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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

BubbleGirl01 · 10/04/2015 14:46

DH and I swam with them at Discovery Cove (US) with DD who was 6. The dolphins seemed very happy and seemed to like the human interaction (we have a pic of DD kissing one with it seeming to smile ). They seemed well cared for and the environment they were in seemed suitable. It is all 'seemed' as they can't talk to us of course, so we don't really know how they are feeling. They certainly were not trying to get away from us and were visibly 'showing off' and excited.

I don't feel bad about it at all and we will do it again with our other 3 DCs in the next few years. It is an experience that you never forget.

I don't see the problem with animals in captivity as long as they are well cared for, with enough space and kept in family groups that they would live in, in the wild. Living in the wild can be a pretty hard life and dangerous too. On that note we are off to the zoo tomorrow!

meglet · 10/04/2015 14:50

bubble what did you think when you saw the cove and/or Blackfish?

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 10/04/2015 14:54

bubble you are very brave! I would be very concerned letting my child (or myself!) swim with captive cetaceans. You are aware that the various stress of captivity causes mental health issues which may cause them to attack?

Tutt · 10/04/2015 14:57

Bubble thats the thing they mainly aren't in family groups and unless you are a cetacean expert then your little more than projecting your happiness on these animals because quite simple and with respect you haven't the first idea!

Hulababy · 10/04/2015 14:59

I haven't been to a zoo with chimp's tea party ever I don't think. Certainly not that I know of. We tend to go to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park more often than not and that is very much geared up to conservation and animal rescue. The reserves and animal spaces are very large, and a lot of money goes on their care and keeping them safe, including some very big, notable rescues.

queenofwesteros · 10/04/2015 15:08

bubbles please google the cove in Taiji, Japan and you'll maybe come to realise that swimming with any dolphins in captivity is not ok. The annual capture and slaughter of whole pods of these beautiful creatures is what your ticket is buying. You're utterly kidding yourself if you think that any form of dolphin interaction in any place other than the wild is ok. Please don't do it.
On the other hand I'm incredibly heartened to see that yours is the lone voice on this thread thinking it's ok. I've been active in campaigning for an end to places like SeaWorld and Loro Parque for many years, and it's great to see that so many people are now turning away from these despicable places. One day (I hope very soon) we'll all look back at the practice of keeping these beautiful creatures in captivity for our entertainment in disgust and ask ourselves why tf we thought it was ok.
OP, thank you for deciding against this.

ArcheryAnnie · 10/04/2015 15:08

I don't feel bad about it at all and we will do it again with our other 3 DCs in the next few years. It is an experience that you never forget.

Bubble, watch Blackfish, and then see if you feel the same way. Just because it was amazing for you, doesn't mean it was amazing for the dolphins.

As someone else has pointed out, it's also risky as captive dolphins - very intelligent animals under enormous stress - aren't the most stable creatures on the planet, poor things. I wouldn't be putting my DC in a pool with one, I know that for sure.

queenofwesteros · 10/04/2015 15:11

And in case anyone is wondering, and despite what you might be told to the contrary, dolphins and whales are trained to perform through food deprivation. There's also footage of them being beaten in the dolphin pens in Taiji's Cove, before being shipped off halfway across the world to their new facilities (I refuse to call them homes).
Also worth noting that dolphins do not "smile" because they're happy being with humans. They're born with those faces

PtolemysNeedle · 10/04/2015 15:55

I don't see the problem with animals in captivity as long as they are well cared for, with enough space and kept in family groups that they would live in, in the wild.

If you actually believed that and did just a little bit of research, you wouldn't swim with captive dolphins again. You can have unforgettable experiences with sea life without the need for suffering.

catnipkitty · 10/04/2015 16:06

Don't do it, it's cruel and you will use be supporting it.

meglet · 10/04/2015 16:15

saying a dolphin looks happy is like saying an orangutan looks grumpy.

Tutteredboast · 10/04/2015 19:11

As queenof said, there are quite cruel means used to train animals to look like they are happily using free will.
Even of they are happy, how can it be right that a creature that should have a whole ocean to roam is kept in a swimming pool. Just because they look healthy and the staff seem nice, doesn't mean they're ok, and the life expectancies I posted on the previous page speak for themselves.

Tutteredboast · 10/04/2015 19:12

And for goodness sake, they are not smiling!!!!

Tutteredboast · 10/04/2015 19:13

AND... Just because something is enjoyable for you, it doesn't make it morally ok to do!!!

CalleighDoodle · 10/04/2015 19:19

We went to seaworld as a family twice when i was a teenager. We said at the time the dolphines skin looked damaged and wtf at shamu in a little pool. Theres no way i would go now. Or swimming with captive dolphins.

littleladyluna · 10/04/2015 19:32

I'm pretty sure that Flipper's trainer (now campaigning against the captivity of cetaceans) wrote a book called Behind The Dolphin Smile, the irony being, that they are not smiling!

MrsDeVere · 10/04/2015 19:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LividofLondinium · 10/04/2015 21:56

Bubble please take your rose coloured glasses off, educate yourself and develop some empathy. "Smiling" FFS! Dear god, that's got to be the most stupid thing I've read online all day

ByronBaby · 11/04/2015 01:52

Well, Bubble as long as you and your family have an unforgettable experience, that's all that matters. FFS.

RedCheckedTablecloth · 11/04/2015 02:21

Watching a pod of wild dolphins swimming and diving off the west coast of Scotland was the most amazing sight. The thought of capturing one and confining it to a pool is just unthinkable.

OneDecisionMade · 11/04/2015 09:57

Just watched Blackfish, on the recommendation of MNers on this thread. Disturbing and so sad.

Coconutty · 11/04/2015 09:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CrabbyTheCrabster · 11/04/2015 10:05

No I absolutely wouldn't.

Swimming with them in the wild is a bit dubious too tbh - the poor critters are followed around constantly by boats full of tourists wanting to swim with them. It disturbs their natural behaviors.

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