By Derrick Spies

The icons of Port Elizabeth – its two remaining dolphins – are to be relocated elsewhere as part of a multi-million rand upgrade to the Bayworld Oceanarium.

The move places doubt as to whether the city will ever boast a dolphin family again. It is dependent on funding being secured for full redevelopment of the complex‘s facilities.

Bayworld is being upgraded ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, which will see dolphins Domino and Dumisa relocated to another institution sometime next year, with the result that they will not feature as a tourism drawcard during the event.

Bayworld director Sylvia van Zyl said the series of upgrades, to cost in excess of R10-million, had already begun at the Tropical House and would include the revamping of the snake park and penguin and seal facilities.

Van Zyl said the main task next year would be to relocate Domino and Dumisa to another institution where a larger population of dolphins would allow for greater social interaction as well as breeding opportunities for brother and sister.

“We have already examined some of the options available to us and have started negotiations with an institution where the existing composition of their dolphin population is receptive,” she said.

Although Van Zyl would not say which institution was involved in negotiations as nothing had been finalised.

The two dolphins would not be returned to Bayworld until the dolphin pool had been significantly upgraded as originally planned.

“We are looking at converting the current pool once Domino and Dumisa have been moved to accommodate the fur seals and penguins. It is disappointing that we will not have our main attraction here during the Soccer World Cup, but we want to ensure that visitors can come here and enjoy other presentations, like such as the fur seals,” she said.

The front section of the pool, near the grandstands, would house an exhibition area for the seals to entertain visitors, while the shallow end at the back, would be modified and a breeding island built to house the penguins, Van Zyl said.

The project would also include demolishing an area behind the snake park to convert into a garden and replacing the current tropical fish aquarium with three smaller, more modern fish tanks.

“These are not the R500-million upgrades proposed a few years ago by previous mayor Nceba Faku, but rather a series of smaller upgrades to improve the facilities ahead of 2010.”

Van Zyl said work on the Tropical House had already begun and included sealing the dome and replacing sections of the flat roof to make the building watertight.

She said the inside structures would also be demolished and replaced with a flat floor surface to create a conference facility and display rooms.

“We are also looking at demolishing a section at the back of the snake park to convert into a garden area which we could use for setting up a marquee tent for special events, or simply as a recreational space.”

In the late 1990s, the department of sports, recreation, arts and culture, which administers Bayworld, investigated a public private partnership (PPP) to redevelop the fading attraction into the world-class tourism destination that it had been in the past.

Then, in 2002, those plans were shelved when Faku proposed the full-scale redevelopment of Bayworld as part of the vision 20/20 project.

After the initial announcement, however, there was very little in terms of actual development as the project was bounced around between pillar and post and eventually handed over to the Mandela Bay Development Agency.

Funding for the redevelopment, which was originally estimated at R200-million and has since grown to R500-million, was going to be sourced from overseas.

However, this fundraising plan was put aside by the new executive mayor, Nondumiso Maphazi.

At the end of 2006, Van Zyl said the delay in renovations was because the department and the municipality had “different agendas in the transformation of the established institution (Bayworld), and was proving to be complex”.

A decision has now been reached between the two to once again proceed with a PPP initiative to fund the project.

“Should the funding be secured to go ahead with the major redevelopment, all the animals will be moved offsite,” she said.

The full redevelopment of the facilities includes a significant upgrade to the dolphin pool which will include configurations for a veterinary pool and maternity pool, allowing staff to separate dolphins as necessary.

“Given that viability, value for money and satisfactory risk transfer is illustrated, a call for private sector investment will be made,” Van Zyl said.