A few years ago, a "Swimming with Dolphins" excursion was offered at a popular travel blogger conference, TBEX. It caused quite a stir, and with good reason. Swimming with dolphins is cruel and one of the animal tourist attractions to avoid. So, why was this activity offered at a travel blogging conference in Cancun as a tour option for travel writers to promote?
Many bloggers wrote letters, blog posts (as I did, writing this blog post originally back in 2014) and signed petitions opposed to the dolphin swim. We urged TBEX to cut ties with Delphinus Dolphinarium. Many travel writers vowed to boycott the conference entirely until the tours were axed from the itinerary.
Finally, after lots of pressure, the Cancun Convention and Visitors Bureau announced that they were cancelling the dolphin swim tours at TBEX. Whether you are a blogger, a traveler, or an animal lover, all of this might have you wondering: why is everyone against dolphin swim programs?
Swimming With Dolphins is Cruel
Let's face it. Tourists who visit destinations like Mexico and the Caribbean and book swimming tours with captive dolphins tend to be animal lovers. In most situations, these travelers love animals or find dolphins to be fascinating creatures. They want to get up close to them and share a special moment with this beloved animal.
Many people bring their families to these types of places to provide their children with a fun and educational experience. They want to see these wild creatures in person to learn more about them. As a lifelong vegetarian, longtime vegan, and animal lover, I didn't realize what was wrong with these tourist traps until shortly after I went vegan. After all, the dolphins seem to enjoy swimming around with people, don't they?
Swim-With-The-Dolphin (SWTD) programs are actually very bad for dolphins. Multiple organizations oppose SWTD activities, including wildlife charity Care For The Wild International, the Humane Society, and the International Marine Mammal Project, among others.
SWTD programs promote that it is therapeutic and fun for humans to be up close and personal with these extremely intelligent creatures. They also argue that these excursions raise environmental awareness about dolphins that live in the wild. However, is our pleasure worth another creature's pain and displeasure? Do these tours really bring attention to any environmental issues or provide any education in an unnatural environment?
Why Swimming With Dolphins Is Bad
A British study out of the University of Newcastle found that while observing bottlenose dolphins in a Swim-With-The-Dolphins tour in Tanzania, that "that these programs are highly stressful for dolphins because they disrupt natural resting, feeding and social behavior."
Dolphins are very intelligent, highly sociable creatures. They live and travel in large groups called pods. There can be several or up to 1000 dolphins in a pod. Dolphins establish strong social bonds with one another, even staying with sick or injured individuals, helping them to the surface to breathe if necessary. Dr Horace Dobbs, Founder and Honourary Director of International Dolphin Watch, states that holding dolphins captive at aquatic parks is torturous as it separates them from their pods.
Some may argue that swimming with dolphins is therapeutic. However, there is no clear evidence to show that dolphins are any better than a typical household pet for therapy. For those seeking animal-assisted therapy, I recommend that you adopt a domesticated animal, such as a dog or a cat, from a local animal shelter. Of course, please take great care to be a responsible pet owner.
Where Do The Dolphins Come From?
You might wonder how these dolphins are captured in the wild to participate in SWTD tours. They are generally obtained by methods called "drive fisheries". The first purpose of the drive hunt is to eliminate any toothed whales that compete with humans for fish, and to provide the meat of these animals to local consumers.
The Oscar award winning documentary, The Cove, details these practices with intense imagery. From the book, "Death at SeaWorld" by David Kirby, the scenario is explained:
Fishermen take out several small motorized boats to locate a pod of bottlenose dolphins, Risso's dolphins, or false killer whales (and possibly such other species as pilot whales). Once the fishermen locate a pod, they begin herding the animals toward shore, using the noise of the boats' engines and the banging of pipes underwater. There are some reports that they also use underwater explosives. The fishermen will then either drive the animals right onto the shore or trap them in a bay. Either way, shallow water is necessary, because fishermen slaughter the dolphins by getting into the water and moving through the pod, stabbing animals to death...Animals destined for slaughter may be hauled out onto land with cranes, often still alive. The cruelty is enormous. (page 213)
The secondary purpose of drive fisheries are to keep the youngest and most attractive animals to be sold to aquariums, marine theme parks, and Swim-With-The-Dolphin programs. Out of the total amount of captured dolphins that are spared, only 53% of them survive the first three months of captivity after being exposed to stressful situations, human illness, and chemicals.
Until reading "Death at Seaworld", I could have never imagined that participating in a SWTD tour group would be supporting one of the most inhumane slaughters in the world. Furthermore, the dolphins at SWTD excursions are often trained using cruel food deprivation techniques, forcing them to either perform tricks or starve.
