UAE | Environment
Gulf News campaign makes global headlines
The International Herald Tribune picked up the Gulf News Free Sammy campaign from the wire agency Associated Press
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:53 October 10, 2008
- Image Credit: Sriram ChandraSekaran
- A motorist joins the campaign by sticking Free Sammy the Shark sticker to the windshield of his vehicle in Dubai.
Dubai: The International Herald Tribune picked up the Gulf News Free Sammy campaign from the wire agency Associated Press. This is the report:
Environmentalists on Thursday called on the managers of a massive new marine-themed resort in this Gulf boomtown to release a whale shark they are holding inside a giant fish tank.
The 13-foot long female whale shark wandered into the shallow waters off Dubai's Gulf coast in August. A week later, representatives of the recently opened $1.5 billion Atlantis hotel announced that the resort's marine biologists and veterinarians had rescued the whale shark and transported it to an open-air aquarium with 65,000 fish, stingrays and other sea creatures.
But environmentalists and wildlife activists in Dubai say the whale shark has become the hotel's hostage and needs to be release back into the wild. Representatives of Atlantis resort did not return calls to the AP on Thursday.
The Dubai-based English language newspaper, Gulf News, has called the confinement of the whale shark "cruel, beyond belief."
The paper has nicknamed the whale shark Sammy and has asked its readers to join a "Free Sammy the Shark" campaign by downloading an image of the creature and wearing it as a badge.
More from UAE Environment
More from UAE
Latest news
- Bridges needed
- Sharjah festival to enlighten heritage lovers
- Reimbursement of ID card fines to start in March
- Last chance for subscribers to win big
- Gang charged with robbery using air-freshener
- it was just a ‘vampire' game, driver tells court
- Restaurateur in Abu Dhabi found dead in flat
- Dubai Police solve murder mystery
- Educating fussy Emirati jobseekers
- 9 injured as paraglider crashes into stadium
- Abu Dhabi Police rescue victims of car crash
- Compensation to vary for fire victims
- Police honour residents who reported crime
- Move to promote Abu Dhabi tourism
- RTA: 0.25m YouTube, Facebook, Twitter followers
Community Reports
-
Bridges needed
Al Ittihad Road has no pedestrian facilities as one nears Sharjah
-
Street lights needed
Authorities urged to act with haste before a major accident occurs in Al Nahda, Dubai
-
Motorists ignore stop sign on buses
Overtaking school vehicles can put students' lives at risk
-
Safety regulations flouted at Dubai work place
In Al Nahda 2, two workers were seen working on the crane boom at a height of 20m without a full body harness or safety net in violation of rules
