Marineland friends group looks to future

The mammals from marineland are now in quarantine and waiting to be shipped to Australian zoos and parks.

The apparent final closing of the doors at Marineland may not be the end of the road for the friends lobby which was formed seven years ago to keep some semblance of the facilities going in Napier.

Friends of Marineland chairman Cliff Church said a monthly meeting will still be held next week, with some hopes for a feasibility study despite the run-down state of crucial Marineland infrastructure and quarantining of remaining mammals for shipment to Australian zoos and parks mid-year.

With redevelopment beckoning, including relocation of popular skate and ramp facility Sk8Zone in a new extreme sports, outdoor theatre and reef garden complex, mayor Bill Dalton is against any further reports. "Marineland is in a state of disrepair," he said yesterday. "The pipes are completely shot, and the viewing chamber has been closed for several years as the area is not safe.

"We don't need to keep wasting ratepayer money to prove what anyone with eyes can already see." Responding to the lobby's hopes for a Marine Education Centre, Mr Dalton said: "We've already got one down the road at the National Aquarium, just down the road."

The eight remaining seals, including two sea lions, are now in quarantine for 120 days pending transfer to facilities in Australia, and the Napier City Council has plans to redevelop the Marineland site as part of its "Big Picture" rebranding of the parade as a playground for "kids of all ages".

Mr Church said the group has to now consider whether to continue pushing for a reopening of Marineland as a marine wildlife centre, or look at other options, including sites elsewhere - some outside of Napier.

"It has been suggested there could be other venues," he said, adding that if it was outside Napier then "Napier and its public will dip-out".

The Friends have also been "offered the opportunity" for a feasibility study into the future of the site, which some members still want done.

Friends of Marineland was formed seven years ago to campaign for the reopening of Marineland as a marine wildlife centre, focusing on rescue and education but offering the public the chance of close-up marine life encounters.

In December 2010, after more than two decades of debate over the future of Marineland and with its performing dolphin days a nostalgic past, the council decided on permanent closure, which was unsuccessfully challenged by the Friends of Marineland in an application to the High Court. It is, however, 31 years since permission for Marineland to catch dolphins was revoked, and 13 years since the Minister of Conservation turned down an application to catch six dolphins and a leopard seal. Its last public shows were in 2008, some now being recalled in Facebook valedictories.

"I feel sad that my children have to miss out on that beautiful place, the personalities we had to it, and the amazing people that made it work for so long," wrote Mara Jane Kiel.

Angela Young wrote: "So sad that Marineland has closed for good ... started going to it back in the 60s."

Lisa Bailie, formerly of Napier and now in Brisbane, proposes to look out for migrating sea lions Orion and Dakota at Seaworld, and adds: "As for Marineland, it's a shame it's no longer an attraction but onwards and upwards, people."