Environmentalists scored one of their most powerful victories in Bahamian legal history today when a Supreme Court judge ordered a tourist attraction to undo work on Crown Land done without proper procedure or permits and to be prepared to return eight penned dolphins now contained in an area that has been described as “inhumane.”
The 21-page ruling by Justice Stephen G. Isaacs in a case brought by reEarth and represented by the legal team of Save The Bays, the fast-growing people’s environmental movement, ran the gamut from restraining the Town Planning Committee from issuing site plan approvals without public consultation to quashing Prime Minister Perry Christie’s decision “to allow Blue illusions to carry out the construction of the facility on Crown Land without site plan approval and to operate a captive marine mammal facility without a premises license as required under the Marine Mammal Act.”
At the heart of the ruling is a controversial island day-visit development on Balmoral Island, re-named Blackbeard’s Cay, off the coastline across from Sandals in Cable Beach. Developer St. Maarten businessman Samir Andrawos first attracted the attention of local businesspeople up in arms about a cruise ship diverting Nassau passengers directly to the island without visiting historic downtown. That business concern was quickly overtaken by environmental fears expressed by animal rights groups including the Bahamas Humane Society and reEarth.
ReEarth director Sam Duncombe said today she was “thrilled” over the decision, though the defendants have six weeks to appeal before dolphins are moved.
Justice Isaacs noted that Duncombe and reEarth had collected 64,631 signatures in a petition to stop the development and had submitted a letter more than one year ago to the Minister (of Agriculture and Marine Resources) co-signed by seven local and 33 international conservation groups raising concern over the dolphin facility and the “fact that the government had not made public its intention to provide preliminary approval for it.”
“We knew nothing about it until we saw an article in the paper about a new dolphin facility at Blackbeard’s Cay,” said Duncombe. ”We wrote letter after letter, went to see various (Cabinet) ministers. They all said they would look into it. But nothing happened.” When Duncombe, accompanied by Kim Aranha, president of the Bahamas Humane Society, and Save The Bays went out by boat to inspect the area where dolphins were being kept, they were shocked at what they found.
“The conditions were inhumane,” said Duncombe. “There were eight dolphins in an area way too small. There was no shade. There were no gates separating a sick dolphin from the others, no quarantine place, no maternity area. They are in very shallow water. The depth of the pens should be 10 feet at low tide, when we measured, they are in 6’9 at high tide. These are animals that swim 50 miles a day, dive down 30 feet for shade. They live in tight family groups, they actually have names and make lifelong bonds, they recognize themselves in the mirror. What happens to them in captivity strips them of all their cultural knowledge making it difficult for them to survive in the wild.” The conditions, she said, violated the Marine Mammals Act.
For Duncombe and reEarth, the battle over penned dolphins dates back to 1990 when the first dolphins were brought to The Bahamas. Today’s victory, says the Bahamian director, is the first step in sending a message that The Bahamas will not stand for animal cruelty.
“This is an issue we have been fighting for 24 years and it was amazing to have this team working with us. They were so well-prepared, so on point, they were just fabulous and we are very grateful to Save The Bays for supporting reEarth,” said Duncombe.
The judge’s ruling hit out at far more than the dolphin issue, though he noted the attention the penned animals had brought to it. He cited all respondents – the Prime Minister in his capacity as responsible for Crown Lands, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources V. Alfred Gray, Michael Braynen, Director of Fisheries and Marine Resources, the Town Planning Committee and Blue Illusions Limited for violating rules of law, rushing through conditional approvals, breaching statutory duties and ignoring numerous pleas for information which he said appeared to “have fallen on deaf ears.”
According to lead attorney for Save The Bays Fred Smith, QC, Callenders Grand Bahama Managing Partner, the decision was important because of the anti-secrecy message it will send.
“Save The Bays has been lobbying for a Freedom of Information act and transparent government,” Smith said. “Until our governments do the people’s business in the open with the people’s knowledge and ability to contribute, we will not be a true democracy and we will continue to be surprised by developments that have been planned for us even if we do not want them in our own backyard. This decision is significant because it addresses the need to
By Boat - reEarth director, Sam Duncombe (left) & Kim Aranha (right), president of the Bahamas Humane Society inspect the area of Blackbeard’s Cay where dolphins were being kept. Environmentalists scored one of their most powerful victories in Bahamian legal history today when a Supreme Court judge ordered a tourist attraction to undo work on Crown Land done without proper procedure or permits and to be prepared to return eight penned dolphins now contained in an area that has been described as “inhumane.”
Freed Dolphins - Dolphins similar to these have been saved from inhumane treatment after a 24-year battle culminated in a major victory today in a Supreme Court ruling in a lawsuit brought by reEarth and handled by Save The Bays dealing with numerous issues surrounding the development of tourist attraction Blackbeard’s Cay, including a dolphin facility that reEarth director Sam Duncombe said violated terms of the Marine Mammals Act. The court agreed and cited officials for lack of public consultation and other violations.
