Reno doctor target of investigation for dolphin business

Martha Bellisle. RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL. 10/18/2003.

A Reno physician and businessman who started a Caribbean company that offers visitors a chance to swim with dolphins is the target of a federal investigation into whether he violated a U.S. trade embargo by purchasing his animals in Cuba.

Graham Simpson also is being criticized by dolphin and animal rights groups, who say operations such as his that hold dolphins captive are cruel enterprises that should be shut down.

"Dolphin Fantaseas poses a serious threat to the welfare of dolphins," said Helen O'Barry of the Florida-based Dolphin Project. "The company is causing an increase in violent captures, lifelong confinement and commercial exploitation of dolphins."

But Simpson, a former emergency room doctor in Reno and one of the forces behind the exclusive Montreux golf course and country club development, defends the swim-with- Text Overflow 23 Lines Overset 222 Linesdolphin programs as valuable educational tools that provide heartwarming, unforgettable experiences.

"The whole issue is about should you have animals in captivity," Simpson, 52, said during a recent interview at his southwest Reno home. "Should we close the zoos?

"Our dolphins are better looked after than most people in the world."

He readily admits that he bought six dolphins in Cuba and said that he even went to Cuba to inspect them before they were flown to a 1.5-million-gallon pool next to his villa on the island of Anguilla.

But, he said, it did not occur to him that the purchase might violate the U.S. trade embargo. Born in South Africa, Simpson said he has dual U.S. and British citizenship and was living in Anguilla at the time, so didn't think of himself as a U.S. citizen. He moved back to Reno about a year ago.

Plus, he said, most of the shareholders in Dolphin Fantaseas, the company that operates the swim program, are from outside the United States.

Federal officials said that argument is not a valid excuse.

"If you're a U.S. citizen, you have to abide by U.S. laws, no matter what other passports you have," said Taylor Griffin, spokesman for the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, which is investigating whether the dolphin purchase warrants civil penalties.

Griffin said it was not clear how long the probe would take.

Big Business

Pools, parks and programs offering swim sessions with dolphins have grown in popularity in recent years, especially in Mexico and the Caribbean. Visitors pay $100 to $125 for a half-hour dolphin encounter.

The facilities say their mission is to educate the public and to spark a greater appreciation of the marine mammals.

With that growth has come strong opposition from environmental and animal rights groups who have responded with strong pressure - meetings, slide shows, talks, mailings - in an effort to sway public opinion against the facilities.

Ric O'Barry, a former dolphin trainer turned dolphin activist based in Florida, said these businesses have caused an "epidemic'' in the trafficking of dolphins.

The animals are subjected to violent, sometimes deadly captures and repressive living conditions, said O'Barry, a consultant with the World Society for the Protection of Animals.

Confrontations between advocates of interactive dolphin programs and activists for dolphin freedom and protection have sometimes turned ugly, with loud verbal exchanges and wild accusations.

And the battle may be becoming dangerous: Jane Tipson, a leading dolphin advocate who headed an animal protection group fighting proposed dolphin swim programs on the island of Saint Lucia, was found shot to death Sept. 17 outside her home.

The UK Times reported that the Saint Lucia police said they know she was a vocal opponent of dolphin programs and said they are looking into whether she had made enemies.

Since the U.S. has had a voluntary moratorium against capturing dolphins in effect since 1990, the increase in demand for captured dolphins has created a lucrative export business for Cuba, O'Barry said.

Cuba is now one of the world's largest exporters of dolphins, he said. The animals can bring in $40,000 to $60,000 each, he said.

Since the trade embargo prohibits U.S. citizens from doing business with Cuba, activists have begun using it as a tool for targeting some programs.

In addition to the Simpson probe, the federal agency is investigating the American owner of a company called Dolphin Discovery, who also is believed to have bought his animals in Cuba, Griffin said.

Violators of the embargo face criminal penalties of up to 10 years in prison as well as $1 million in corporate fines and $250,000 in individual fines. A civil violation could mean a fine of $55,000 per violation, the agency said.

