After spending a great week in Bonaire, I can think of only one real disappointment: the reef “aquarium” at the Den Laman Restaurant. While the food was great, the sight of such a pathetic excuse for a reef aquarium in the diving capital of the world breaks my heart. Considering they have access to a world-class naturalist (Jerry Ligon) next door at the Sand Dollar, I can only surmise that the owners/managers themselves don’t dive. Anyone who comes off Bari Reef full of wonder at the amazing beauty and variety of life right at Den Laman’s doorstep can see the profoundly ironic waste of opportunity there. What a pity to squander the opportunity of showcasing Bonaire’s underwater treasures.

Maybe a few well-placed comments by the diving community could turn this situation around....

I was wondering if the aquarium has always been like that.....this was our first trip to Den Laman for dinner this year. Has it ever been stocked with fish? There were only a handful of specimens in the tank in May....maybe they all escaped and went back into the ocean!!??? Hmmmm. Carole

Maybe some locals can correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember the owner telling another group of diners that the Den Laman suffered a fair amount of damage from Lenny, and the original aquarium was broken. It seems that they are trying to put it back together, but when we were there in March, they were having difficulty getting the chemistry to balance. It could be spectacular, and your idea of contacting Jerry Ligon for help is a good one.

Actually, the restaruant was undamged by lenny, just some of the plumbing that circulated the water. I don't think that there is any need to even have to capture fish, (they used to have turtles, green morays and even a shark in there) and make them suffer the cramped space and lack of freedom the tank afforded them. A lot of people were happy the day that the shark flicked its tail and senta rock crashing through the glass. That night, lots of good samaritains carried a lot of fish to freedom! One more vote for the DLTLA (Den Laman Tank Liberation Army!

I believe most divers and Bonaireans are at least 'lurking' members of the DLTA.

Aha! I had suspected a "break out" of some sort! May they now be at peace and in freedom in their natural environment. cb

Here, here..

LOL!! That is so hilarious - I can still picture the serious look on the face of the guy telling the tourists about the damage done - no mention of the rock-throwing shark! Long live the DLTA!!

This is the first I had heard about the rock. Don't know if it is true or not. However, as mentioned above, a lot of people did not like to see the fish in captivity with such a great reef only a few feet away

More recent rumor has it that the larger green moray was killed during an attempt to recapture for Den Laman. True?

The Break out was way before lenny and we all hoped that the owner would not repair the damage, but he did. Shon Ma, as he was known, passed away last year and his kids now run the business and I think they do not want the extra burden not to mention the expense. Up the DLTLA,,,shall we have tee shirts and bumper stickers made?

We saw the tank before Lenny, and seeing those beautiful creatures in captivity that way ensured we would never eat at Den Laman.

If the DLTA has its way, maybe we will decide to eat there --- but not until then. The inmates deserve to live naturally.

Carol, to your message of June 10th was the aquarium always like it's present condition, it was not. At least back in 1982 when they built it. My wife and I had dinner there for our honeymoon back in December 1982 and it was actually pretty nice.

I too remember it in the old days when it was quite a draw. However, now with such a strain on the world's natural resources, folks are quite sensitive to viewing captured animals. The Curacao sea aquarium has a jew fish so large that it cannot even turn around in its tank! They also are going to have captured dolphins. It is a disgrace what some people will do for money!

Michael...what do you mean...captured dolphins.? Is it a fait accompli, or can it still be stopped? Is Curacao independent, or can the Dutch still say?. As an old colleague once titled his book,almost, Is this too from the wonderful folks who brought you Pearl Harbour? Or at least their financial encouragement?.Oh yeah.....set up a tee shirt to go, Michael. One would think it would not be so difficult to get a tourist to turn their heads and look in the sea instead of a 'Dull Fin" Area.

Michael, I feel very sad about this whole thing. I'm up for t-shirts, stickers, whatever it takes! God, I wish I was more powerful

I will ask Jake to post the info re the "dull fin" area in Curacao.

Here is some background.
It was determined that current legislation at the time blocked this proposal. After the dolphin group found it tough going in Curacao, they went to St. Maarten. When they ran into the same laws they went off to one of the A islands either Antigue or Anguilla - can't remember which. , However new laws have been passed which would make it legal so both Curacao and St. Maarten have reopened the dolphin issue. For anybody that is concerned about dolphins, you should also check out the La Paz situation in Mexico and the death of Luna.

