Near the town of Bruges in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, there is a park called 'Boudewijn Seapark'. It's a little park with the only dolphinarium of Belgium, sealions, common seals and some amusement attractions. The park has 9 dolphins: Flo, Linda, Milo, Puck, Roxanne, Yotta, Indy, Mateo & Ocean. Some impressions: Dolphinarium (quit big):
Sure.... (from boudewijnpark itself) by the way, there is a new decor in the Dolphinshow now (was there last weekend )
This is also one of the birds there, a Yellow-billed stork. I haven"t seen them before i camed to Boudewijnpark By the way, i find the sealdemonstration a little bit boring in most zoo's, but in Boudewijnpark they jump realy out of the water. I had seen that only with sealions, sow it was pretty amazing And ofcourse, the delphins can jump also More pictures of boudewijnpark? Picasa-webalbums - Gorilla Gust - Boudewijnpark...
During the Dolphin-show today, an accident happened. A ball was thrown to the dolphin which hit it with its tailfin ( all part of the show ) but the ball hit a metal tube near the roof and this falled down. 3 childeren and an teacher got hurt by this accident. The show was stopped directly and the Delphinarium evacuated.
Last week a Bottle-nosed dolphin was born at Boudewijn Seapark but at the beginning of this week the young died. The mother of the calf, Roxanne had for 3 years a miscariage of twins, a very rare event in dolphins.
Boudewijn Seapark has become Belgiums first and only Porpoise rescue station. However, a first specimen which was found on the beach near Bredene and send to Boudewijn Seapark for first aid, was send to a Dutch centre because there was more place. The animal was however so badly wounded that it died there shortly after arrival .
It is commendable they get in on the act. There is a definite need for a string of rescue and rehab centers for North Sea mammals along the entire coastline, so Belgium included. Second: on the eventual and - admittedly deplorable - demise of the porpoise in a Dutch rehab center. The species is notoriously difficult in husbandry and requires 24/7 specialist care, so really a feat then to get rescued porpoises back to good health. Again, the more centers and expertise in care and rescue the better.
Flemish Minister for Animal Welfare Ben Weyts (of the N-VA party) has stated in a current issues and politics talk show on national television that he wants to see the keeping of cetaceans - in casu bottlenose dolphins - end in Flanders. Currently there is only one facility keeping captive dolphins left in Flanders (and in fact in all of Belgium), the Boudewijn Seapark in Bruges. Ben Weyts has said he would like to open the debate on cetaceans in captivity and favors a phase-out scenario for the dolphin keeping, husbandry and shows at that facility, meaning that no new animals can be bred or imported anymore. Minister Weyts wil dolfinaria op termijn zien verdwijnen: "Kunnen we dit behouden, enkel voor ons plezier?" Minister Ben Weyts wil houden van dolfijnen in gevangenschap verbieden: einde voor Brugs Dolfinarium? Now I know very well that cetacean captivity is one very stinky can of worms and always a source of controversy, but I'm honestly wondering why the minister is now coming with these statements. I think he's either getting influenced by the animal rights crowd a bit too much, or he is trying to score some brownie points before the upcoming 26th of May elections and this is just some political rhetoric. In any case it surely seems opportunistically timed, which undermines the credibility of this guy and his statements. Notice that many of the arguments used by Ben Weyts - "large, intelligent, stress-sensitive animals that need lots of space" could also easily apply to a variety of other species (elephants, apes and so on) and that those kinds of arguments are very commonly used by the detractors of zoos. So I find it at least somewhat worrisome that a minister of animal welfare is talking this way - because, what could be the next step? Where is this going to end regarding zoos? I myself have mixed feelings about the keeping of cetaceans in captivity and I think the facilities at Boudewijn Seapark are probably fairly outdated, but I would prefer for the debate to be opened honestly and with an open mind, hearing experts and all kinds of different parties, before coming to an informed decision on this matter. Right now it seems like the minister has already made up his mind about what the outcome of the debate ought to be and what he would like to decide.
The park has introduced a new more educational show by now, which also has been adopted by there sisterpark in the Netherland (Dolfinarium Harderwijk). More investments into the park in Bruges are on hold, as the park wants political-guarantees about the matter. At this moment they only invest into the playground/ amusementspark and the necessary updates for the animals. Ironicly the planned outdoors-tank for the delphins is on hold due to the commotion Minister Weyts (animal welfare) has made.
Well, I am not sure about it. Do not cetaceans require much, much more space than any terrestrial animal? (and they are aquatic - to build "big-enough" paddock for elephants or chimpanzees is surely possible or easier than to build comparable place for killer whales or dolphins) I am not sayin that I am against keeping them in captivity is bad (on the other hand, as I said, I don´t know), just sayin that other animals (maybe excluding large sharks, in some senses) are totally different category...
Next year the dolfinarium will be discussed by the Flemish council for animal welfare. Minister Wetys still wants to fade out the dolfinarium in the next years. He repeated this during the latest committee-meeting. He claims to consult with sceintists and all involved parties. To be continued...
