GEORGE TOWN: Building a marine theme park and possibly a dolphinarium in Pulau Jerejak may invite disapproval on a global scale for Penang’s tourism development, said a marine expert.
“Except for research purposes, it is not a good move to keep dolphins in tanks and teach them tricks for public amusement.
“Many animal rights groups worldwide are against this,” said Universiti Sains Malaysia marine biologist Assoc Prof Dr Aileen Tan.
Also, marine theme parks have been labelled as a form of animal abuse by environmental groups worldwide and many people were being put off by such attractions.
It was learnt that a company that owns the only development land on the island has been exploring the possibility of setting up such a park after state investment arm Penang Development Corporation (PDC) divests its stake in the company.
A source familiar with Penang’s tourism development plans revealed that the company hoped to build a combined public aquarium and amusement park.
Planning for this began in 2013 by a property developer who recently paid a 10% deposit to buy PDC’s 49% share in Tropical Island Resort Sdn Bhd (TIRSB).
TIRSB has a 60-year lease on the only piece of development land in Pulau Jerejak.
With PDC’s divestment of the shares for RM156mil, Ideal Property Group will develop a 32ha tract with UDA Holdings which is the majority partner.
Pulau Jerejak has been a quarantine centre for migrants, leper colony, tuberculosis treatment centre, penal colony, British political detention camp, contagious diseases site, drug rehabilitation centre and a prison for hardcore criminals.
The source said that between 2003 and 2005, another group studied the possibility of having a marine theme park there, but the idea was shelved as Pulau Jerejak was too hilly for development without major hill-cutting work while the sea around it was too polluted.
Dr Tan agreed with the pollution problem, saying that the industrial and urban discharge from Penang Island contained too much toxins.
“There have been spikes in the amounts of heavy metal effluents in the sea around Bayan Lepas in the past,” she said, adding that salinity levels of the seawater in the area “may not be at full strength”.
She explained that the salinity would be vital for the welfare of any marine creatures exhibited at the theme park if it was built.
The intrinsic quality of the seawater in that area was brackish because there were several rivers flowing into the sea there.
The People for Ethical Treatment of Animals group, via its website, is calling on the public to avoid visiting places that keep marine animals in captivity.
It is also asking people to get their governments to stop using taxpayers’ money to subsidise such facilities.
According to Britain’s Whale and Dolphin Conservation group, a survey in May showed that 50% of Americans interviewed were against the practice of confining killer whales (orcas) in marine parks while 86% of British respondents said they would avoid marine parks.
In contrast, according to the NGO’s captivity campaign manager Cathy Williamson, the marine park business was growing exponentially in other parts of the world.
“In the last 10 years, we’ve seen around 50 aquaria opening up that have captive belugas and bottlenose dolphins, and they are looking at orcas as well.
“So, while we’re making progress in one part of the world, things are not going so well in other places,” she was quoted as saying.
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