry like Sea Life making cheap marketing ploys in having an anti-cetacean policy. To be honest my recent visit to Brighton Sealife reminded me more of MacDonald's than a public aquarium. I also appalled that they had anti-captive signage up lying to there customers that dolphin shows had been banned in the UK and how successful the Into The Blue project was; they gave the two dolphins at the aquarium to animal rights activists when they bought the aquarium. I supposed they thought that this would buy them favour but it didn't when they tried build a seal and otter pool last year. :D Muppets.
 
ollielloyd said:
I always look at dolphin captivity in 2 ways. 1 way I am against (the circus style, swim-with-flipper dolphin shows) and the other I am for (educational exhibits - Shedd, Vancouver Aquarium etc).
Click to expand...

I agree with you. Many people who setup dolphinaria in the UK were not zoo people but from the entertainment industry out to make a fast buck. The result is history. It's a great shame but there you go.
 
sealion said:
Have you read my post above? it seems it must have been the Pleasurama's London Dolphinarium.
Click to expand...

The London Dolphinarium. I pass the back of it in Soho Square quite a few times a week. Apparently some of the pool and holding area is still there.

London Dolphinarium - Oxford Street

front.jpg
 
I cannot stand the Sea-Life Parks...I actually worked there for a bit...I totally agree with the McDonalds feel. It really is embarrasing what we have here for world-class aquariums.....

Whilst the cost would be huge for a dolphin exhibit, do you now think attendance and profit for the aquarium would go through the roof and eventually cover the costs? I mean, the UK has a very large population compared to Australia for example, where they have an amazing display of dolphins, in a system that cost millions too...but with so many tourists int he UK each year, and a huge population (a large % of which only dream of seeing dolphins) I think the dolphin exhibit would be a huge profit for any facility. The size of the UK also means people from all over the country would probably go to the exhibit...I'm 30 mins south of London right now, if a dolphin exhibit opened in Manchester for example, I'd travel there to see it for sure!
 
Cat-Man said:
that is cuddles at the Flamingo Land in north yorkshire

can we see these plans?
Click to expand...

dolphinexhibit2.jpg


Here's my planned Dolphin Exhibit I designed myself Cat-Man! It's nothing too over the top, I kept it simple. I wrote a description that may help explain it a little better. FYI, The area with the thick black line around it would be indoors, in a large glass and concrete structure, for colder winter months.

Atlantic Coast Exhibit

The Atlantic Coast exhibit takes guests on a journey from the deep rocky ocean of the off-shore Atlantic, through to a coastal harbour inlet. Four pools, with a total of 1.7 million gallons of salt-water make up this expansive exhibit, which allows guests to view Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins, aswell as rehabilitating marine-mammals above and below the water, through giant acrylic viewing panels, a coastal walkway, undercover observatories, and even a boat in the exhibits harbour.

Guests enter the exhibit through a open archway, being greeted with a large dolphin fountain. Directly in front of the entrance area is the undercover dolphin-husbandry area, which houses the Deep Ocean part of the exhibit. Guests can walk down a staircase to view the dolphins playing in a large pool, filled with rockery. This pool is used for injured marine mammals, and is directly connected to the Main Pool, aswell as the medical pool. To the public, this will only be viewable below the water. Above the water (inside the dolphin husbandry area) is used by staff, and is connected to the Husbandry Centre (for food, vets etc)

The Main Pool is the largest, and presents the dolphins in a realistic coastal setting, complete with rocky outcrops, sandy inlets and flourishing plant-life surrounding the exhibit. A slide out area at the back of the pool, aswell as the front, allows guests and staff to view the dolphins up-close, semi-submerged out of the water. Daily presentations will take place within this pool, and it is connected to all 3 other pools.

The Harbour Inlet section of the exhibit is a shallow inlet, just off the Main Pool, complete with jetty, viewing deck, and a rocky shallow area, directly in front of the public walkway – allowing up-close encounters with the public. Guests can watch the dolphins being fed and conditioned here, for a more personal experience than the general presentation. A wave machine creates splashes and small 2 feet waves, giving a natural feel to the exhibit.

The Medical Pool allows staff to inspect or quarantine animals, aswell as providing a suitable area for new arrivals, or departing animals with a rising floor. The medical pool is used for stranded animals, and is directly connected with the main pool, and Deep Ocean pool, where stranded animals are rehabilitated.

The entire exhibits theme is naturalistic, and surrounded by large rocks, and plants commonly found near the coast.


