NGOs demand closure of Mediterraneo Marine Park, call on authorities to fine owners

NGOs have reiterated calls for the closure of Mediterraneo Marine Park and have called on Maltese authorities to fine the owners of the park negligence and abuse of dolphins.

Moviment Graffitti, Animal Liberation Malta, Association for Abandoned Animals (AAA), Island Sanctuary, Animal Protectors Malta, Nature Trust Malta, Real Animal Rights Foundation (RAR), Extinction Rebellion Malta, Animal Guardians Malta, CSAF, Dolphin Project, Marine Connection UK, MSPCA, Noah’s Ark Sanctuary, Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar and BICREF are collaborating to demand that the zoo licence of Mediterraneo Marine Park is revoked and ultimately, the park closed.

During a joint press conference in front of the Veterinary and Phytosanitary Regulation Division in Marsa on Saturday, the NGOs called for the zoo licence of Mediterraneo Marine Park to be revoked.

Claria Cutajar from Moviment Graffiti said that after the death of the dolphins uncovered the “cruelty and the negligence” that the animals endure, no action was taken by the authorities against the park.

“The dolphins are in captivity at a so-called zoo and are made to perform at a circus show, whilst Mediterraneo profits from their misery. VRD minimised the deaths to a simple incident, and allowed the park to continue operating even though they kept their deaths under the wraps,” Cutajar said.

Animal Liberation Malta had accused Mediterraneo of covering up the death of three dolphins in the span of a month. Working alongside two international dolphin and whale organisations; UK based Marine Connection and US based Dolphin Project, ALM revealed that the deaths occurred between August and September 2021.

A formal inquiry by the Office of the Commissioner for Animal Welfare (CAW) over the Veterinary Regulations Directorate’s (VRD) handling of three dolphins’ death determined that the case should have been handled with more scrutiny and attention.

The investigation concluded that VRD conducted “a cursory and fleeting investigation”, and did so only after being pushed by the animal welfare commissioner.

“The situation of the animals in this shameful park is worrisome. Repercussion should be considered by the authorities for the park’s negligence and we are asking VRD and Parliamentary Secretary Alicia Bugeja Said to intervene immediately.”

Graffitti called for the zoo’s licence for Mediterraneo Park to be revoked, for the zoo to be closed and for the park owners to be fined for breaking the law, in relation to the captivity of wild animals.

The NGO encouraged Maltese authorities to follow the action taken by Greek authorities, who had revoked the operating licence for dolphin shows at the Attica Zoological Park.

“Every ticket purchased for these shows is another reason for the park to keep operating and for breeding and abuse of dolphins to proceed,” Cutajar said. “Mediterraneo only cares about its financial interests, whilst animals are dying. This needs to stop.”

Animal Liberation Malta had revealed that three dolphins had died between August and September 2021 at Mediterraneo Marine Park (Photo: Moviment Graffitti)

Katya Borg from ALM said that the park’s negligence cost the lives of three dolphins but the VRD’s statement said that it was “just an unfortunate incident”.

Borg said that Chapter 439 of the Animal Welfare Act defines a “circus” as a “place where animals are introduced for the purpose of performance, manoeuvres and shows or otherwise and shall include any place where animals used in such circuses are kept or trained”.

She argued that since animal circuses had been prohibited in Malta, the dolphin shows at the park went against those rules.

Borg questioned whether there was any educational value for children that were taken to these shows. “What message are we delivering to the children? Is any of the dolphins’ behaviour in these shows natural? Their natural behaviour is to hunt and play with algae. Is this reflected at Mediterraneo?”

"We believe that when children are taken to such places the message conveyed is that there is nothing wrong in stealing a wild animal from its habitat, separating the animal from his family to be exploited for money and entertainment. Furthermore when children see a dolphin throwing kisses to the audience and perform other unnatural behaviors only serves to desensitize them by alluding them that we humans have a right to dominate and force animals to do what we please."

She added that dolphins were made to perform or else they wouldn’t be fed and that ever since the park was opened, 11 dolphins had died, according to NGO Ceta-Base.

Borg said that an inquiry conducted by Born Free Foundation in 2011 had found that the dolphins exhibited worrisome behaviour, and that PETA UK had declared Mediterraneo to be one of the cruelest animal parks, due to the small pools and abrasions on the dolphins.

Mediterraneo denies mistreatment and says deaths were a ‘pure accident’

In reaction, Mediterraneo said that the deaths of the dolphins was not a result of mistreatment but a “pure accident”.

“As confirmed by the authorities that investigated the case, this was a pure accident. After 25 years in operation, we had one incident where an external diver cleaning the pools used strictly-forbidden lead weights, which intoxicated the water. This was a huge tragedy for the park.”

Mediterraneo said that all five dolphins at the park are well-fed, given top veterinary treatment and never mistreated.

“Food deprivation and other forms of cruel training are totally banned and this is a highly regulated sector, which means our process is regularly monitored.”

It said that the practice of capturing of dolphins from the wild was totally banned in Europe and that the park only source dolphins through breeding or by taking one from another European park through an exchange programme.

The park said that their efforts helped save three dolphins who despite being also poisoned were able to survive and be nursed back to optimum health.

“We cooperated with the authorities from day one and have always been true to our legal obligations and willing to improve our processes.”

It said that out of the current five dolphins at the park, four were born there. It emphasised that the dolphins were not used to living in the wild and that they would be condemned to a great disadvantage when it comes to finding food or reproducing.  Mediterraneo said that the dolphins would be condemned to attacks by other dolphins and solitude.

“We understand that there are many people who believe all animals should live in the world with barely any human contact. But the reality is that human actions have for centuries impacted natural habitats to the point that some seas pose an actual danger to dolphins. Our work helps to raise awareness about these magnificent creatures and educate even young children on how best to care for and protect dolphins.”