After a long dispute with animal organizations, fines and legal proceedings, Greece’s main zoo announced on Wednesday, January 22 that it would send its five captive dolphins to a Florida aquarium in the United States, a move that sparked a new controversy and triggered a global outcry.
The Attica Zoological Park, a few kilometers outside Athens, refuted allegations that the animals were being sold to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, where they are expected to be transferred by May 2025. It further said it has decided to never again host dolphins in its facilities.
“It’s not easy to keep dolphins,” Jean-Jaques Lesueur, the founder of the park told Mega TV.
For years, animal rights groups had accused the park not only of holding the dolphins in sorrowful conditions but also of holding dolphin performance shows, contrary to Greek law. Jean-Jaques Lesueur, the founder of the park, insisted on Wednesday that the dolphins were “part of educational programs,” which had not been held in the last two and a half years.
In a statement, the park said that the specific U.S.-based aquarium was chosen at the suggestion of EAZA’s (the world’s largest regional zoo and aquarium organization of which the Attica Zoological Park is a member) director for the species, who along with a scientific committee “were the sole people responsible for the selection” of the transfer location.
The statement adds that the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida “is one of the 30 marine parks and aquariums in the United States certified by A.M.M.P.A. (Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums), “known for its progressive approach to the well-being of animals.”
The Florida aquarium seems no less controversial for Greece’s dolphins
“Clearwater Marine Aquarium isn’t a dolphin sanctuary other than in name,” Ric O’ Barry, a former dolphin trainer turned activist, and founder of the Dolphin Project, a non-profit dedicated to the protection of dolphins, told Animals 24-7 via email. “It’s a huge concrete building with concrete and glass holding tanks inside the belly of the facility,” dominated by a souvenir store and a restaurant.
Two years ago, according to animal activists and reports in local media, four of nine bottlenose dolphins died at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which originally was the water treatment plant for the city of Clearwater, within 16 months. The four dolphin deaths followed the 2021 completion of the $80 million Ruth J. & O. Stone Dolphin Complex, tripling the aquarium dolphin habitat, which can now hold up to 20 dolphins. There are currently five dolphins at the facility.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium chief zoological officer James Powell told the local ABC news affiliate “We need additional animals there with our current animals to provide the social makeup that you would typically see in a wild population. So that’s kind of driving this.”
Powell explained that the aquarium would not be “buying” the Attica Zoo dolphins but would be paying their relocation expenses.
“We’re trying to do the right thing here in terms of providing these animals a forever home,” insisted Powell. “This potentially is a very positive situation. We want to provide the best care that we can. We’re a science-based research conservation base.”
O’ Barry, along with many other animal activists and organizations, dismisses those claims, suggesting “a much more humane alternative would be to take the dolphins directly to the Greek island of Lipsi or Crete,” a maximum distance of under 200 miles, “where they can live out the rest of their lives in peace and dignity.”
Attica Park’s Lesueur says that the Lipsi sanctuary is neither ready nor scientifically equipped to host the park’s dolphins, which Anastasia Miliou, the scientific director of Archipelagos Institute responsible for the sanctuary project, speaking to Greek Reporter, denies. “The sanctuary is almost ready. The only remaining issue is the government permit.”
A unique, model sanctuary for marine animals, including dolphins, has been built on the island of Lipsi with private funds, fully equipped with a scientific team and equipment. It has attracted worldwide attention by environmental and conservation organizations, as well as foreign governments.
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium has applied for a federal permit to import the dolphins from Greece. The application was submitted last month to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and is open to public comment until February 3, 2025.
O’ Barry, along with other animal rights groups have launched an international appeal urging “everyone to immediately voice opposition to this transfer,” with more campaigns on the way.
