Would love to see a dolphin; but......

[morecowbells]

I'm not trying to stir a hornets nest. I have tried Google etc. to gain more information about the dolphin dive through AKR and cannot find what I am seeking. I have never done a dolphin dive because I have seen videos and read stories about the brutal capture and treatment of dolphins for the benefit of parks around the world. The dolphin swim in Cozumel breaks my heart (small pens, no access to the ocean)and I have never entertained the idea of swimming with them. From what I understand, the dolphin swim at AKR allows them to leave their pens and swim freely. Does anybody have any information as to how these dolphins are treated? If not comfortable posting, please PM me.

Jan. will be my first visit to Roatan. While I have never encountered a dolphin in the wild( some day...) I would love to see one up close, but only if it is something that I can feel comfortable participating in.

 

[Reef Tank]

I'm not trying to stir a hornets nest. I have tried Google etc. to gain more information about the dolphin dive through AKR and cannot find what I am seeking. I have never done a dolphin dive because I have seen videos and read stories about the brutal capture and treatment of dolphins for the benefit of parks around the world. The dolphin swim in Cozumel breaks my heart (small pens, no access to the ocean)and I have never entertained the idea of swimming with them. From what I understand, the dolphin swim at AKR allows them to leave their pens and swim freely. Does anybody have any information as to how these dolphins are treated? If not comfortable posting, please PM me.

Jan. will be my first visit to Roatan. While I have never encountered a dolphin in the wild( some day...) I would love to see one up close, but only if it is something that I can feel comfortable participating in.

These pens are nets in the open ocean, a hundred feet from shore. They could easily leap over the net. During the scuba with the dolphins they open the gate and a couple animals follow the boat to a different location then return to the net when their entertainment leaves.

We were on the outside of the net last Friday. The came right over and interacted. Sound travels easily in water and it was very cool to hear their talking. One was interested in my camera which was in video mode and stayed in focus right up to when it bumped the lens.

 

[CajunDiva]

We were on the outside of the net last Friday. The came right over and interacted. Sound travels easily in water and it was very cool to hear their talking. One was interested in my camera which was in video mode and stayed in focus right up to when it bumped the lens.

Cool Reef Tank! Can you post the video???

 

[Doc]

Does anybody have any information as to how these dolphins are treated?

Likely better than most any other such display.

Understand that they are indeed now quite dependent on the habitat and humans as a food source. For years, AKR harbored them under the veil of a "research institute" and by law, they may likely still maintain this cover. Most similar operations do. Unfortunately, reasearch with such critters takes buckets of money, and that simply is not the case here.

The dive will indeed take you out into the open ocean with them, where they may visit for seconds or possibly 5 minutes of close passes. If you want serious interaction, you'll be better off in the encounter which occurs in their pens. The water can be quite turbid, as in your previous experience, but most people come back preferring the encounter version over the dive.

It is more frequent than not to see them in the wild off of "Ironshore" along the South side. These wild creatures, as do all worldwide in my experience, seem to like snorkelers and shallow swimmers much more than SCUBA divers... the bubbles seem to scare them off fairly easily. This would be another clue as to behavior mods that the captive dolphins (or whatever you call them) have been phased through, allowing them to comfortably approach and perform programmed interactions for SCUBA divers.

I think we do a lot worse things to the seas in many other instances other than this.

 

[Shawnda]

In the 4 times I have been to Roatan (did not dive on the last trip) we encountered wild dolphins twice. Once in the Sandy Bay area near Spooky Channel, and the 2nd time in front of Luna Beach. Nothing beats seeing and diving with them in the wild.

 

[Thalassamania]

You would do better coming here to the Big Island where we are able to have real encounters with real wild dolphins on a routine basis (even Humpbacks in the winter). To hell with underwater Disney World, that's all fake anyway.

 

[diversteve]

The dive will indeed take you out into the open ocean with them, where they may visit for seconds or possibly 5 minutes of close passes.

20 minutes in our case. Out of 45min total dive time. The first 20 minutes we didn't see any sign of them - even the trainer seemed unsure. Then they played with some weed near us for a few minutes before making some passes then coming in close, stopping, checking everyone out and "posing" for pictures. The first 20-25 minutes was spent in a sandy shallow area waiting for them. Although I was paying for the dive, I actually did not mind that they were allowed to roam free first.

At the start of the dive you're taken to the pens to meet the dolphins and get to interact with them off the dock for a few minutes before proceeding to the dive.

After surfacing early I had about a 2 minute "encounter" with one of them - he approached, stopped, rolled on his side, let me pet his chin and came close and "kissed" my chin.

We also did the dolphin dive on Curacao a few years ago. It was more expensive, not as good an experience. Our dolphins again chose to go streaking down the reef, later I saw the trainer corral them near his boat before bringing them down to us. I'm pretty sure he also jumped them a few times for the tourists on the breakwater nearby first - I went shallow to look for them and saw it. Kind of ticked me off since we were burning air the whole time.

 

[CODMAN]

I pretty much agree with this. I did the snorkel encounter, and although it was awesome to interact closely with these magnificent creatures, now I have learned about the international dolphin tourist industry, I would not do it again (and even regret doing it). there is no (or very little) science going on there and it IS a captive dolphin show for your pleasure...

This said, the isntalations were quite nice and the dolphins did not seem to be mistreated in the least; so at least they seem to be taking good care of them. But the fact remains, doing this encounter is encouraging the international dolphin trade. If you're OK with this, fine (and I'm not judging )... If not, avoid it...

These are captive animals exploited for our pleasure. Up to each to decide how they feel about it and if they want in on it...

Likely better than most any other such display.

Understand that they are indeed now quite dependent on the habitat and humans as a food source. For years, AKR harbored them under the veil of a "research institute" and by law, they may likely still maintain this cover. Most similar operations do. Unfortunately, reasearch with such critters takes buckets of money, and that simply is not the case here.

The dive will indeed take you out into the open ocean with them, where they may visit for seconds or possibly 5 minutes of close passes. If you want serious interaction, you'll be better off in the encounter which occurs in their pens. The water can be quite turbid, as in your previous experience, but most people come back preferring the encounter version over the dive.

It is more frequent than not to see them in the wild off of "Ironshore" along the South side. These wild creatures, as do all worldwide in my experience, seem to like snorkelers and shallow swimmers much more than SCUBA divers... the bubbles seem to scare them off fairly easily. This would be another clue as to behavior mods that the captive dolphins (or whatever you call them) have been phased through, allowing them to comfortably approach and perform programmed interactions for SCUBA divers.

I think we do a lot worse things to the seas in many other instances other than this.

 

[Reef Tank]

Cool Reef Tank! Can you post the video???

YouTube - dolphin.avi

 

[georoc01]

All of the dolphins at AKR were raised in captivity. In our case, we didn't see the dolphins till the last 5-10 minutes of the dive, and there were divers that had to go up prior to the dolphins coming in.

I agree that if you really want to spend time with them, the encounter is a better way to go. Save the money for the shark dive where you really get up close and personal!!!