What About Swimming With Wild Dolphins?
There are some SWTD programs that use wild dolphins rather than captive ones. Still, these types of tours can cause psychological distress to the animals.
Some Hawaiian wild dolphin swims actually target dolphins that have little choice but to tolerate human presence. Swimming away into the surrounding areas puts them in threatening situations with their natural predators.
Furthermore, interactions with people cause dolphins to lose their natural wariness, making them easy targets for attacks by sharks. There are no circumstances where SWTD tours can be more ethical or humane.
Ethical Wildlife Tours
The best option is to choose a different activity when visiting destinations that offer Swim-With-The-Dolphin tours. Currently, only four countries have banned dolphin tours - Chile, Costa Rica, Hungary, and India. New Zealand has also recently banned swimming with dolphins, and Canada bans keeping whales and dolphins in captivity. (Now, if only Canada would ban places like Ripley's Aquarium, too!).
These excursions are incredibly popular in Mexico, the Caribbean, the United States, Ireland, Australia, Cuba, and Israel. They are also very popular with cruise lines, with most tropical destination cruises offering dolphin swim tours.
I'd love to see cruise lines do away with them. Of course, I'd love to see these programs retired completely and move the dolphins to marine sanctuaries to live out the rest of their lives without being forced to swim with people and do tricks.
Ways to See Dolphins Ethically
If you would like to enjoy an educational, fun, and extremely rewarding experience, I highly recommend booking a whale and dolphin watching tour rather than a Swim-With-The-Dolphins tour. Be sure to choose a reputable company that follows the conservation rules set by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
Seeing whales and dolphins emerge in their natural habitat is arguably more thrilling than swimming alongside one in a forced environment. We embarked on a whale and dolphin watching tour in Dominica and it was spectacular. We've also gone whale watching in Iceland, and it was an amazing experience.
More Responsible Wildlife Tourism Experiences
If you're looking for more responsible wildlife experiences, I have an entire section about it on this travel blog! I recommend booking ethical wildlife safaris, snorkeling tours, and intriguing once in a lifetime experiences like viewing the glowworms in New Zealand.
If you really love animals, why not volunteer overseas to help them? I've taken two international volunteer trips to help animals so far: at a wildlife rescue center in Guatemala, and at a wildlife conservancy in Kenya.
The Dolphin SMART Program
Dolphin SMART is a program developed by the NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries and National Marine Fisheries Service, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and the Dolphin Ecology Project.
The purpose of the program is to minimize the harassment of dolphins from commercial tours, reduce close interactions with wild dolphins to protect them, eliminate advertising these kinds of activities, and promote the protection of our waterways. SMART stands for:
- S - Stay back 50 yards from dolphins
- M - Move away cautiously if dolphins show signs of disturbance
- A - Always put engine in neutral when dolphins are present
- R - Refrain from touching, feeding, or swimming with dolphins
- T - Teach others to be dolphin smart
Please keep this in mind when you plan your future tours and excursions, especially if they involve dolphins and marine wildlife. It's a good idea to consider the animals when planning animal focused activities.
Ask the right questions. Are we admiring animals from afar in their natural habitat? Are the animals living in unnatural situations? Do the animals perform for human amusement? There are so many wonderful places to visit and millions of incredible things to do around the world, and hurting animals doesn't need to be one of them.
I urge you to book an alternative to Swim-With-The-Dolphin programs. Ultimately, if these programs are not profitable, they will shut down entirely. It's up to us to stop funding them with our tourism dollars, and to start funding responsible wildlife attractions.
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Kim Branson says
Thank you for speaking for the dolphins and bringing awareness to these very attractive yet devastating tourist attractions.
Lisi says
Thanks for sharing this!! I love animals, especially dolphins.. when I was a child I went to a zoo that had also dolphins. Back than I was not aware of the fact that those animals are suffering. Nowadays I'm more mindful and would not participate or support those kind of animals shows.
Lauren says
Thank you so much for this, Lisi! I'm glad you love animals, too!
Ashley Casey says
My dad just invited my boyfriend and I to a trip to the big island of Hawaii in November 2017. He was explaining all the things we would do, one being "You can swim with dolphins!"
I absolutely love all animals and would love to be that close to a dolphin, but I'm not really sure about how dolphins on the big island are treated? I would imagine better than Sea World (which I clearly do not support) but I don't want to support a practice that isn't seen as being animal friendly. Is anyone here familiar at all with this?
