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Do you think Flipper would rather live in a tank than
swim the open seas with his pod mates? Heck, no! Wild is the only way
to go. When you consider just a few facts, it’s easy to see why legions
of nature-friendly travelers are turning their backs on staged, artificial
dolphin programs in favor of more natural encounters.
Dolphins are built to move and travel up to 40 miles per day in their
search for food and fun. The U.S. only requires that enclosures be 30
x 30 feet, so a dolphin doesn’t get very far before it runs into
a wall or wire fence. And shallow depths don’t provide any relief
from heat or UV rays, especially for an animal that can dive over 1,600
feet into the cool, dark seas.
In the wild, dolphins live and travel in close-knit social units called
pods. They hunt as a group and care for the young and ill. They make up
complex games to play together. Mothers and offspring stay together for
as many as 8 years. Whether taken from the seas or shipped from one facility
to another, family bonds are routinely – and prematurely – broken.
Dolphins go to the head of the class when it comes to feeding techniques.
They hunt as a group and coordinate strategies for cornering their prey.
Performing dolphins, on the other hand, are never allowed to hunt. And
their reward for putting on a good show is a few morsels of dead fish,
something they wouldn't touch in the wild.
A dolphin also has highly developed sensory skills. Sonar tells a dolphin
everything it needs to know about its ocean home. Without it, the animal
is incapacitated and unable to explore, hunt or navigate. This tool is
as important to dolphins as eyesight is to humans.
More and more, animals are being taken from the oceans for swim-with-the-dolphin
programs and other shows. Dolphins don’t go willingly. They’re
chased down by men in speedboats. Nets are cast. Panic sets in. Dolphins
are injured or killed. Lives are changed forever.
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