Dubai: Twenty-eight wild dolphins from the South Pacific that were flown to the UAE this week are slowly acclimatising to their new three-metre-deep indoor-pool habitat, as part of a five star hotel's environment-awareness progamme.
The Palm Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah bought the dolphins from the Solomon Islands where they were captured from the wild and kept in captivity a few months before being sent to the Middle East to inhabit the hotel's Dolphin Bay facility.
Frank Murru, chief marine officer from Kerzner International, the parent company of Atlantis Hotel said captive bred dolphins were favoured for the hotel but as there are none available at this time, it was not possible. "Bottlenose dolphins are not an endangered species so it is not a problem. They will get good healthcare and good food. They were caught in the Solomon islands quite a few months ago before being moved," said Murru.
Interaction
As the hotel is not due to open for another year, the dolphins are currently being acclimatised to humans and trained to be able to interact with hotel guests and visitors.
The dolphins are being kept in seven large covered pools to protect them from sandstorms with between four and five dolphins in each three metre deep pool. No photographers were allowed to visit the facility.
"We are keeping them in their own social groups the way they would group together when they are in large numbers. Ninety-nine percent of the time they are interacting with each other," said Murru.
He confirmed the dolphins would not be involved in any shows but rather brought out into larger outdoor ocean-type habitats to interact with small groups of visitors.
