A “show” at the Fakieh Aquarium. Photo via Trip Advisor.
Rumor has it that Serena, one of five dolphins sold to the Saudi Fakieh Aquarium by the Seaquarium in Curaçao, has died. She would be the second dolphin that did not survive the deplorable conditions in the Jeddah aquarium. Last August, dolphin Mosa died after deliberately swimming at full speed against the edge of the basin. The Fakieh Aquarium does not want to give Animal Rights any information about Serena’s condition. That is why we are asking for help.
Animal Rights has been told that dolphin Serena has not been seen in the ‘shows’ of the Fakieh Aquarium for some time. Would she, like Mosa, have already succumbed to the fear, pain, stress and boredom in the “glorified bathtub” in the Jeddah aquarium? Animal Rights has attempted to contact Fakieh Aquarium but has yet to receive a response and our concern is growing.
[Animal Rights fought to stop the sale and transfer](https://www.animalrights.nl/timeline-animal-rights-fights-cura%C3%A7ao-dolphins) and continues to fight for the safety and freedom of the 5 dolphins that were sold to Fakieh by the Seaquarium in Curaçao last year. The Seaquarium is in Dutch hands, many Dutch people work as a ‘dolphin trainer’ and there are many Dutch visitors to the facility.
Will you help us find out the truth about Serena? Together, we can put pressure on Fakieh to provide transparency and provide information and evidence on whether Serena is alive or not. If she is not, we ask Fakieh for transparency and give information on the conditions of her death. We ask everyone to send a short, English message to the Fakieh Aquarium. It is important that the message is clear and friendly.
You can use the sample text below.
Dear Fakieh Aquarium, Sir/Madame,
It has recently come to my attention that a second dolphin, Serena, one of the 5 recently transferred to your facility, from the Dolphin Academy, Curaçao, has died. Can you confirm that another dolphin has died, which one, and provide information on the circumstances of the death?
Thank you in advance!
Kind regards,
You can send Fakieh a message via [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/FakiehAquarium) or leave the message as a [‘review’ or comment](https://www.facebook.com/FakiehAquarium). You can also send a message via the [website](https://fakiehaquarium.com/contact.php) or via [Twitter](https://twitter.com/fakiehaquarium).
The truth must come to light and together we are stronger!
The Fakieh Aquarium in Jeddah does not have the best reputatation. The basins are far too small and the ‘predecessors’ of the Curaçao dolphins all died prematurely and under questionable circumstances, probably because desert sand had ended up in the lungs. Even then, there was no transparency from Fakieh regarding the deaths of the former dolphins. Despite all the efforts and warnings of Animal Rights, the Dolphin Academy Curaçao still chose money over lives and five Curaçao dolphins were transferred to the infamous aquarium in June 2022. Two months later it was announced that one of the five dolphins, the female Mosa, had died. The Seaquarium in Curaçao claimed in a statement that this was the result of “hormonal problems”, but independent experts quickly invalidated that argument.
Last week, at the end of February 2023, we received the news that Serena would no longer be alive. Animal Rights immediately took action.
Did you know that dolphins don’t laugh, even if it seems so? And that they don’t need to be ’trained’ at all? Read: [a nice trip to a dolphinarium? Don’t go to the dolphin show!](https://www.animalrights.nl/uitstapje-naar-een-dolfinarium-doe-het-niet)