& there it is :P
 
Dolphin Lagoon Harderwijk

This is some video of the baby dolphins at Harderwijk. The lagoon is outside and has biological filtration hence the algae. The dolphins from Windsor Safari Park went to Harderwijk when it closed.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
John Dineley said:
This is not helped by people within the zoo industry like Sea Life making cheap marketing ploys in having an anti-cetacean policy. To be honest my recent visit to Brighton Sealife reminded me more of MacDonald's than a public aquarium. I also appalled that they had anti-captive signage up lying to there customers that dolphin shows had been banned in the UK and how successful the Into The Blue project was; they gave the two dolphins at the aquarium to animal rights activists when they bought the aquarium. I supposed they thought that this would buy them favour but it didn't when they tried build a seal and otter pool last year. :D Muppets.
Click to expand...

Agree entirely. And it has been noted elsewhere how their 'anti-Sand-Tigers-in-captivity' stance seems to have disappeared from their literature pretty sharpish since they bought the London Aquarium; whose main attraction is... Sand Tigers.
 
The whole situation is laughable with Sea Life. They are/were owned by Merlin Entertainment. Merlin Entertainment owns numerous Dolphinariums around Europe..lol
 
How many of the Windsor Dolphins are at this facility? Are any of them the breeding animals in this footage? It's interesting to see.
 
Maguari said:
Agree entirely. And it has been noted elsewhere how their 'anti-Sand-Tigers-in-captivity' stance seems to have disappeared from their literature pretty sharpish since they bought the London Aquarium; whose main attraction is... Sand Tigers.
Click to expand...

LOL. Yes.

The Sea Life Centre was started by a guy called David Mace in Oban. If memory serves me correct he was involved in the fish farming company Golden Sea Produce. It was quite low key and basically displayed native marine life in a rather novel fashion. It is now a far cry from that as being part of a multi-million pound entertainment group funded by venture capital. They really are no better than Scotia Investments who bought out Flamingoland and Dudley Zoo in the seventies: the circus remains the same but the acts have changed ;)

Interestingly Mace is now involved with The Durrell Conservation Trust:

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust | About Durrell | The Trust | Board of Trustees | David Mace

Interestingly Mace is
 
johnstoni said:
How many of the Windsor Dolphins are at this facility? Are any of them the breeding animals in this footage? It's interesting to see.
Click to expand...

I believe they are breeding but I am not sure which females have given birth. Windsor's dolphins were breeding before they left the safari park in any event.
 
ollielloyd said:
The whole situation is laughable with Sea Life. They are/were owned by Merlin Entertainment. Merlin Entertainment owns numerous Dolphinariums around Europe..lol
Click to expand...

Yes. They own two:

http://www.gardaland.it/en/home.php

Heide-Park Resort

Merlin are actually in discussion with the rabidly anti-captive Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and The Marine Connection.

Merlin Entertainments, leading name in location based, family entertainment - Our Policy on the care of marine mammals

Marine Connection

They really are a joke as The Marine Connection was one of the group of animal rights actvists that stopped their plans for a seal and otter exhibit at Brighton. You couldn't make this up. :D

Marine Connection

One other point Sealife do not belong to either:


BIAZA Public Access

or

EAZA - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

Although their zoo at Chessington does - but it did before Merlin took over Tussuads Group.
 
Cat-Man said:
i havent either, i know orcas were kept at Windsor Safari Park, Flamingo land, Dudley Zoo And the Clacton Pier Dolphinarium, never knew that knosley had a one, knew they had dolphnis though.
Click to expand...
Orcas were also kept at Cleethorpes which was also a Scotia owned zoo.
 
John Dineley said:
British and Irish Association of Zoo & Aquariums. They do have aquaria in the membership and doing a search SeaLife London and Weymouth are members. I any event aquariums are classed as a zoological collection under the Zoo licensing Act 1981.

Defra, UK - : Wildlife Protection - Zoos - Zoo licensing act 1981
Click to expand...

yes I know Biaza can have aquaria as part of its membership, I am surprised however that any sealife centre qualifies. I had understood that the aquarium was being run as a separate entity at chessington and therefore may need to apply independently to Biaza for membership, maybe you know different....
 
johnstoni said:
yes I know Biaza can have aquaria as part of its membership, I am surprised however that any sealife centre qualifies. I had understood that the aquarium was being run as a separate entity at chessington and therefore may need to apply independently to Biaza for membership, maybe you know different....
Click to expand...

I was actually the zoo manager at Chessington until few years ago and still know people there. As far as I am aware the Sealife Centre is part of the zoo department and not separate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top