BY LORETTA BRIGIDIA MANELE
A first of its kind dolphin festival is being planned for Malaita province, it is reported.
Kiriom Solomon’s secretary, Mr Michael Tolingikirio said, “If you haven’t swam with dolphins before, you might just have the chance when Malaita province hosts its Kiriom or Dolphin Festival in the near future.”
He said while they are still working on this plan, the intention is to host it annually.
Tolingikirio said that one of the planned highlights is to bring in a number of wild dolphins near the coastal area, culturally tame them for then hours and then allow people to either touch or swim with them before releasing them back to the ocean.
He added that the other aspect they are thinking of includes inland pools that will be pumped with fresh water and then occupied with dolphins for women, men and children in the village to interact or enjoy a swim with the dolphins.
On another note, the secretary said that this is also part of their group’s aim to promote dolphins in our tourism sector and mentioned that should the government wish to advance this idea then assistance should be provided.
“If the government wants to move forward with this initiative on another level then they should provide assistance in terms of specialists, professional trainers and facilities,” he said.
