Dubai Dolphinarium opens its doors for public today

There will be a special charity dolphin and seal program for children with special needs at 10 a.m.

This was announced in a press conference on Tuesday by Ahmed AbdulKarim, Director of Public Parks and Horticulture Department at Dubai Municipality, and Christopher Richardson, Managing Director of Dubai Dolphinarium.

Representatives of the media who attended the press conference were later treated to a stunning display of skills by three dolphins and four sea-lions.

AbdulKarim noted that the Dhs33 million edutainment facility, undertaken by the civic body in conjunction with Royal Segrex LLC, forms part of the civic body's initiative to involve private firms in setting up various long-term investment projects in the emirate and offer the public a variety of recreational and edutainment projects.

"We have a long term vision to support and encourage the private sector to engage in various activities deemed to be in the best interest of the public. The objective is to establish the ways and means whereby people's lives can be enriched by promoting a wide range of family entertainment with an element of education," he said.

This facility will include a water circus show, dolphin therapy, dolphin sighting excursions, and lectures among others, he said.

He added that the Municipality has been initiating and actively supporting all projects that contribute towards a better quality of life for Dubai residents; especially children and youth.

"Dubai Dolphinarium is an example of that, offering the broad public a variety of entertainment, educational and therapeutic programs. The project is very special and represents a real added value to the society, because it offers a variety of activities that address and cover many important aspects such as education, entertainment, therapy and research. Thus it represents an appealing diversification for both residents and tourists from all round the world," he said.

Richardson said the facility will accommodate as many as 1,250 visitors.

There are 4.5 million liters of continuously purified sea water in an arena pool, habitat pool, medical and seal pool that the mammals live in.

To support the health and welfare of the dolphins and seals, there is a marine mammal laboratory, fish preparation rooms and technical support rooms.

"On each side of the dolphinarium we have marine themed classrooms for our science and conservation focused educational programs, a multimedia library and a new concept kids gym. Our education and activity programs will be offered for summer camp. The programs will include opportunities to learn about dolphins and seals close up, to learn how dolphins and seals are trained and the basics of animal husbandry for both feeding and medical care," he said.

The dolphinarium, which has been built over a land of 4900 square, will offer both U.A.E. residents and visitors from neighboring countries and the rest of the world the chance to enjoy the highly skilled and choreographed performances of dolphins and sea lions.

In addition to that, it will have a Marine Mammal Education Center led by a team of marine mammal scientists and dolphin specialists.

The center shall offer various lectures and shows introducing both children and adults to the nature and habitat of these amazing intelligent mammals and how we can learn and help preserve the several species of dolphins that exist in the Gulf waters.

As part of the educational aspect of the project, the Dolphinarium will offer special programs for schools and large organizations. The objective will be to provide these activities during the morning hours.

The programs will focus on education in an entertaining way.

Children will be encouraged to think about conservation and to share with their parents their experience in learning about dolphins and sea lions.

There will also be photo sessions, where children can have their pictures taken with dolphins and sea lions.

Kids will also have the chance to have a video taken with them in a little rubber boat being pulled around the pool by a dolphin.

Another program is swimming with dolphins, which will allow people to swim supervised for 10-30 minutes in a group or as an individual with a dolphin, they can also try to be pulled by a dolphin and experience talking with dolphins.

Excursions shall be organized by experienced skippers, offering people the possibility to head out for a day trip to watch dolphins in the regional waters.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn about these amazing creatures and will learn about the six species of dolphins, which can be found in and around the GCC waters.

The Dolphinarium will be open six days per week leaving one day rest for dolphins and their handlers.


There is a dedicated veterinarian and personal trainer/human companion for each dolphin. The dolphins will have round the clock care with the veterinarian monitoring their health on a daily basis.

There is also a water treatment engineer who monitors the complex sea-water treatment and conditioning system.

He stated that initially there will be three highly trained bottlenose dolphins and two sea lions and in the future other marine mammals shall be introduced.