Lauren says
Ashley,
While I can't speak specifically to how that place in Hawaii operates, I think there are a few things you should look at. First of all, if the dolphins are in captivity, definitely pass on the excursion. Next, if the dolphins are in such close contact with people, it doesn't seem too natural...sometimes they are freely swimming in the ocean and involved in these types of programs, but they're baited with food and lured to participate. For me, I'd only participate if it was a snorkeling type of trip and there was the chance to see dolphins, but it wasn't necessarily guaranteed, you know? Let me know how it goes!
Shasta says
Another thing to think about.....dolphins have a natural expression that looks like a smile, and the noises they make sound like happy chatter to humans. If it has a natural smile, silly noises, and fun antics, it's a happy animal! Right? Wrong! It's easy to think that the dolphins love what they do and are there for the joy of humans. The humans never stop to think that they are anthropomorphizing these animals based on how they "look" to us. They aren't human, and they are trained to behave how we want them to behave. It's an illusion. I've never participated in a SWTD thing, never will. I've seen them swim in the wild and that's much better to me.....they are truly joyful creatures when free to be what they are. What humans need to grasp is that we don't have to touch everything in order to love and appreciate it. A friend of mine just participated in one of these things and proudly posted on social media. She's an animal activist herself but doesn't have a clue what she just supported by participating simply because she felt that she needed to cross it off her "bucket list". **sigh**
Ahila says
I also think that tours aimed at watching dolphins swimming freely in the wild are better for the dolphins than the ones that offer a swimming experience with the dolphins. The only exception to this that I can think of is at a conservation and rehabilitation centre like the Clearwater marine acquarium which lets visitors interact with Winter, the famous and endearing dolphin who cannot be released back into the ocean.
Evanne says
Great post! Thank you for writing this. After spending a year in Thailand and reading so much about elephants it seems obvious that you shouldn't ride them, but I have friends who go there and do it! You have to remember that people honestly just don't know. The more articles like this the better and this was very informative!
Evanne says
Also I've been avoiding watching The Cove because I don't think I can stand it But I've heard so much about it!
lavena Costa says
Thank you for revealing the inhumane truth about the slaughter and abuse of dolphins for a few moments of human pleasure. Can you imagine the emotional lives after the surviving dolphins are in these parks? How terribly sad to know this sort of scam exists because tourists simply think these dolphins just love to swim with humans.
So glad my kids thought it was a bit "creepy" to swim with the dolphins on our first trip to Hawaii. These animals do not seek out humans to swim with along the beaches, nor do they leave their family units to be with us along the shoreline.
I can not think of anything more cruel than what these poor dolphins have seen, heard, smelled, touched and felt, as they were captured and trained to swim with tourists. They may even have a sense of oneness with each other that is broken... as they are broken...
Perhaps the dolphins who endure understand they will be starved or killed if they do not take our kids for nice rides. Not quite the lovely picture on the brochures...
Tanja Burmeister says
Sadly the problem is, that people don't recognize animals to be equated with themselves. Instead they see them as a source of income or an exotic travel-story and make tours to swim with captured dolphins, ride tortured elephants and pet a drugged tiger. There is no respect towards nature and it's devastating that many people don't realize or care that their greed is causing animals to suffer. Thank you for raising awareness about this.
Kathryn Burrington says
Great to see another blogger writing about this dreadful practice. it still amazes me how many people still think swimming with captive dolphins is OK. I was a little confused though about whether you were talking about captive dolphins or wild dolphins at first and I wandered what are your thoughts about the latter are as there are mixed opinions on that too.
Lisa says
Great post! Thanks for sharing this information! I saw the cove too and I try to think about animal activities, including elephants on land.
Lauren says
I'm so glad that you take these things into consideration when planning your animal related activities!
Mytanfeet says
Oh my goodness that is terribly sad. It makes me so angry to see people exploiting animals for their own greed, it's those times that really makes me feel ashamed. The cruelty inflicted upon these beautiful and intelligent animals is just beyond words. People need to start realizing that these programs are absolutely disgusting. I remember in Cancun we took a boat to Isla Mujeres and it included petting a nurse shark and taking a picture with it. That poor thing was being held by hundreds of people and it was constantly being lifted out of the water. I'm so glad to hear Costa Rica is on this list of countries who have outlawed it though. Hooray for us! Hopefully more countries will follow suit and soon!
Lauren says
I'm glad that Costa Rica doesn't do this either! I hope that more countries will start to ban it as well! Yes, my sister said she went on an excursion once in Mexico that had the shark experience, just the same as you! And she didn't feel good about it either. They should put a stop to that one as well...
Aperture Of My Soul says
I've always wanted to view them in the wild, but I'm not much on swimming with them. Never imagined some of the cruelty that goes on. The one dolphin I tried to pet at Seaworld as a teenager snapped at me, so I was done with that. Thanks for sharing such great information!!
