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SAVE YEREVAN'S DOLPHINS - IN MEMORY OF YEREVAN RESIDENT DIBAR TCHOLAKIAN
epress.am
06.20.2011 18:04
A new community page "Save Yerevan's Dolphins - In Memoriam Dibar
Tcholakian" has been created on Facebook to raise awareness on issues
with the recently built dolphinarium (an aquarium with dolphins) in
Yerevan, while honoring the memory of a friend who held this cause
close to his heart.
In the early hours of the morning on Jun. 16, Dibar Tcholakian, a
41-year-old Lebanese-Armenian Yerevan resident, passed away after a
heart attack. According to the information posted on the Facebook page,
Dibar made no secret of his love for dolphins, and he was strongly
opposed to the construction and operation of the dolphinarium in
Armenia. However, according to the description posted on the Facebook
page, it should be noted, Dibar's firm belief was that the dolphinarium
should be closed.
Note that along with four dolphins, the aquarium is home to two fur
seals and one sea lion, who perform three, sometimes four times daily.
Local press earlier reported that the dolphins are Pacific Ocean
natives brought to Armenia from Japan and are kept in heavily
chlorinated water, which environmentalists say might lead to
blindness. Apart from the issue of the chlorinated water, activists
say the pool where the dolphins are kept is only 18 meters in diameter
and 5 meters deep, much too small and not in line with international
standards. Local NGO representatives and environmentalists have been
protesting the dolphinarium since it opened on Dec. 24, 2010.
According to Onnik Krikorian, creator of the Facebook page, "Although
[the Facebook page] was only set up this weekend, the intention is
to raise awareness to press reports on the dolphinarium as well as to
create an online space for activists to coordinate their campaign and
activities in general. Dibar really loved dolphins and would speak
about them constantly.
"From their protection of swimmers against sharks, through their
therapeutic capabilities, to their social norms of behavior dolphins
and Dibar were almost synonymous with each other.
"No longer with us, the Facebook page will carry on that 'evangelizing'
about the rights of dolphins, raising awareness of something that Dibar
was very critical of - the opening of the dolphinarium in Yerevan."
The image used for the Facebook page comes from Dibar's own personal
Facebook profile picture and it seems only fitting to his memory to
launch this Facebook page in order to raise awareness of conditions
at the Nemo Dolphinarium and to demand accountability and transparency
in its operation.
The group is open to anyone who is interested in joining.
epress.am
06.20.2011 18:04
A new community page "Save Yerevan's Dolphins - In Memoriam Dibar
Tcholakian" has been created on Facebook to raise awareness on issues
with the recently built dolphinarium (an aquarium with dolphins) in
Yerevan, while honoring the memory of a friend who held this cause
close to his heart.
In the early hours of the morning on Jun. 16, Dibar Tcholakian, a
41-year-old Lebanese-Armenian Yerevan resident, passed away after a
heart attack. According to the information posted on the Facebook page,
Dibar made no secret of his love for dolphins, and he was strongly
opposed to the construction and operation of the dolphinarium in
Armenia. However, according to the description posted on the Facebook
page, it should be noted, Dibar's firm belief was that the dolphinarium
should be closed.
Note that along with four dolphins, the aquarium is home to two fur
seals and one sea lion, who perform three, sometimes four times daily.
Local press earlier reported that the dolphins are Pacific Ocean
natives brought to Armenia from Japan and are kept in heavily
chlorinated water, which environmentalists say might lead to
blindness. Apart from the issue of the chlorinated water, activists
say the pool where the dolphins are kept is only 18 meters in diameter
and 5 meters deep, much too small and not in line with international
standards. Local NGO representatives and environmentalists have been
protesting the dolphinarium since it opened on Dec. 24, 2010.
According to Onnik Krikorian, creator of the Facebook page, "Although
[the Facebook page] was only set up this weekend, the intention is
to raise awareness to press reports on the dolphinarium as well as to
create an online space for activists to coordinate their campaign and
activities in general. Dibar really loved dolphins and would speak
about them constantly.
"From their protection of swimmers against sharks, through their
therapeutic capabilities, to their social norms of behavior dolphins
and Dibar were almost synonymous with each other.
"No longer with us, the Facebook page will carry on that 'evangelizing'
about the rights of dolphins, raising awareness of something that Dibar
was very critical of - the opening of the dolphinarium in Yerevan."
The image used for the Facebook page comes from Dibar's own personal
Facebook profile picture and it seems only fitting to his memory to
launch this Facebook page in order to raise awareness of conditions
at the Nemo Dolphinarium and to demand accountability and transparency
in its operation.
The group is open to anyone who is interested in joining.