Dubai: Laws surrounding the legality of the captured whale shark are unclear as different authorities are shifting responsibility to each other.
Environmentalists however are unanimous on the subject - the juvenile female animal placed in the aquarium at Atlantis on The Palm Jumeirah one month ago should be released.
The Environment Agency of Abu Dhabi referred Gulf News' enquiries to the Convention on International Trade for Endangered Species (CITES), whilst the Ministry of Environment and Water said such permits should be granted by the Dubai Municipality."We are investigating the situation, the facts are not clear," said Mohammad Abdul Rahman Hassan, head of the marine environment and sanctuaries unit at Dubai Municipality.
Atlantis hotel has still not commented.
An environmental adviser from the Ministry of Environment and Water, Sa'ad Al Numairy, speaking at a sustainable development conference on Wednesday, highlighted the role of the Ministry citing federal law 23 of the year 1999 to protect the exploitation of marine species, however declined to comment regarding Sammy the whale shark.
According to CITES, permission is needed to keep animals such as whale sharks.
The Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS-WWF) issued a statement to Gulf News saying the whale shark should be released back into the wild as quickly as possible.
Question of feeding
"Placing a whale shark in an unnatural environment where it is unable to feed in its normal patterns and has a limited area in which to move can have deadly consequences as has been the case with whale sharks in captivity in other countries," the statement reads.
"According to the Atlantis, the whale shark is there for medical care and observation and will be released. EWS-WWF recommends that the management of Atlantis consider their rationale for keeping the creature longer than necessary, and release it back into its natural habitat without delay ... national regulations, however, are encouraged until international co-operation is in place."
Rita Bento, a marine biologist from the Emirates Diving Association, expressed concern at how the whale shark, which is a filter feeder that eats minuscule zooplankton, is being fed in the hotel aquarium.
"The fact it is also a female is quite a worry," said Bento. "Keeping a female in captivity is reducing the chances of her procreating and increasing the population. So little is known about these animals that a fully-fledged research centre would be more beneficial," she added.
Saif Al Ghais, Director of the Environmental Protection and Development Authority, said the whale shark should be released before it is found dead in the aquarium. "They swim long distances and are migratory fish. Keeping it the tank is going to be quite tricky, they do not do well in captivity," he told Gulf News.
Protection of threatened species
The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) red list of threatened species, listed as vulnerable.
This does in fact indicate that the whale shark is a threatened species said Emirates Wildlife Society, EWS-WWF:
"Whale sharks may live up to 100 years in the wild and are highly migratory, traversing thousands of kilometres to different feeding grounds, encompassing the waters of several countries. This makes regulation at the national level limited in its conservation impact, emphasising the need for international co-operation in the protection and sustainable management of this species."
Cruel beyond belief, readers say
Sanya Nayeem and Mohammad Jihad, Gulf news 9 Oct 08;
Dubai: When it stumbled into the shallow waters off Atlantis hotel, little did "Sammy the Shark" know that trespassing would land it into a glass-walled cage. But is it time for amnesty?
Gulf News readers think so. They demand so. Each of them who spoke to the newspaper said the same thing: "Free Sammy!"
Residents around the UAE are pressurising Atlantis hotel to release the whale shark from the aquarium in which it was placed recently.
Originally held back for medical care and observation, Sammy is now undergoing 24-hour monitoring by the hotel authorities, to gather data on swim patterns, feeding and behaviour.
However, such news did not go down well with most Gulf News readers.
Michele Al Khatib, an active diver and Sharjah resident, said in her Web post on www.gulfnews.com that the hotel's objectives seemed contradictory.
She said: "The whale shark is being kept in an artificial tank, so what data could be gathered on swim patterns and feeding behaviour?"
Phil, a Dubai resident, wrote in with a similar reservation. He said the behaviour of "such gentle creatures" could not be ascertained "if they are not monitored in their natural habitat".
Cathy Pickering, a Gulf News reader said: "To keep such a giant creature in a tank is cruel beyond belief."
According to Pickering, no amount of ready food supply or medical care can replace "the open waters of its natural habitat".
The fact that the whale shark is listed under "vulnerable" species by the World Conservation Union, adds to the urgent need for Sammy to be returned to the ocean.
For Gulf News reader Adel Khatib, the co-owner of Arabian Diver, a scuba diving and sailing excursions organisation based in Ras Al Khaimah, the issue was clear-cut.
He said: "Unlike domestic pets, whale sharks cannot be conditioned to remain in such an artificial environment." As a regular diver, he added he was against keeping marine animals in captivity for longer than necessary.
With petitions springing up on social networking Web sites such as Facebook, residents around the UAE are joining the protest against the continued captivity of Sammy the Shark.
Chindhu Ravindran, an Indian expatriate, said he would join such petitions if it would help ensure the freedom of innocent animals.
Growing awareness
Two community groups have been formed on the social networking website Facebook to support the release of "Sammy the Shark", who was captured in UAE waters and placed in the Atlantis hotel aquarium, initially, for medical care.
The two groups are "Free the Palm Atlantis Whale Shark!" and "Set the Whale Shark free from the Atlantis aquarium Dubai".
Together, they comprise more than 600 members, with new voices from within the UAE and the international community adding their support by the hour. The groups are hosting forums to find solutions to free the four-metre-long juvenile whale shark.
"We need to have this magnificent baby female whale shark released so that it could live and breed in its natural habitat," one of the group members said. A petition is also being planned by the groups to create awareness among people across the UAE.