But the 13-foot whale shark is apparently a juvenile and a protected species and environmentalists have been waging a campaign against the hotel’s state-owned developers to have her removed. Newspapers, radio stations and schools joined the fray and there was even a petition on the social network, Facebook, signed by 8,000 people.
The hotel has maintained that it rescued the shark off the Dubai coast and that it’s been nursing Sammy back to health. However, former employees have told the local press that capturing a whale shark was always part of the hotel’s plan to provide an added tourist attraction.
Now, the UAE’s Minister for the Environment, Rashid Ahmad bin Fahad, has stepped in, saying the shark will be set free and returned to the sea.
Local journalists say the decision to release Sammy came as a surprise to even her staunchest supporters, highlighting how local sensibilities in the UAE are changing. This is in part because Dubai is attracting growing numbers of expats concerned about the environment.
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