| Author |  Topic  | |
Jane
United Kingdom
4 Posts
Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Status: offline |  Posted - 28 Apr 2003 : 21:09:02  
| | Does anyone know how long in advance I need to book a swim with the dolphins, we are hoping to travel in July/August 2004- is it too late already? |
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janny
 United Kingdom
2521 Posts
Joined: 13 Sep 2002
Status: offline | |
timmy
188 Posts
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 29 Apr 2003 : 19:30:22
| | We left it too late when we tried to book our dolphin swim and couldn't get the dates we wanted. We booked 4 months in advance. The discovery cove website shows you which dates have been booked. |
http://www.villasflorida.com/villas/899.aspx |
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Jane
United Kingdom
4 Posts
Joined: 28 Apr 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 29 Apr 2003 : 20:43:20
| Thanks for the info. I have checked out the site and they are only operating the date check until end of April 2004, so I will keep looking until july /aug are available.
I was lucky enough to swim with a pod of wild spinner dolphins off maui in 95, we were snorkling off a boat when they just wheeled in from no-where it was a really moving experience- especially as they had a calf with them, obviously its a story I just tell and tell, so my children have heard it a hundred times,and they think its only "fair" that they can do it too. Its really hard to explain we were incredibly lucky !!, but discovery cove does sound great, my eldest daughter will probably want to move in and never leave. |
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timmy
188 Posts
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 29 Apr 2003 : 22:03:37
| 12 of us went to Orlando last year, did all the theme parks, and everyone voted Discovery Cove as the best!
Apparently it's worth booking a morning swim with the dolphins as they are more lively at that time. |
http://www.villasflorida.com/villas/899.aspx |
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WhaleChild
2 Posts
Joined: 11 Aug 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 16 Aug 2003 : 04:56:46
| Hello all, i have done some research about swimming with dolphins. I came across this interesting article about dolphins. I hope that you find this as interesting as I did and I hope that it changes your view about supporting the cruel explotation of dolphins, our cousins of the sea. On the surface, swim-with-the-dolphin programs seem like a fun, safe way to get up close and personal with these facinating creatures of the sea. the dolphins appear to smile as they pull laughing children around swimming pools by their dorsal fins. But you don't have to look too deep beneath this whimsical facad to see that there is something wrong with swim-with-the-dolphin programs.
Regardless of what country they are located in, how crystal blue the water is, whether the trainers claim the dolphins are allowed to "swim free" for a couple hours per day, or how much money park owners spend caring for their charges, wim-with-the-dolphin programs create threatening environments for the dolphins - and sometimes for their human visitors.
The Sad Truth Behind SWTD: Swim-With-The-Dolphin (SWTD) programs allow visitors to pet captive dolphins in shallow pool or interact with them in deeper water by swimming beside them or being towed around by holding onto the dolphin's dorsal fin. Currently, the United States Department of Agrculture (USDA) does not regulate SWTD programs, and as a result, record keeping concerning human injuries and dolphin deaths are often not complete, with countless dolphin deaths going unreported.
Dolphins have been on the earth for thousands of years. They are perfectly adapted to live and flourish in their wild home, not within the confines of a human-made concrete tank of artificail lagoon. Statistics of dolphins deaths during capture and confinment prove that dolphins do not belong in captivity. Consider the fact that Sea World, one of the most recognized captive dolphin facilities in the US , reported 93 dolphin deaths between 1971 and 2002. that's an average of 3 dolphins per year, assuming that all dolphin deaths were accounted for. If these numbers were extraploted to include the total number of captive dolphin facilitied around the world, the number of dolphin deaths as a result of captivity in the last 30 years would be astrnomical!
Wild vs Captive: Wild dolphins can swim over 80 miles a day, they engage in mating, foraging. fighting and play behavior with their pod members and they use their ecolocation to explore their diverse ocean environment. In contrast, captive dolphins and other species are forced to swim in endless circles in artificial habitats, interacts with unfamiliar dolphins and other species, eat dead fish, and perform tricks that are unnatural and in some cases painful. Captive dolphins also face exposure to human infection and bacteria, chemicals such as cholrine, and suffer from stress-related illnesses.
Things to look for at captive dolphin shows and facilites: Dolphins poking their head above water. Captive dolphins spend up to 80% of their time at the surface of the water seeking s****s of food and attention. This is in direct contrast to wild dolphins who spend 80% of their time below the surface of the water playing, hunting, and exploring.
