For the last four months, eight dolphins displaced by Hurricane Katrina have been living in tiny pools set up by U.S. Navy biologists at the a naval base in Gulfport, Miss.
The captive dolphins washed out into the Gulf of Mexico when Hurricane Katrina destroyed their Marine Life Oceanarium home.
For 10 days after the hurricane, trainers, local deputies and federal officers tracked and then rescued the wayward group.
Since then, they have been living in cramped quarters, but soon they will be moving to another country.
The dolphins are headed to open-air tidal pools in the Bahamas at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island.
“It’s just a fact, they need more space than this and sunshine and fresh air,” said Teri Corbett, a dolphin trainer.
It would sound like a perfect ending to an incredible adventure for the dolphins, but not everyone is pleased with the idea of the dolphins going to the Bahamas.
“It was a remarkable feat to see these animals in the wild and they could have swum to the Bahamas, but they didn’t. They came to Gulfport. They stayed in Gulfport. They came to their trainers and that’s where they should stay,” said Dr. Moby Solangi, of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies.
Solangi wants to rebuild the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, which housed 17 dolphins before Katrina. Nine of the dolphins were evacuated before the storm hit, while the group of eight was swept to sea.
Solangi owns a small stake in the group, but the majority owner has worked out an undisclosed financial deal with Atlantis to move all 17 dolphins to the Bahamas.
“As far as we’re concerned, they’re moving to the finest facility we can build and it’s home for them,” said Frank Murru, chief marine officer at the Atlantis Resort.
The dolphins’ permanent home, a dolphin park, is still under construction. Eventually, visitors will be allowed to interact with the animals.
Solangi said losing the dolphins is just one more Katrina loss. Without them, the Oceanarium may not be able to rebuild.
“Once they leave the country, they go to a casino resort. They’re not coming back,” Solangi said.
Solangi filed a lawsuit, but the National Marine Fisheries, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have given the go ahead for the move.
A cargo plane and a team of 150 people will be involved in the airlift.
Source: NBC6.net