Lauren says
And I'm glad that Blackfish exposed exactly how awful Seaworld is!!! I'm glad that you enjoyed this article!
garrybry says
By their logic, giving tours of prisons should make us more compassionate to our fellow man . . .
Lauren says
That's a really interesting comparison!
Daniel Hancox says
Just starting in the blogging community i had no idea about this issue! I have no delusions that make me think humans are the pinnacle of what this amazing planet has to offer, and i am all for spending time with all kinds of amazing creatures but i react very strongly when i see cruelty and suffering in animals. So i will be avoiding these kinds of excursions and looking for much more fitting ways to experience Dolphins and whales in particular.
Good job Lauren!
Dan
www.quixotescorner.com
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
I see so many activities that travelers take part in that are harmful to animals, or they don't realize are cruel towards animals. I'm glad that you will be avoiding these kinds of excursions - that means a lot to me! :) There are ways to enjoy nature without disrupting it! Thanks for commenting! :)
Jessica Meddows says
Hi guys,
Great blog post. I heard about the furore with TBEX and this program. Like you guys I don't do these sorts of animal encounters, being vegan. It's great that people boycott these programs, but I really wish the same people cared as much about "un-cute" animals as they did about dolphins! First steps, I guess. :)
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
One step at a time! Every little bit counts, I think. If people start thinking about how the animals' lives are impacted by this kind of thing, hopefully it will carry over to other places as well, that type of mentality!
Sofia Duncan says
I had no idea that these kind of tours were harmful to our beloved sweet dolphins! even those which are playing tricks.. I thought they're being taken care of. Well I haven't tried swimming with dolphins, with the same reason as yours.
I'm sharing this article for the hope of getting people more exposed to what's really happening in the world.
Great job. :)
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Thank you so much! I really think that most people aren't aware of it, as so many people bring their families to these kinds of places thinking the dolphins are happy, their kids are happy...we have so many great alternatives when we're traveling! I hope someday it would become illegal to steal animals from the ocean and sell them...
Karyn @ Not Done Travelling says
Thanks so much for posting this! Love you guys!
I actually have a dolphin post in the works myself. I have loved cetaceans for ages and took part in a dolphin swimming experience at SeaWorld in Australia in 2011. It was really weird, and not the exhilarating experience I thought it would be. It wasn't until a few months later that I realised I had been so underwhelmed because deep down in my heart I had known that it was wrong. Now I'm an activist against the keeping of cetaceans in captivity.
I was really disappointed that when these dolphin swims were removed from the TBEX program, some bloggers said, "It's not fair! I wanted to go on the tour and then form my own opinion about whether it's right or wrong!" To me that's like saying "I'd like to murder somebody and then form my own opinion about whether it's right or wrong".
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Ooh, I can't wait to read your dolphin post! Let me know when it's all ready to go (or I'll discover it on my own as I read your blog regularly!). That's a really interesting story that you did the activity and you were underwhelmed. I'm sure that yes, deep down you felt something was wrong. I think that's the case for many people, or they watch a film like Blackfish and come to this realization. I don't understand that opinion of the blogger....it's as though you want to participate in some kind of torturous activity towards another being, and see if you feel bad about it afterwards. I don't understand that kind of thinking at all. Obviously those people just don't get it!
Christa Thompson says
Hello, on behalf of Christa, host of The Sunday Traveler, I was stopping by to check out your article 'Swimming With Dolphins: The Dark Truth'. Wow! I often wondered of such things. My heart is aching. I too am an animal lover and somewhat of an activist. After watching a documentary when I was at the age of 15, I'd decided to boycott veal for similar principals. This is disheartening and reminds me of slavery and what goes on behind the scenes in the diamond industry for similar attributes. Often the public is either outright told or lead to believe that these animals used in these interactive tours are "rehabilitated" and for various reasons "can not be returned to their natural habitats". But with this in depth information, even IF it were true, it would have no bearing to continue the support of such tours due to the fact that it disrupts their schedule and they long for their pods thereby causing them stress. Thank you so much for shedding much needed light on this topic. I for one will not be a participator in SWTD tours. Something about it NEVER resonated in me and now I know why.