Below is a posting from September of 1999.
According to an article in Bonaire's Port Call, Curacao Seaquarium has asked the Executive Council of Curacao for a permit to catch 12 wild dolphins for use in the aquarium. The Council is willing to grant the permit in order to boost the tourism industry in Curacao. Dolphins will be caught by a Mexican "expert".

Doing so will break up family groups and cause hardship within the dolphin community. No one knows for sure dolphin populations in this area and to do the above is ecological suicide.

Anyone opposed to this please let your voice be heard. You can send a letter to:

Executive Council of Curacao
Attention S. Betrian, Chairman
Concordia Straat 24
Curacao
Netherlands Antilles

Fax # 599-9-461-3257

Seaquarium fax # 599-9-461-3671

If you know any email addresses in Curacao for the Gov. please post them.

Bruce Bowker
Foundation Preservation Klein

It's time for all of us to stand as "one" and contact the agencies as noted in Linda's post (originating from Bruce). Get those fingers a'typin' folks! cb

Consider it done

Piece o' cake. Will be mailed in the cool of the evening. Plus a couple of pals. Thanks for the info.Up the DLTLA. Up the Dolphins. Oh...and if the guys who put this little 'Dull Fin' plan together are paying attention...Up yours, too! See how Dolphin Captivity beginsLa Paz,Mexico) www.bajadolphins.com or www.thestar.com...Mrs. Comeau, you pre-view, please.

No, I did not put the face in there, if I did, I'll have to figure out how...After the objections to Curacao.

Just as I suspected, Kerri ... you did put the face there. When you punctuated your sentence with first a ' : ' and then a '( ' it autoformated a sad face. I learned something new today!
~ Samma

You're kidding me! Sandra,that would be the limit. After everything I've tried... makes a sad face? Oooooh, maybe when his techies took W off line, they did something gooood. Slowed down the service by 50%. Wonder if I can do any other face...Hmmm Howdya figure it out? Sandra, Loookit, Lookit me...I'm Flyyyyinnnng!!!!!

It's our Mods, I bet!!!! Thanks Mds!!

Wellll - you Bonaire Talkers are all over the place. I've just been hanging out in the mostly in the cam site. Have just discovered the new message search. I'm a lil slow on the uptake. I spent 3 weeks volunteering on a spinner dolphin study on Lanai- saddens me to see so many captured dolphin programs. Would make a great research /debate project for 6th graders- next year maybe.

LOL Kerri! fun new trix, huh? ;) notice the winky smile doesn't autoformat ... ah well ... can't have everything!

Samma: Yes, I tried. But it doesn't require 'everything' to be happy. Just the simple things. Simple blue/white diamonds. An orchid or 10. A simple bottle of Gewurtztramminer. A couple of new trix will keep me from suffering gif envy...

Have faxed the Executive Council of Curacao and informed the WDCS. Can't do anything else, other than hire a boat and guard the waters myself!! Believe me, I would if I could

Sarah - you ARE a powerhouse, just by putting your faxes where your heart is!

Linda & Bruce - thanks for letting us know about the dolphins-in-captivity threat in Curacao and elsewhere. I imagine that those who put profits before the well being of animals by putting them on display in captive arenas will either come back in next life as a captive animal, or be reborn as a human display for alien zoo keepers....

And yes, DLTLA tee shirts and bumper stickers! More power to the DLTLA!

Hello
It's nice to know that a lot of people care about the captive dolphins!! Maybe it's an idea to contact Ric O'Barry about it and maybe he knows how to stop it?!

Greetings Simone

Hello everybody who did and did not like the den laman's aquarium soon will get a real story of the recent owner "Max's daughter, the founder of the prestigiouse Bonairean restaurant.

We heard about Den Laman before our trip to Bonaire from friends in the United States. We heard they had the best seafood on Bonaire, and we were not diappointed! We had the catch of the day on February 2, 2002---wahoo---grilled for Ed and a la meuniere for Gwen---great food, beautiful view out over the water, and gracious hosts. The acquarium is gone. The Taylors from Virginia

Anoher Victory for the DLTLA!

Try these addresses for e-mails to the Central Govt. on the Dolphin issue...good luck.

Paul Hoetjes - milvomil@cura.net

Eric Newton - eric@mina.vomil.an