She may be a nice person Gaz, but her decision to exploit dolphins for money is not humane. No one held a gun to her head to make her go for the almighty $ at the expense of animals who will suffer a great deal for her pleasure. Just because the project received governmental approval does not make it a fine worthy endeavor. She is what she is.

Those dolphins need to band together and kick some people butt. That will put a stop to this nonsense.

FWIW, I don't even cage my chickens.

I don't like the label "evil" either and think it is over the top. But people must expect to be judged by their actions, and this one seems pretty shabby.

Who here has even owned a fish tank?

If not for Ms. Parkey's self-sacrificing efforts in assisting to build this Nation's tourism product, their remains no doubt, some of you would not know Belize.

If any one person is to be in charge of this project, the Parkey's foundation is the safest and wisest choice. With such people monitoring and administering such a program, it shall have the highest levels of concerns for the marine environment.

Whom would you choose to operate this? Government? Or a Government insider? Think twice before you cast judgement.

SIN

Project to cage dolphins for humans was approved a while ago and will be constructed on Spanish Lookout Caye, 9 miles from Belize City. I'm very close friends with Teresa Parkey and her partners, who all very decent people. I don't think its right, but I sincerely believe they will attempt to run a first class facility.

UNEXSO(underwater explorers society) started a program back in the mid 80's in Freeport Grand Bahama Island, I was amazed at the number of cruise ship people they brought in, they moved them to a private caye and had all kinds of programs like dolphin trainer for a day, they got to the point after a few years where they would take them out in the ocean & have small groups 6 divers dive with them for about $120 per person, it was always in a sandy area with no reef around.
They would video everything & sell the videos.
At the time I believe this was thier biggest money maker.They did shark feedings the same way with video. I never participated in the dolphin program because I did'nt approve of it,I did many of the shark feeds it was a real rush.
I was there a couple of years ago and their diving programs has really dropped off,
Neal Watson has taken over the shark dives as well as most of the diving on the Island.
The only thing keeping UNEXSO going was the dolphins.I did my Naui Instructors Training there in 1990 & learned much about their operation.
Again I do not approve of the dolphin program,but I know they made a ton of money off them,They were taking about 120-150 tourists a day at their peak,mostly to watch them do tricks & swim with them for extra cash.

I'll withdraw the word evil and insert greedy instead. Nice as she is, this project is setting a low standard for ecotourism in Belize, not to mention a cruel method of obtaining tourist dollars. She could alternatively invest in a project which ferrys tourists to see the dolphins and other animals in the wild habitats throughout the sea off Belize?

I'm told that these ventures elsewhere have often started well and earned their instigators a fortune, but have later gone sour and closed. The wise entrepreneur (sorry, should that be "ecologist"?) times it right and gets out in time, making a bundle. I'll watch the progress of this one and the behaviour of the key participants with considerable interest.