Dolphin encounter parks

[danvolker]

I did a search, but didn't see any real reviews on them so here goes:

Are the dolphin encoutner parks in Key Largo worth the price of admission? Are there any to stay away from? Any to reccomend?

My daughter is 5 and obviously can't dive yet, so we want to have something for her to try in the water while we are there in a couple weeks.

Looking at Dolphin Cove, they have a shallow water encounter that she would be able to do.. but Holy Moly! $155 is wad of dough (sorry if I sound cheap.. lol).

I can imagine there is a great expense caring for these dolphins, so I'm not complaining that the cost of admission is artificially inflated or anything. It is just a large chunk of money to spend when trying to remain on a budget.

I LOVE dolphins, and would really like to do this, so I'm sure the experience of sharing this with my daughter would be well worth the cost. Just want to get some insight on how these parks are.

Thanks in advance!

Here is a video I shot when I happened on a pod of about 30 wild bottlenose dolphins off of Pauls Reef ( West Palm Beach Fla)....note that their foraging speed is around 5 to 6 mph ( I was on a gavin scooter and swimming full speed with huge DiveR freediving fins....and more importantly...**** note that there is a big alpha male dolphin clearly pissed that I had intruded without permision from him.. You can see him posturing, a threat display that could have led to a nasty bump ..when I figured this out, I backed off. Apparently this let him know I was following his rules, and then he relaxed and let me in close. Many of us, myself included, "don't know what we don't know" about how to act with wild dolphins.

If I got it wrong, I was willing to take the hit...I never said I couldn't do "dumb"

If a small kid took a hit, that would be another matter entirely...

[video=youtube_share;n-R1fmnOwwk]http://youtu.be/n-R1fmnOwwk?hd=1&t=1m37s[/video]

Start 1 minute 35 seconds in, to avoid wasting time on the reef before I hear the dolphins....Watch in hi def if possible.

 

[JesperS]

Second vote for the Sea Turtle Hospital. Very educational (it's quite a presentation before you get to see the live animals) and a great tour of the facility at a reasonable cost.

While there, I would make a day of it:

Turtle Hospital (call and schedule)
Pigeon Key (when driving south, take the left immediately before the 7 mile bridge, the office is in a train car. Price of admission includes boat ride out to the key, guided tour, and free reign of the island) pigeonkey.net I believe
Drive over the 7 mile bridge, among the most beautiful drives in USA, for sure
Go have an early dinner at the No Name Pub. Drive super slow and watch for key deer, the kids will love them. We encountered an entire family outside of the pub once (the pub is family friendly and a very neat keys place) nonamepub.com

I took my kid to Dolphin Research center for an encounter, but he was 12 at the time. And having seen the Cove, I now feel terrible about it. With that said, I don't know if I've ever seen him happier than holding on to the dolphin and going around.

Either on your way too, or on your way back from Marathon, stop at Robbie's marina in Islamorada, buy a few buckets of fish, and let the kids feed the tarpon. robbies.com

I <3 Marathon and surrounding area

 

[RATyson]

Thanks for all the input! And a VERY cool video Danvolker! I bet that was quite an experience! I noticed that one kept checking up on you, making sure you kept your distance.

I am thinking we may go check out the Turtle Hospital instead.

Even though the encounter we would have done does not include my daughter actually swimming with the dolphins (just standing on a platform in waist deep water with me there with her), the points made are quite valid. They are very powerful creatures, that is for sure.

Maybe one day we will be lucky enough to have a similar encounter like Danvolker! Rare chance indeed.

 

[Christina0701]

Wow Dan, awesome video!

Everyone is attracted to the idea of swimming with dolphins, we are drawn to them...people never stop and think how or why they are captive because the honor of being in their presence and to touch them leaves you high. "Research center, Dolphin Cove" or whatever they want to call themselves is wrong and unnatural. We are not the superior species and the fact that Seaworlds exist is proof.

Anyone interested in learning more about captive dolphins and how they become prisoners, please watch ''The Cove'' or read "Behind the Dolphins Smile" by Ric O'Barry (ex Flipper trainer)

On a good note....so happy to see how many supporters are here on Scuba Board!

 

[sportxlh]

I heard an interesting interview with Ric O'Barry on NPR (National Public Radio) not too long ago. He spent most of the time discussing 'the cove' and similar slaughters as well as his opposition to making wild dolphins captive. When the subject of captive dolphins who were either born in captivity or had been captive for a lengthy period of time came up towards the end of the interview, it sounded as if he had been on a long journey himself thinking about the quandry these long-in-captivity animals are in. While he had come to the conclusion that ways should be found to free and return these long capitive (or born in captivity) animals to the wild, he did seem much less strident than in his views on this matter compared to 'the cove'-like killings or capturing wild dolphins. Maybe that is only because the capture or killing of dolphins is a much more immediate and pressing matter. Anyway, it was a fasinating interview to hear and you have to respect someone like him, who knows the in's and out's of the matter.

