Marine Parks

Excerpt

There is a wide and growing range of marine parks. They include designated natural marine areas, such as the coral reefs off the coast of Al Fujayrah in Abu Dhabi, which were declared the country’s first marine parks in 1995, the Great Barrier Reef, and artificial tourist facilities, such as Seaworld California in San Diego and Marineland Canada near Niagara Falls. The latter often include captive marine life, including marine mammals, as well as recreational features and structures such as water-slides. They attract large numbers of visitors and for many people are their first introduction to the marine world. They are, however, controversial because of their use of captive mammals, such as dolphins, although concern for animal welfare means that the best operate with very high standards of care and carry out important research. Some natural marine parks use underwater observatories to provide dry access to the undersea world, for example, in the Marine Park and Underwater Observatory at Coral World on the northeast coast of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. The majority, however, depend upon boat and diving access to the marine world, for example, in the Pulau Weh Marine Park in western Indonesia and the Malindi Marine Park on the coast of Kenya. …