Date: Fri, 19 Jan 1996
Honduras-Dolphins

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) -- Eight dolphins shipped here from a Florida marine park 16 months ago were being sought in the Caribbean after they escaped from their pool at a luxury hotel during a storm.

Julio Galindo, owner of Anthony's Key Resort in the Roatan Bay Islands off Honduras' northern coast, said Thursday the dolphins had been missing for 10 days and that resort workers were still searching for them.
"The strong winds destroyed the natural barriers that kept them in ... and the dolphins will die if we don't find them quickly." Galindo added. He said six of the dolphins were born in captivity, and did not know how to look for food.

The missing dolphins were among 12 that were shipped to the Central American resort in September 1994, one month after Ocean World in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was shut down. The Humane Society of the United States had fought to have the dolphins sent to a federally licensed facility in the Florida Keys. But a judge threw out the organization's request for a restraining order to prevent the animals from being shipped to Honduras.

The dolphins' fate drew attention after Ocean World received approval from the state in August 1994 to send them to Anthony's Key Resort. The Honduran facility has 11 show dolphins that also swim with tourists. Four of its original 15 have died since the resort opened in 1989.

Animal welfare activists have called for a moratorium on marine mammal exports until rules can be written on how to assess foreign parks.



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