The International Marine Mammal Project signed onto a letter aimed at stopping the construction of a new captive dolphin facility in the city of Gulfport, Mississippi.
Gulfport is already host to one notorious facility: the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, run by Moby Solangi, a person famous for his unacceptable treatment of cetaceans over the years. The last thing the city needs is yet another dolphin prison, but this is exactly what city planners are hoping to get as they aim to include dolphin tanks within the Mississippi Aquarium, which broke ground recently.
The letter was signed by 19 organizations, including In Defense of Animals and PETA, and was sent to the Mayor of Gulfport Billy Hewes and the Chairperson of the Gulfport Redevelopment Commission Carole Lynn Meadows. It urges these decision makers to simply leave out the dolphin prison component of the aquarium, and points out that any investment into cetacean entertainment is risky, given how poorly SeaWorld is doing, in terms of their attendance and profits; plus the onset of many anti-cetacean captivity laws being recently established – including Vancouver and France’s bans on captivity in the last couple of months alone.
These officials need to hear from you! Please call and email the people below and tell them, politely, to reconsider including dolphins in their new aquarium!
- Carole Lynn Meadows, Chairperson, Gulfport Redevelopment Commission: carole.meadows@mgccc.edu
- Mayor Billy Hews: mayorsoffice@gulfport-ms.gov
(228) 868-5700 (ask to speak with Mayor’s office)
- Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant: (601) 359-3150
Photo credit Steven Straiton / Flickr.