I've not seen The Cove, but I heard another of the producers interviewed (again on NPR) a year or two ago and it sounds like a heart breaking film.

 

[RATyson]

I haven't seen The Cove, but I plan on watching it.

That being said, I don't think a documentary about the killing of a certain animal makes every organization that has these types of animals a bad thing. only indivial research into a specific organization can provide the determination of their worth.

As I said before, if a captive dolphin organization gets their dolphins through a rescue type avenue, and thier goal is to rehabilitate and, if possible, release them back to their habitat. Then this is an organization that I can support without guilt, as their efforts are geared toward helping these animals. Also, if there are animals who cannot be released due them not being able to survive on their own, and these animals are cared for properly and treated with respect, a good "job" for these animals is to be ambasadors, if you will, to provide awareness and support.

Also, and this may not be a popular view, but it is a viewpoint nonetheless... This world has many cultures, and they differ greatly. In our "culture" (although we as Americans really don't have one cohesive culture), most of us eat beef, or chicken, etc. We farm these animals for this purpose, and these farms profit from what they do. There are cultures in this world that are most likely appaled by this. It doesn't make them wrong, and it doesn't make us wrong... it simply makes us different.

If a culture is farming dolphin for the same reason, sure, it is appaling to us because we see them as "cousins" almost. Intelligent, cute, playful, etc. We relate to them. We don't view them as a food source so seeing someone who does is not in line with our view. So we try to stop them from doing it. Are we right in this cause? From our viewpoint, yes we are. From the other side? No, we are not. In fact we (according to them) are trying to force them to stop providing themselves with food. This enters into a very personal battle on both fronts, understandably.

Where do I stand? Well, because of my viewpoint, and my interest in dolphins, I don't like to hear about them being killed, or traded, etc. I am steadfast against the capture and trading of live dolphins for use in captivity or their abuse in any way. Am I in any way in a position to tell someone where they can or cannot derive their sustinence? No. If a group of Hindus tried to stop us (us, being any beef eaters) from farming and consuming cows, how would we view that? I'm sure we would look a bit like this: because according to us, cows are made out of food, and food is good. If they weren't made out of food, we wouldn't eat them.

So my view can be summed up: I am not going to attempt to stop any culture from feeding themselves with what they see fit to feed themselves with. Now, if they are eating humans, I might have issue with that, because humans are not made of food... .

 

[turtlemoye]

Here is an excerpt from an interview Ric O'Barry did with NPR a few years ago and may be the same one that sportxlh was referring to (full transcript is here 'Cove' Director Surfaces Deep (And Dark) Secrets : NPR):

"They're driven in and the best are selected by the captivity industry, mainly China, a lot of them are going to China right now. The last group went to Mexico, to Cancun, so that tourists can swim with them. The group before that went to Turkey and the Philippines, different parts of the world. They haven't come into America since, I think it was 1980 - 1993. Earth Island Institute wrote a letter to the National Marine Fishery Service warning them that if they continued to issue permits to allow these dolphins into America, we were going to file a lawsuit and that's when it stopped."

So basically no dolphins that have come to the US in the last 20 or so years were rounded up in "The Cove". So then you have to ask yourself where did each facility get their animals and are they being treated humanly? Every facility will likely have different answers. Again, I can only speak to my experience while at DRC and can say that the fences or nets that they use could easily be jumped over by any of the dolphins that we saw. You can also learn more about their particular pod here: http://www.dolphins.org/meet_the_pod.php

While I generally respect peoples beliefs and support their opinions when it comes to treating animals ethically to boycott an educational facility because you watched a movie that has nothing to do with said facility just seems silly. Do you also refuse to go to zoos?

 

[Christina0701]

A facility that keeps dolphins in captivity, to perform tricks for food, purely for entertainment is NOT considered an "educational facility" in my opinion. It also doesn't matter which body of water they were taken from, does it? It's still wrong. I don't feel the need to go to zoos or aquariums...that's why I SCUBA DIVE.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Keeping any sentient intelligent being like a dolphin or whale in captivity is slavery. Using them to entertain humans for profit is evil. Better to take the family members of the management and use them as attractions. Same difference. And even money that the dolphins and whales are far more intelligent than those who exploit them. At least they are more humane.

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[Jim Lapenta]

Using them for education and research is even worse. They should use their own kids. That would be ethical. So careful and caring in how they treat them? Should be no problem using little joey or susie.

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