Dolphin Interaction Programs in the United States
2001
US Standards and Regulations

Are we really doing what's best for the animals or just making the best out of a bad situation for them?

• According to US regulations, dolphin pens only need to be 30 feet in length. Dolphins in the wild swim up to 40 miles per day. This means that a dolphin would have to circle its pen more than 3,500 times everyday to simulate its natural range.
• According to US regulations, dolphin pens only need to be six feet deep. However, in warm weather shallow water heats quickly. This can be extremely uncomfortable - and often deadly - for the dolphins, who are unable to escape to cooler waters. The situation can be even more dire for dolphins kept in sea pens, where the water depth sinks to only a few feet during low tide. Not only is there no relief from the heat, but also the dolphin's sensitive skin can be exposed to the sun's scorching rays, causing agonizing blisters and sores.
• Water quality is often extremely poor in dolphin pens. In cement pools, the chlorine levels are designed to keep bacteria levels safe for humans, wreaks havoc on a dolphin's skin and eyes. At the other extreme, tidal sea pens are usually in secluded areas, such as lagoons, where the water doesn't circulate as much as it does in the open ocean. Dolphins excrete 4-5 times more waste than the average human. The result? They're forced to swim around in their own toilets.

Quality of life

Dolphins cannot live a natural, stress-free life when forced to perform for humans. That's the bottom line. This applies to all captive dolphin facilities; no matter how aesthetically pleasing they are to humans.

• Dolphin families are close-knit and social. The young depend heavily on their mothers and stay with them for several years. Some dolphins in US programs were taken from the wild. Others are the products of breeding programs, designed to sustain the country's stock of performing dolphins. Regardless, families are routinely torn apart and spirits are crushed by this industry.
• Dolphins in the wild hunt cooperatively, chase fish for fun and ride the waves better than any professional surfer. In captivity, they don't do much of any thing. Their social bonds are forced. When they're not working, they're listlessly exploring the same pen that they've seen a million times. Captive dolphins are restricted, manipulated into doing things they wouldn't normally and just plain stressed out. Many dolphins die of stress-related illnesses; others become aggressive towards trainers and program participants.
• Dolphins in captivity are restricted in the use of their most astonishing gift - echolocation - because they have no live fish to hunt or new environments to explore. For a human, this is the equivalent of losing your hearing or vision. Dolphins in tanks, in a futile effort to exercise this instinct, suffer a second time, as their sonar signals bounce back at them. This sensory overload can make the dolphins extremely queasy, which is why some trainers keep a steady supply of Maylox and Pepto-Bismol on hand.

Educational Value

What are we teaching our children?

• Dolphin interaction programs provide no real insight into the true nature of these animals. The dolphins used in swim programs are not allowed to behave naturally; they are trained performers. They do what their handlers tell them, when they're told to do it, so that they can receive some morsels of food. Dolphins do not naturally lie on their sides and wave, nor do they seek out humans to ride around on their dorsal fins.
• Interacting with a dolphin does not guarantee that a human will be any more likely to be concerned about species' conservation. Humpback whales are appreciated and protected by people who have never even seen a humpback whale. On the other hand, tigers and rhinos are on the brink of extinction, despite the fact that these animals have been displayed in zoos and circuses for years.
• The Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, the species used in swim programs and marine mammal shows, is not an endangered species. Therefore, any "scientific" research performed on captive animals has limited value, except to help the industry deal with its growing inventory of performing dolphins.