Dubai, March 19: A rare whale shark that was a hotel attraction in Dubai has been returned to the wild, the resort said Thursday, following an international campaign against the captivity.
Sammy, a freckled whale shark that is an internationally protected species, had been kept inside a lobby aquarium at Dubai’s upscale Atlantis resort since September 2008.
The 14-foot (4.2 metres) female, was returned to the Gulf waters where it had been “rescued” said the hotel, where guests pay up to 7,500 dollars a night for a top suite.
The shark was a top crowd puller, but also attracted unwelcome publicity for the hotel, after animal rights groups began a worldwide campaign to free Sammy.
A “Free Sammy” Facebook campaign attracted more than 26,000 members.
The hotel announcement came as a 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) met in nearby Qatar.
Atlantis said that the shark had been tagged for monitoring and research.
—Agencies