Beaching themselves as part of the show so that visitors can pet of kiss them. If left in this postion for an extended period, a dolphins immense weight on land would slowly crush its internal organs. Captive dolphins have been trained to ignore their natural instincts; wild dolphins never voluntarily beach themselves.
vocalizing for food rewards and nodding their heads as if to say "yes" of "no" and offering "handshakes" or "waving" at the audiance with their flippers. Dolphins are trained through food deprivation. When they successfully perform a trick they are rewarded with s****s of fish. If a captive dolphin waves to you, it is hungrey, plain and simple.
Swimming in circles or constantly peering through the fences (stereotypical behaviors or floating listlessly on the surface of the water. These behaviores indicate that the animal is bored and psycologically stressed. Wild dolphins rarely lie still and with the entire ocean at their disposal, they would have no neem to swim in circles!
All of the above are unnatural behaviore consistantly exhibited by captive dolphins. Dolphins perform these behaviores they have been trained to do so using "positive reinforcments" - the captivity industry's politically correct term for food deprivation. they wave to the audience and kiss the trainers because they are hungrey, not because they desire human interaction and sadly, they often float mointionless in their tanks between shows because they are bored of lonely.
It's ok to use captive-born dolphins, right? Wrong. While countless dolphins are still ripped from the wild to populate SWTD facilities, some programs use captive-born animals instead. They hold up their use of captive-born dolphins like a trophy, proof of their mission to conseerve dolphins. the truth of the matter if the captive breeding programs offer no contribution to te conservation of wild dolphin populations, acting instead to repenish the industry's dolphins when the suppy runs low. The fact is, wether born in captivity or pulled kicking and screaming from the ocean, all dolphins share the same physiological and psycological needs.
Setting a bad example: Unfortunatly, the commercial success of SWTD programs and the high profile of the larger facilities in the US have spawned a legion of copycat operations in the Caribbean, Mexico, Latin Amarica and around the world. These operations are the driving force behind a sharp rise in dolphin captures from the wild. Many of these new SWTD programs lack the necessary funds and staff to propery care for the dolphins.
Perhaps the most damaging aspect of the SWTD industry is the misconception it perpetuates amoung the general public. These captures are carried out in secret - far from the public's eye - so obtaaining an accurate number of dolphins killed is nearly impossible.What we do know is that of those dolphins thatr survive the capture and are brought into captivity, 53% die within their first 3 months in a tank. Every seven years, half of all captive dolphins die due to the violence of their capture, intestinal disease, chorine poisoning and stress-related illness. To the captivity industry these numbers are accepted as standard operating expenses, but if this information was printed on SWTD brochures, it is unlikely that any person who cares about dolphins would purchase a ticket.
Please I am trying to get the word out to everyone. Dolphins and killer hales do not belong in capitivity, it kills them and it kills me inside to see them being exploited for the profit of humans. If you really care about dolphins and whales protect them in the wild and research about them in bnooks and on the web, you will learn nothing from going to Sea World, all they teach you is what tricks the dolphins have been taught how to do.
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WhaleChild |
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Pikey1999
United Kingdom
160 Posts
Joined: 28 Dec 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 17 Jan 2004 : 20:37:42
| | Well that turned into a damp squid then! |
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Kickstart
United Kingdom
95 Posts
Joined: 25 Sep 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 20 Jan 2004 : 12:15:45
| Does WhaleChild have to hijack every thread on this issue? I'm sure, whilst they are well meaning, some of her (his) facts are wrong. I clearly remember seeing a programme about river dolphins who drive shoals of fish onto land and then beach themselves to eat them.
I'm sure we would all love to swim with wild dolphins in a natural environment, however the reality is that most of will not ever have the opportunity. Sea World may not be perfect but I think giving my children this experience once is acceptable.
We tried to book for Easter before Christmas and I was told it was sold out, both by web and phone. However we managed to get tickets from an agent in the UK (more expensive), they hold back a number of tickets for agents.
I would suggest ringing the freephone number for UK residents listed on the Discovery Cove site (00800 33 44 1818), they were very helpful and may be able to make a booking for you now. Either way I would book ASAP.
There was a report about Sea World and Discovery Cove on the BBC holiday programme on Sunday and my kids were both pleading with me to take them. They don't know I've already got tickets and it was a real problem keeping a straight face. |
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Bigblue33
 United Kingdom
113 Posts
Joined: 22 Jan 2004
Status: offline | Posted - 13 Feb 2004 : 21:21:07
| I've just booked to go in July this year, can't wait. Please dont tell the kids!
Can anybody tell me how much the "professional" photos cost? They do look very good.
Don. |
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poet123
United Kingdom
254 Posts
Joined: 11 Nov 2003
Status: offline | Posted - 14 Feb 2004 : 00:03:34
| Don,
Go onto the virtual tourist site (you will have to register) and then key in florida members -----one of the members is a photographer at DC he is a mine of info!! email him with all your questions re DC |
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Dolphin swim