Investigation launched on tip

It was a dolphin advocate who tipped off federal officials about Simpson's animals back in August 2001, Griffin said.

Gwen McKenna, an activist who lives outside Toronto, Canada, learned from friends in Anguilla about the arrival of the dolphins when they read about it in a local newspaper, she said.

The report said the writer witnessed six dolphins arrive aboard a Russian charter plane, packed in ice, from Cuba, she said.

The case initially went to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution, said Ivan Ortiz, a spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement office in Puerto Rico.

But after investigating the claims, the office opted against prosecuting it as a criminal case and sent it to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which handles civil violations, Ortiz said.

Dolphin purchase

Simpson said the idea to start a swim-with-dolphins program came after seeing similar operations run by friends in Florida and Hawaii. He also had heard that swimming with dolphins offers rewarding therapy for children suffering from Downs Syndrome.

In fact, one of Dolphin Fantaseas' shareholders from Reno, chiropractor Dave Rovetti, has a 5-year-old son with Downs Syndrome. Rovetti said he invested in the company so that his son Jack could participate in dolphin therapy.

Rovetti said he is not aware of the Cuba controversy. "I'm such a small shareholder, so I'm out of the loop on this," he said.

But he praises the dolphin program.

"We notice a change after he has been with them," Rovetti said. "He's more motivated."

After building the 17-foot-deep pool at his house in Anguilla, Simpson said he hired a local broker, whom he would not identify, to find dolphins for the program.

"It was a legal contract drawn up by an attorney in Santa Domingo," Simpson said. "He promised to deliver healthy animals."

"I went and inspected the dolphins before they were flown over," Simpson added. That inspection took place in Cuba, he said. He paid about $200,000 for two females and four males, he said.

Three of the dolphins were later sent to the company's facility in Antigua, while the other three stayed in Anguilla. One of the females gave birth in December to a male that was named Cobi.

But one of the adult male dolphins at the Anguilla pool died in April, a company shareholder named Chris Heslop told McKenna in an e-mail. It had suffered an infection.

Foreign owners?

Simpson said the purchase took place outside the U.S., beyond the reach of trade restrictions, or so he thought.

"It was an Anguillan company owned mostly by non-Americans," he said of the company.

At the time, he owned about 8.5 percent of Dolphin Fantaseas, but has since sold some shares and now owns about 5 percent, he said. His wife, Pam Pike, owns another 5 percent and his father, Dundas Simpson, owns about 10 percent.

Rovetti of Reno said he owns 5 percent.

According to Simpson's bankruptcy records, the shareholders in Dolphin Lagoon, Inc., dba Dolphin Fantaseas, include: Magpie, Inc.; DLH Inc.; Pamela Pike; Marlin Inc.; Max Geel; Wayne Paugh; David Rovetta; Dundas Simpson; Chris Heslop and MMP Trust.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the companies listed as shareholders or where they are based.

Debate continues

Regardless of the outcome of the federal probe, Simpson said Dolphin Fantaseas will continue to offer swim programs, and is considering expanding operations to Saint Lucia, while activists said they will fight the facilities.

"When you get out and swim in the water with those dolphins, you fall in love with them," said Pike, 48.

"I'm the biggest animal lover you'd ever meet," she added. "If you can say the dolphins are being harmed, I'd say shut the program down. These animals are treated so good, it's amazing. They're treated like you would treat your child."

Dolphins in the Caribbean are slaughtered for their meat, which is sold for $2 a pound, Simpson said. The swim program teaches people, including locals on the islands, about the value of the animals and encourages conservation of the marine habitat to better support marine life, he said.

That's hypocrisy, said McKenna and the O'Barrys. Dolphins should not be captured and caged to encourage preservation.

"They need protection from the very people who are seeking to capture and confine them: Dolphin Fantaseas," O'Barry said.

Dolphins are streamlined animals built for speed, swimming up to 40 miles a day, Helene O'Barry said. Confining such an animal in a tank or within a fenced area and charging people to swim with them is a cruel form of exploitation, she said.

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