Buenos dias, fellow ZANDAnistas!

I'm on the tail end (pun intended) of what has been a wonderful trip to Cancun and the Riviera Maya region. I'll have a full-blown report on the individual locations my lady and I visited later on, but I wanted to start by posting what I hope will be a helpful guide to anyone who may want to look at participating in a dolphin swim program.

So, without further delay....

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You’re about to go on a big (or maybe not-so-big) vacation to Mexico (or wherever), and you decide you want to make swimming with dolphins part of it. So, you feed “Swim with dolphins” into Google, and hit ‘Enter.’

    Eeeyowch! 266,000+ hits?! And the names! ‘Dolphins Plus,’ ‘Delphinus World,’ ‘Dolphin Discovery,’ ‘Dolphin Dream Team,’ ‘Dolphins Cove,’ and on and on and on and on... well, you get the idea. I would wager you’ll only get through about a dozen sites, at most, before your head feels like it’s about to emulate an overripe apple with a firecracker stuck down the middle.

    To make matters even more confusing, your results will probably include several for animal-rights extremists, such as PETA and HSUS, who will all insist on filling your head with utter nonsense and disinformation about captive dolphins in general, and dolphin swim programs in particular.

    To quote Johnny Carson, doing his (in)famous Karl Malden impression, “What will you do? What WILL you do?”

    The answer, fortunately, does not involve getting hit with a cream pie. I’m going to do my best to help you navigate these cetacean-infested waters, tell you the truth about the programs, and provide you with guidelines you can apply to any dolphin interaction program, no matter who runs it, to make the best possible choice for you and whoever else you may be traveling with.

HISTORY

    The idea of exhibiting captive dolphins dates back over 150 years, to the 1860's. However, practical captive environments (as in ones that didn’t mean swift death for their inhabitants) didn’t get started until 1939 when Marineland of Florida, the first commercial oceanarium in the United States, opened its doors. Marineland still exists to this day, though they have (of course) been extensively remodeled and changed owners multiple times. They still have one of the best records of success with captive breeding and dolphin longevity; a few of their finny residents are in their late 50's (approaching 100 in human years).

    Marineland certainly got the ball rolling, but it didn’t stop there by any means. Today, there are over a thousand oceanariums and research centers, all over the planet, that maintain dolphins and other marine mammals in captivity.

    Swim-with-Dolphins programs, also known as interactive programs, are still a relatively new arrival. The first ones, at open-water facilities in the Florida Keys, got their start in the mid-1980's when the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) authorized the establishment of three experimental programs. The facilities involved were Dolphins Plus, in Key Largo; Theater of the Sea, in Islamorada; and the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, near Marathon.

As an aside, all three facilities are still operating to this day, and all will give you a pretty decent experience with the critters.

    The programs, as you can likely guess, were a tremendous success. Rules governing how the US-based programs could operate were finalized and established by NMFS in 1988.

    Over the next 20 years, interactive programs started springing up both in and out of the US. One of the highest concentrations of such can be found in the areas of Cancun and the Riviera Maya, Mexico, and the experiences available at these Caribbean-based facilities are among the best that can be found today.

SO WHAT DO I LOOK FOR?

    To know what to look for in a dolphin interaction program, you must first have a good idea of what YOU, the participant, really want. Have you worked or played with dolphins before? Are you looking for lots of time in-water, or less? Do you want the trainer to keep everything under control, or do you prefer a little less structure? Do you like being in a big or small group of people? Are you simply looking for a bit of fun for the day, or are you prepared for the possibility that your experience may have deep and lasting effects?

    These are only a few of the questions to consider, and some are not easily answered, so I will lay out some general guidelines and facts.

    First and foremost, and contrary to popular belief, no two interactive programs operate exactly alike. None! You can even find significant differences in the programs run by the same company at different locations, such as the Delphinus programs at Xel Ha and Xcaret (Xel Ha is the better of the two, by a long shot!)

