Stu and I have never visited the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah for one simple reason-we were boycotting the place because they would not release Sammy, the whale shark. You may, or may not know the story. The 13-foot creature had wandered into the shallow waters of the Dubai gulf in August of 2008 and was then “rescued” by some fisherman and taken to the aquarium at the hotel. And that is where she stayed, for 18 months, despite orders from the government, requests from PETA, and several petitions and campaigns calling for her freedom.
She was tagged, and released, yesterday according to the paper this morning.
Well done Atlantis, it’s about time.
Comments
One response to “Sammy free at last”
Unfortunately all is not as it seems. According to a quote on the UAE Community Blog Sammy has in fact died (or been euthanised) in secret.
The story is here:
http://uaecommunity.blogspot.com/2010/03/sammy-whale-shark-meets-grassy-knoll.html
Needless to say my boycott remains in force. What a sad ending after all that.