Marineland

Two years after Marineland's last dolphin Kelly died and the attraction closed to the public there has been no decision about the future of the facility. Many marine animals and birds continue to live there, either because they are sick or because they would not be able to survive in the wild.

For nearly 4 decades Marineland was a unique New Zealand attraction allowing close up contact with a range of marine birds and animals, especially dolphins.

Unlike most other council owned businesses in both Hastings and Napier, Marineland was was not a huge drain on ratepayers pockets, and even with just a solitary dolphin could still pull in the audiences. Not just locals but people from throughout the country, and from overseas. Marineland helped pump millions of dollars into our economy

So with the closure of Marineland we have lost an important magnet, and almost certainly this is contributing to the general malaise in our visitor industry.

Moteliers in particular believe the drop off in families a group that seemed most likely to visit Marineland, is especially pronounced.

The visitor industry is especially important to Hawke's Bay contributing perhaps 10% to the economy overall. While we remain a major holiday destination with Wine and Food and Art Deco the mainstay attractions, supported by events such as the Mission Concert and Horse of the year these are all very seasonal. Marineland was a year round attraction making it especially valuable.

An independent report in 2006 calculated an overall contribution of $5 million to the Napier economy and also claimed Marineland was the top priority for many visitors.

So what are we going to do about it?

Other countries including Australia and the USA have dolphin attractions so replacing the dolphins is a possibility, but catching live dolphins at sea and keeping them in captivity is not an option. This would require an upgrade of the facilities and the cost could be prohibitive.

The reality is all four dolphins at Marineland lived well past their expected lifetime in the wild, so clearly they were well cared for once they assimilated to the conditions.

There has also been talk of turning it into a butterfly house or other similar attraction, but it is hard to imagine such a facility having anything like the benefit to the visitor industry.

Since the Napier City Council is already paying for the staff, keeping the facility open during school holidays, or for weekends is surely an option. The seals and other and other marine animals are still an attraction.

The Friends of Marineland Society suggest $2.5 million has been spent over recent years just evaluating upgrade proposals. If true it might have been better to have spent this money keeping it open.

It is time for openness by the Napier City Council with all the cards laid on the table so the people can better judge the options, rather than leaving the decision solely to an elite who seem committed to tucking the place away.

For the moment Marineland seems to have become nothing more than a bus stop and continuing complaints suggest it is not doing especially well in this new role.