USA (18 Aug 2005) -- CruiseMates.com editor Anne Campbell's dolphin epiphany came during a cruise-ship stop in Cozumel, Mexico. "I wandered from my beach spot to the Dolphin Encounter and stopped in my tracks," she recalled in a recent newsletter. "These highly intelligent, beautiful mammals were in cages as they pulled tourists through a small area of water." She returned as the park was closing: "Tears filled my eyes as I saw one dolphin, his head raised above water, staring out to sea, held back by a link fence." The reaction of travelers like Campbell notwithstanding, human-Flipper interactions are popular at cruise ports in Mexico, the Bahamas, Bermuda and the Caribbean. Nearly 20 programs operate there, and another dozen are being planned, says Susan Sherwin of the World Society for the Protection of Animals. At least 18 U.S. facilities offer swim or wade programs with captive dolphins, up from four a decade ago. And in a Harris opinion poll in March, 72% of respondents said they would be interested in swimming with dolphins in a "safe and legal environment" at a park or zoo. But now, some travel purveyors are cutting back on dolphin programs. In July, citing a new campaign by the World Society for the Protection of Animals, Radisson Seven Seas Cruises announced it would no longer offer dolphin-encounter shore excursions. "We learned that what we thought were natural environments really weren't," says Radisson's Darius Mehta. Costa Rica last month banned swims with wild dolphins and prohibits dolphin captivity except for temporary rehabilitation — the first Caribbean country to do so. | | From Stuart Cove's shark feeding dives in the Bahamas to dolphin shows in Tahiti: It's all included in your tropical holiday package. Though no firms there offer captive-dolphin encounters, at least 25 operators advertise swims with dolphins or whales, says Priscilla Cubero-Pardo of PROMAR, a non-profit group that proposed the legislation. Responsible interactive programs foster a connection that inspires participants to care about conserving wild dolphins and their habitats, argues Marilee Menard, executive director of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums. But Naomi Rose, marine mammal scientist with the Humane Society of the United States, says the industry's unchecked growth and dearth of regulations has led to widespread abuse and contributed to the "Disney-fication of wildlife." Dolphins "don't want to be with us as much as we want to be with them — and in captivity, it's never their choice." SOURCE - USA Today |
