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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to swim with dolphins?

98 replies

JacksWastedLife · 08/04/2015 21:34

We're going away soon and my family want to go swimming with dolphins, like captive ones. Am I a terrible person if I go along with this and we do it? I know people who would frown upon it but I also know people who have done it and said it was amazing. I am at loggerheads with myself. What I want to do and what I should do are different things..

OP posts:
OneDecisionMade · 09/04/2015 07:19

How about going snorkeling or scuba diving somewhere instead? There are many eco-friendly places in which you can snorkel/ dive with fish in their natural habitat.
I'd Iove to dive with manta rays.

Original poster
JacksWastedLife · 09/04/2015 07:28

I've been snorkelling and it scared me shitless if I'm honest. I'm pretty scared of sea creatures and the sea anyway, hence why it was my family wanting to do the dolphin thing. Boats I'm fine with but once I get in the water it's another story. I want to do a glass bottom boat so I can see things in their natural habitat without having to get in, maybe that could be a happy medium? What do people think about something like this? :)

OP posts:
DevonFolk · 09/04/2015 07:29

OP I can't stand zoos and DD knows that she'll only ever go to one with someone else. However friends who love zoos always go on about the conservation work that they support. I suppose some do and there will always be some that are 'better' than others but for me, they're still captive and there's nothing like seeing them in their natural environment. As far as I'm concerned conservation should be happening in their own countries, not ours.

DevonFolk · 09/04/2015 07:30

Btw, that's just my opinion. I don't know much in the way of facts to support my opinion, it's just instinct.

SeaMedows · 09/04/2015 07:38

NZ sounds amazing, but closer to home, I went swimming off the coast of Mull and found myself swimming with a seal. As the PP said, it was awesome in all senses of the word - they are huge up close and obviously incredibly agile in the water.

Tutteredboast · 09/04/2015 07:59

Glad to see you're not going to do it. Wanted to post about life expectancies of captive dolphins. This is from the Oceanic Preservation Society:
"Dolphin and orca life expectancies are cut drastically in captivity. Dolphins will live for upwards of 40 and 50 years in the wild, but in parks their survival rates are staggeringly low. At SeaWorld San Antonio, the average lifespan of a captive-bred dolphin is four years and at SeaWorld San Diego, 24 dolphins perished from pneumonia in 25 years. Less than twenty orcas are known to have survived more than 20 years in captivity, while maximum life expectancy in the wild is 60 to 90 years. Nonetheless the captive industry continues to downplay higher mortality rates and claim that marine mammals are safer and healthier in their care."

So that's like going to play with little kids in prison who will probably never make it to adulthood.
Horrible, horrible, horrible.
I also hate zoos. The preservation work argument is often very questionable. I feel, do you really have to have a degrading monkey's tea party show every day to save the creatures in the wild?

OneDecisionMade · 09/04/2015 08:30

Glass bottomed boar did very little for me.

Osmiornica · 09/04/2015 08:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ThatBloodyWoman · 09/04/2015 08:45

YABVVVU.

If they chose to swim with you,in open water,thats different,dependant on the circumstances.

Mrsjayy · 09/04/2015 08:54

Dh and dd did it about 12yrs ago it was in a rehab centre the swiming is how they funded teatment the dolphins lived in the ocean came in for a few hours a day at the time i didnt think much about it tbh but it i think its cruel now but you are not a terrible person just coflicted my dd and dh said they wouldnt do it again ignorance at the time thought it was an amazing experience

rosy71 · 09/04/2015 08:55

Go to Wales - New Quay in particular - you can go out in boats & get close to wild dolphins in the sea there.

Notso · 09/04/2015 09:18

Dolphins give me the creeps. I'd shit myself if one came anywhere near me in the sea.
I think any animal in captivity is cruel in some way though from dogs to horses to lions to whales. It doesn't matter how well cared for and happy they are they are I don't think it's right.

loismustdieatyahoodotcom · 09/04/2015 10:00

Thank god notso, I am truly phobic of Dolphins and whenever I tell someone they do this face Hmm. My DH husband tried to get me to swim them once, I wouldn't anyway but I do think it's cruel. I have been to seaworls though and fed one from afar, he was recently rescued but old and unable to live in the wild covered in scars. He was grumpy though my DH said our personalities matched. Wink

TheIronGnome · 09/04/2015 10:02

It very much depends on the venue. Theatre of the sea in florid? Yes. Seaside centre? No.

TheIronGnome · 09/04/2015 10:25

*sealife

spudholes · 09/04/2015 11:30

I've just read this, feel sick. www.seaworldofhurt.com/features/ten-things-didnt-know-seaworld/

muminthecity · 09/04/2015 12:18

I was in Portugal with friends last week, they all went to swim with dolphins in captivity, I refused to go for all the reasons stated above. Instead, I went out on a boat and saw them swimming wild in the ocean, which was a far, far better experience imo. Glad you have decided not to go.

Mrsjayy · 09/04/2015 12:33

Not sure when the pp last went to a zoo but there hasnt been a chimps tea party for decades.

aluvss · 10/04/2015 12:57

We are going to egypt on holiday soon and my daughter wants to swim with dolphins, I would like her to see this film, is it ok for a 8 year old to watch?

monkeysaymoo · 10/04/2015 13:20

It's not graphic but she might find it quite upsetting. TBH at 8 years old I would give her a verbal explanation (watch the film yourself so you have some good facts) and tell her it is not an option.

meglet · 10/04/2015 13:42

aluvuss don't let a child watch Blackfish, seriously, I found it really hard going Sad . people and animals are injured and killed.

PtolemysNeedle · 10/04/2015 14:03

Aluvss, there are lots of dive centres in Egypt, assuming you are going to the Red Sea resorts, and they often run scuba course for children from 8 years old. They usually include some education about marine conservation, something like that could be really good for your dd if she's interested in marine life.

Mrsjayy · 10/04/2015 14:12

No dont let her watch it it is horrific really upsetting and there is also scenes of a whale getting semen collected which is quite graphic the whale and Dolphin society have kids pages on their website that tells them in an appropriate way

Tutt · 10/04/2015 14:19

Swam with wild dolphins off the coast of Torquay and basking sharks!
I wouldn't let a young child watch Blackfish and it deeply upset my middle aged self and I was already 'anti' captivity.