    The only things the programs have in common are providing visitors safe contact with dolphins, and providing as much education about the critters as they can without getting boring or tedious.

    In short, some programs deliver a better value, or quality of experience, for the dollar than others. Before settling on any facility, I would recommend you closely examine their web site for answers to the following questions. If the site in question does not have all the answers, don’t be shy about dropping them an E-mail, or giving them a phone call.

    •    What is the total time in-water with the dolphins?

    •    Is time with the dolphins all structured, or is free interactive time offered?

    •    What is the total amount of free time, if any?
    •    How many dolphins per swimmer group?
    •    What is the largest group size permitted?
    •    What activities are part of the program?
    •    What other amenities are part of the program?

    Those will get you the key data about the program. You may, of course, add others about access, lockers, parking, or anything else that comes to mind if you wish.

    As to choosing facilities, guest-perspective reviews of such, from people all over the world (including myself), frequently show up on sites such as tripadvisor.com, frommers.com, fodors.com, themeparkinsider.com, etc. The best way to track these down is to visit your site of choice, and use their local search function.

    Some of the questions I listed may seem odd to those who have never done an interactive program before, so I will explain the ‘why’ of each.

TOTAL TIME IN WATER

    As implied, this refers to the total time spent in-water with the animals present. It does not necessarily include interaction with them. This figure varies from one park to another, but anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour is typical.

STRUCTURED VS. FREE TIME

    Many facilities offer ‘free’ interaction time with the animals. This usually means that the group spreads out in the water, and the dolphins are cued simply to swim slowly among the group and let you pet them. This is one of the best possible ways to get a “feel” for the critters, to build your confidence around them, and to know for certain how you react to each other.

    As such, I consider this feature to be one of the most valuable and desirable. When I’m visiting a program, I always search for the one that has the largest amount of free time and the smallest group size. Those two factors together are, I think, more critical than any of the others.

GROUP SIZE

    Known more technically as the swimmer-to-dolphin ratio (STDR), this is just as critical as the presence of free time. It is, as one might imagine, pretty hard to get a good “sense” of the critters if they have to divide their attention among a huge group.

    Low numbers are good, high are bad. It’s that simple. A ratio of 1:1 is ideal, as it means one swimmer paired with one dolphin. It is extremely rare that you will find an experience of that high a quality without spending around $500. 2:1 is more typical, and still very acceptable. In fact, I’ve had a good time in programs with a ratio as high as 3:1.

    Unfortunately, there are several facilities who routinely use ratios as high as 6:1, 7:1, or even higher (such as Sea World’s Discovery Cove). I would make it a point to avoid facilities that go any higher than 3:1.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

    Most facilities will offer various types of structured behaviors. The simpler ones include a “kiss” (where a dolphin places their rostrum - snout if you prefer - against your cheek); a “handshake” (the dolphin will hold themselves vertically in the water, and offer their pectoral fins for you to - gently! - hold); or “singing” (the dolphins are cued, either by the visitor or trainer, to vocalize, which they do through their blowhole since they have no vocal cords nor a direct connection between throat and lungs).

    There are also facilities, notably those outside US borders, which will provide much more dynamic activities. One of the most popular is a foot push. This has the swimmer floating belly-down on the surface, legs straight out behind them and knees locked. Either one or two dolphins will come up behind you, place their rostrum against the ball of your foot, and vigorously propel you along the surface.

    I know this may sound unnerving, but I can assure you from direct experience that is it not in the least painful and it’s a heck of a lot of fun! I was fortunate enough to have two strong male dolphins on my last one, at Xel Ha, and they pushed hard enough that I was nearly lifted up to my ankles!

    Other popular ‘ride’ activities include a dorsal tow. This is where you float vertically in the water, and one or two dolphins will come alongside and offer their dorsal fin. What you want to do is grip as close to the base of the fin as you can - and then hang on tight! You’ll get towed along the surface at a pretty good clip.

