Dolphin Swim

[evandbob]

I've done a few different dolphin swims in the past, all with captive dolphins.  Every place said they had taken dolphins from the wild that couldn't survive in open waters.

 

I'm ambivalent about this practice today and haven't participated in caged swims for about a decade.  Guess my feelings about using sentient animals as amusement has left me.

 

Interesting that dolphins can understand their own language and related dialects, as well as whales' song and some human speech.  Meanwhile humans are limited to perhaps only understanding themselves on a good day.  I wonder who is the more intelligent species???

[SRF]

On 1/15/2019 at 12:54 PM, donaldsc said:

Read this - https://us.whales.org/issues/swimming-with-dolphins 

 

or this 

 

https://www.dolphinproject.com/campaigns/captivity-industry/swimming-with-dolphins/

 

DON

 

Sorry I disagree.

 

We did a swim with dolphins in the Keys many years ago.

 

Just before, there was such an expose about how terrible it was to do this to the dolphins.  Keep them captive and "make" them do these things.

 

Funny thing was, the people writing the article did not actually swim with the dolphins or talk to the company.

 

The point was, yes, there was a fence between the swimming area and the nearby waterway.  But it was to keep the boats out of the swim area.  Below the water were very large holes.  The dolphins could leave at any time.  And did at times.  But most came back.  Sometimes they would bring other dolphins with them to swim and play with the people.  Strangely, the dolphins seemed to make sure that there always several there to swim with the people.  If there were too few, none would leave until others showed up.

 

This place, we just went out into the swim area with the dolphins.  And if they did not want to interact, they did not.   But they wanted to interact.  And were not rewarded to do this.

 

Although, one young male took a liking to one person in our group.  An interspecies SERIOUS liking to him.  😄

 

 

[NovCruisin]

4 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

Sorry I disagree.

 

We did a swim with dolphins in the Keys many years ago.

 

Just before, there was such an expose about how terrible it was to do this to the dolphins.  Keep them captive and "make" them do these things.

 

Funny thing was, the people writing the article did not actually swim with the dolphins or talk to the company.

 

The point was, yes, there was a fence between the swimming area and the nearby waterway.  But it was to keep the boats out of the swim area.  Below the water were very large holes.  The dolphins could leave at any time.  And did at times.  But most came back.  Sometimes they would bring other dolphins with them to swim and play with the people.  Strangely, the dolphins seemed to make sure that there always several there to swim with the people.  If there were too few, none would leave until others showed up.

 

This place, we just went out into the swim area with the dolphins.  And if they did not want to interact, they did not.   But they wanted to interact.  And were not rewarded to do this.

 

Although, one young male took a liking to one person in our group.  An interspecies SERIOUS liking to him.  😄

 

 

Haha 🤣

 

On a serious note though, did you actually SEE this hole where the dolphins can come and go? Did you see any dolphins leaving and then coming back? Or was this what the operater told everyone?

 

Would you mind sharing the name of this company?

 

If the dolphins are in fact free to come and go as they please, I think this would be a great suggestion to anyone looking to do such a tour.

 

I hope that this is accurate because I think we can all strive to treat these creators with the respect they deserve and in doing so we can have amazing, natural experiences with them built by trust and admiration for each other!

[SRF]

On 2/2/2019 at 4:27 PM, NovCruisin said:

Haha 🤣

 

On a serious note though, did you actually SEE this hole where the dolphins can come and go? Did you see any dolphins leaving and then coming back? Or was this what the operater told everyone?

 

Would you mind sharing the name of this company?

 

If the dolphins are in fact free to come and go as they please, I think this would be a great suggestion to anyone looking to do such a tour.

 

I hope that this is accurate because I think we can all strive to treat these creators with the respect they deserve and in doing so we can have amazing, natural experiences with them built by trust and admiration for each other!

 

 

Yes, I saw the multiple holes.  Probably 6 - 8 feet diameter.  All below the water.After the told us, of course we swam out to check.

 

No, the dolphins were happy to swim with us.

 

And this was not like the scripted dolphin encounters.  We just went swimming and the dolphins interacted as they wished.  One did not interact much.  One, as mentioned, was a bit over the top with his interaction.

 

Let's just say, his excitement was QUITE visible. 😄

 

This was MANY years ago, and I cannot remember what I had for breakfast. 😄 Down from main part of Key Largo.