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
An interesting note about the veal thing: The main reason why veal exists is due to the milk/dairy industry. The dairy industry constantly impregnates cows so they keep making more milk, and they need to have babies to do so. When the baby cow is born and it's a boy, it's immediately taken from the mother (so the cows milk mostly goes back to us humans) and the boy cow is raised to become veal. Because they really have no use for them in the dairy industry...the baby girl cows will become dairy cows and make milk. So...another thing to think about if you want to boycott the veal industry, might be worth also boycotting the dairy industry, too. Back to your comment...yes, in many industries that are for-profit that end up hurting someone, whether it is a person or an animal, a lot of lies are told to justify it. I really would love to see SWTD tours become a thing of the past.
slightly astray says
This is a great post!! I will never do a swim with dolphin thing and I no longer support organizations like Sea World after watching Blackfish. However, I did really want to do the swim with wild dolphins tour in Hawaii, where they drop you off in the ocean to snorkel and see the dolphin pods. I didn't because it was expensive, but I still really want to do that. Looks like that's not the best either. :( I'm really glad TBEX cancelled this and there's more awareness now!!
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
I'm so happy to see SeaWorld's stock take a huge dive, and to see their attendance drop so much...it gives me hope that films like Blackfish can really influence change.The more that people talk about these things, write about them, make movies about them, the more knowledgeable we all become and the better off we are! I think that if you want to see dolphins, you should look up a reputable whale watching / dolphin watching tour and try to see them that way, in their natural habitat. It might not be swimming beside them, but it is still brilliant to see!
Chantae says
Such an eye opener. It really takes some discussion to realize how detrimental and unnatural these SWTD tours are. I'm glad bloggers at TBEX are speaking up!!
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Me too! If something is blatantly wrong like this, I'm glad that people are speaking their minds!
Marissa Sutera says
So glad you posted this. Much of this was news to me and is great to know. It's a shame to see such animal cruelty occurring so often. Dolphin and whale watching are wonderful alternatives that are just as cool and fun!
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Exactly! Thank you for reading it! :)
Mrs Chasing the Donkey says
I really had not known very much about this until all of the TBEX drama. I have never been to see a display as an adult, only as a child and I'll now never take my son! Big thanks for linking up with us for #SundayTraveler again.
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Yay! I think most people don't know how harmful these tours are, but hopefully lots of people will write articles and get the word out, and these kinds of things won't be profitable anymore!
CarmensTravelTips says
I was really please to hear that they had cancelled the swim with the dolphin excursions at TBEX. If it's stressful for the dolphins than don't promote it. Great article!
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
I'm glad that people spoke out and put enough pressure on the tourism board for them to cancel the excursion!
BavarianSojourn says
Great that people are standing up to issues like these. I wouldn't want to see them in any other environment than in the wild as they swim past my boat!...
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Agreed!!! Thank you for reading!
budgetjan says
Yes it is much better to view them in the wild I agree. Tweeted to spread the word.
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Thank you so much, really appreciated!
Angelica Wilk says
This became big news! While I am guilty of having participated in this activity a few years ago when I visited the Bahamas, I "swam with" them in their own natural habitat in the ocean and we took a boat to them so I'm glad it wasn't a pool setting or a closed off area as it usually turns out to be. Obviously as time went on, I learned more about the harm it does to the dolphins and what really goes on. Happy that this issue became public and that we are all more educated on it.
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Thanks so much for sharing your story! I think that most people who partake in these activities love animals and would love the chance to be close to them. I think the more that we can educate everyone, and the more that it becomes public, the better off we all are (and the dolphins, too!)
Annika -Live Laugh Explore says
I am so glad this nonsense was cancelled as part of the TBEX but it is sad how popular these things are. And the biggest problem is that people just don't realize what's wrong with them! Also the 'ignorance is bliss' -mentality seems to be pretty popular.. As a vegan as well it makes me sad when I travel the world and see the how the tourism industry exploits animals. I just wrote a post about Jordan and discouraged anyone from using donkeys or horse carriages when visiting Petra. It's all about educating our fellow travellers!
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
Oh, I know - there are so many ways that animals are exploited around the world, it's terrible. The best we can do is not support these things, or write articles to let other people know what might be wrong with it. Hopefully other people will be inspired not to participate in these kinds of things! I will definitely check out your article about Petra and the donkeys/horse carriages - it's great that you wrote about that!
Jessica - Independent Travel C says
Yes, I had read about this a couple months ago when a couple of travel bloggers spoke out about TBEX having the swimming with the dolphins being a sponsored blogger tour. I am glad it was cancelled and good to know more about this. I know folks who live near dolphins and have the wonderful chance to do this naturally (lucky, lucky them!), so I understand the appeal but hope more places will move to get rid of these harmful tours. #SundayTraveler
Lauren | Justin Plus Lauren says
After reading some of the other articles, I definitely became inspired to write my own take on the situation, especially after reading the book, "Death at SeaWorld" and watching movies like Blackfish. I hope that these kinds of tours are put to an end, and the trapping/sale of dolphins comes to an end someday.