To not get swimming with dolphins

[allthegoodnameshadgone]

I just don't see the attraction. Sea lions sound more fun.

Change my mind for me and tell me your lovely experiences swimming with dolphins.

(We are thinking about going to Florida).

It's a bit unhygenic swimming in a pool with dolphin poo surely?? other people enjoy it though and it's a once in a lifetime experience.

I'd never even thought of that part. Valid point though

I thought this was going to be about the ethics of keeping dolphins in captivity

It’s cruel. I don’t know why anyone would want to do it.

sea world type places are cruel. Wild dolphins maybe but check out how eco friendly they are

I don't think keeping dolphins captive is particularly ethical so if you love dolphins perhaps don't support this? I think you can take boats to swim with free dolphins if that's your thing.

Sea lions are potentially a bit more bitey. But, hey if that's your idea of fun....
Dolphins, meh. Now turtles i can get down with.

Please research how they obtain the dolphins, OP. Along with how they are kept & the stress they endure by being continuously pulled & prodded.

It's cruel and should be banned

It's bloody unbelievably cruel and inhumane is what I think about swimming with captive dolphins. Swimming in open sea where they approach you is ok. Please don't do it and don't go an see any of those dreadful Seaworld places where they have captive Orcas (killer whales) doing 'tricks'. Hideous.

Thanks but no Tanks

I swam with dolphins in Mexico, I hated it, the poor dolphins were kept in these really quite small cages at the side of the ‘pool’ that was built out into the sea and I just felt sorry for them :(

It cost a fortune, and even so was a complete money making scheme on top of what we paid, pushy sales for photos and a video that we were made to sit & watch before we left

The friend I was on holiday with didn’t see it the same way, she loved it, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough & felt ashamed I’d paid for those poor animals not to be out in the wild :(

Plus dolphins are really evil...

www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/animals-can-be-giant-jerks/

It’s awfully cruel. If they come and join you for a swim in the wild, then enjoy. If they are in captivity then swimming with them makes you complicit in the cruelty.
(I have swum with a wild sea lion who came to play with me when I was snorkelling once. It was amazing. But I was a bit worried my toes might get nipped as they can be a bit bitey!!!)

It's cruel.

I swam with a wild dolphin in Ireland back in the early 1990s. It was lovely.

It’s animal abuse, as is riding/petting/washing elephants or having pictures taken with other wild animals like monkeys. So it’s not really about people’s ‘attraction’ to doing it, no one should engage in these ‘activities’.

I swam with dolphins in the sea in the wild. It was humiliating. I was freezing and barely able to tread water while they backflipped laughing at the stupid humans. It was very good for being put in my place!

I will google all of your suggestions, thank you.

Please don’t swim with dolphins in captivity..it’s incredibly sad and supports the industry of exploitation.

It's not for me

My mother did it and said it was the best experience of her life. Really ? Better than birthing your own children ? Do me a fucking favour.

I'd never ever go to any sea world or aquarium. It's in humane the way these beautiful animals are kept in captivity . Please watch the YouTube videos about tilikum and how sea world sent him psychotic . Many other wales and dolphins have suffered greatly . Please watch the YouTube videos . No way would I support these cruel places by attending one of their shows

It's cruel, as others have said, and has no place in a humane society.

Had a look online I am going to watch Blackfish over the weekend. What I have googled so far is so sad.

Ric O'Barry's Dolphin Project is amazing too, he calls attention to how they hunt and capture them off the coast of Japan. Wild dolphins captured and forced to eat dead fish and perform tricks for unbelievably stupid humans, for decades... try and imagine that...in a tiny, tiny pool when you have lived with your family pod in the open ocean.

Sorry I can't bear it I really can't - it's as bad as dancing bears in Victorian times. Cannot believe it still goes on .

I did it when it was a teenager... when I was selfish and thought the world revolved around me and didn't consider the welfare of the animals. I wouldn't do it now I am more aware of the treatment of then etc.

Aside from the moral issues surrounding it now, I didn't particularly like it very much. My dolphin was mean and kept hitting me with its tail which actually hurt mere than you would think and it felt slimy and the water was cold and smelled of dolphin/fish. Plus it cost a fortune and had to pay for the photos on top... I didn't find it any more fun than a day at the other theme parks (in Florida)