    One word of advice on this one. Don’t let yourself simply drag behind the animal, arm fully extended, especially if you’ve got two dolphins doing the pulling. Instead, pull yourself forward a bit with your bicep muscles. This will help the dolphin(s) by giving them more space for those big tail flukes of theirs to do the work.

    Another ‘action’ activity you might see is called a ‘belly ride.’ This one is tricky, so be sure to follow the trainer’s instructions to the letter if it’s offered. What happens is that you’ll swim out to mid-pool, and the dolphin (just one for this behavior, almost never two) will swim by you belly-up. You’ll grab on to one of their pectoral (or ‘pec’) fins with one hand and, as they pass, pull yourself across their body and grab the other fin.

    Once the animal feels that you’re settled, they’ll pick up speed and bring you back to the platform, dock, or wherever the trainer and the group are.

    With this one, it’s even more critical to grip as far down on the pec fin as possible, near the base. DO NOT grip at the middle or top, as this will pose a greatly increased risk of injury to the dolphin involved if they happen to take off suddenly.

    Remember that no program is going to compel you, in any way, to do something you don’t feel comfortable with. Don’t ever feel embarrassed about opting out of any part of the program you don’t want to do.

    On the flip-side: If you suddenly feel differently, after witnessing a few other participants do something you were initially uncomfortable with, don’t be at all shy about telling the trainer as much and asking for another chance! Every single one that I’ve met to date will be happy to oblige, assuming the dolphins are also willing.

THE TRUTH ABOUT INTERACTIVE PROGRAMS

    Dolphin interactive programs, as well as the entire field of captive animals, have their critics and detractors. Unfortunately, many of the people and organizations in that realm apparently think nothing of using misinformation, half-truths, distorted statistics, poor science, and even outright lies to further their agenda. Two of the chief offenders in this area are PETA, euphemistically named People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and (alarmingly enough) the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

    As just one example, the HSUS, in their position paper entitled “Why You Shouldn’t Swim With Dolphins,” makes a bold (and inaccurate) statement: “They don’t like it and you could be hurt.”

    Well, HSUS, guess what? You can “be hurt” crossing the street. Or falling off a ladder. Or slipping in the bathtub. Or doing your daily commute to work. Or even handling a can opener. Or any of thousands of other routine activities we all carry on every day of our lives without a second thought.

    As for the part of the statement that says “They don’t like it,” I would love to know how, exactly, HSUS came up with that. Do they secretly run an interactive program on the side? Have they retained the services of marine mammal professionals to objectively review a quantity of the programs, and come up with some definitive answers on the topic?

    No. Not in the least. In fact, reading through their position paper, I can find no hard evidence whatsoever. All they do is allude to dolphins’ “agitated and aggressive behavior during forced interactions.”

    No marine mammal facility worth their salt would ever so much as consider trying to “force” their animals to do anything, least of all interaction with the public. The very idea of a human trying to “force” desired behavior out of a critter that outweighs them by several hundred pounds, and that can get out of range of any such attempt in less than two heartbeats, is ludicrous at best. It Just Won’t Work.

    Think about it. If the dolphins in these programs truly didn’t like what they were doing, they would simply shut down and not do anything the training staff asked of them. If people were put in the water regardless, the animals would simply move out of range and avoid them. Complaints and demands for refunds would promptly follow, and it is likely that the target facility itself would shut down as a result. Remember, bad news spreads like wildfire.

    Dolphins are social and curious by nature, just as we are. I have never, in the 34 years I’ve spent visiting oceanariums, zoos, and interactive programs, heard of anyone getting injured by a dolphin or other animal in such programs. The places that do them simply do them well. It’s in their own best interest, and I can’t think of a stronger motivator than one’s own survival.
   
    You need not take my word for it. Get Out There, and do your own research. Compare the arguments, make use of that wonderful skill of critical thinking that we all have (or at least should have been taught early on), and draw your own conclusions. The very fact that you’re interested enough to read through this message speaks volumes.

Please feel free to write with any questions.

   Happy travels!

Thanks for posting.

Best, Eric