Dolphinarium in central Cuba well protected from tropical storm Elsa

CIENFUEGOS, Cuba, Jul 5 (ACN) The nine cetaceans living in the Cienfuegos Dolphinarium are well protected from the tropical storm Elsa’s possible effects if it makes landfall on this region Monday.

The safety of the dolphins was high on the agenda of the Provincial Defense Council during the preparations to cope with the weather event currently affecting Cuba.

Jorge Izaguirre Martínez, a veterinary doctor with the recreational facility, told ACN that, as per the measures implemented for cases of natural disasters such as hurricanes, it is advisable to move the so-called "bottlenose dolphins" to other places when a hurricane reaches category two.

“So far the weather reports have it that Elsa is not even a category one, the reason that neither the wave height nor the ocean swell warrant an evacuation of the dolphins,” he said. “On past occasions, when the threat has been greater, we have taken the aquatic mammals to the swimming pool of the Pasacaballos hotel, a few kilometers away from the dolphinarium.”

Izaguirre Martínez explained that this process takes a lot of resources and is very risky and even likely to harm the people involved in the procedure and the animals.

“We have the proper fences to prevent any dolphin in captivity from escaping to the sea, as well as a team in charge of protecting and feeding the animals,” he pointed out.

A favored attraction for foreign and national tourists, the Cienfuegos Dolphinarium has a recreational program where tourists can interact and swim with the dolphins.

In September 2017, in the wake of Hurricane Irma, six dolphins were airlifted from the keys of Ciego de Avila to this dolphinarium, where they were carefully cared for until their return to the tourist facilities in that province.