Reply to Diana,

Wild dolphins routinely die from ingesting naturally occuring toxins (e.g. red tides in Florida) without warning.

I believe dolphin encounter programs would provide a safer food supply and cleaner environment, and more importantly educate their audiences about the need to protect our natural resources from pollutants because inspiring animals like dolphins live there.

When humans began eating pigs a long time ago, it was out of necessity, life and death.
Dolphin encounters are for entertainment only. There is a difference.
You could argue that we no longer need to eat pigs, and you'd be right, but I really don't see the specific correlation between the two activities.
Why should humans be any more cruel than need be?

Diana, I didn't realize South Carolina, which is my home state, was the only state which has made it illegal.

I do know the Sea Aquariums in Charleston and Myrtle Beach do not have dolphin for that reason.

I had always assumed (dumb me) that we were in the majority and not the minority.

GoTravel, I may be wrong, but that was the only US state I could find that had made it illegal.

As a North Carolinian with a husband who is a registered lobbyist, maybe I can get him to take up the cause for our state! :)

I know that the US has been moving in the direction of outlawing this practice. Hopefully, it will happen sooner rather than later.

To the original poster....the only dolphin experience we had in Hawaii turned out to be the best kind. We took a boat tour from the SW corner of Kauai up the west (Na Pali) coast. About 20 minutes into the ride, a (I guess its a pod) of dolphins decided to follow alongside the boat, jumping out and keeping up with it. I daresay, they were looking at us looking at them, and they looked like they were having the time of their lives, choosing to be with us, albeit not face to face. It was an experience I'll never forget. When we stopped the boat to snorkel, the dolphins just kept going on their merry way, off to do what they do (proof that dolphins are smarter than pigs, eh?) There's nothing cooler than when an animal chooses to enjoy your company.

I've just started a pig encounter outside of Omaha.......

A pig encounter?
Yeah, right...that'll be a big hit....when dolphins fly....

Just in case you actually decide to follow through with your swine encounter project, make sure you include:
a) a food court where people can pig out
b) air conditioned quarters so people don't sweat like pigs
c) barbed-wire-free pens to prevent impalement injuries so no one bleeds like a stuck pig

For anyone who wants a real dolphin encounter, sit near the bow of a boat in tropical waters and watch them do what they were meant to. Several years ago on a sail boat in the Bahamas, a pod of dolphins rode along on our bow wake for a good hour and a half. I don't imagine that an artificial setting would come close to being 4 feet away from several dolphins as they swim along with your boat on the open ocean.

Flippergirl,
Sorry I seem to have offended you with my question, and I'll admit you're right. People who ask questions about swimming with captive dolphins in most cases just are not educated in the matter and don't know that dolphins die in these awful parks. For better shock purposes perhaps I should save the question for the end of my post, after they have a little education on the matter. Okay?
Just kidding.

To Maggi
Let me start by saying this is NOT intended as a 'verbal attack'. I just want to address some of your comments.
You say "the animals were handled with respect and great care during the time we spent with them." Of course they were, they couldn't very well hurt them in your presence, could they? and further you say "They did not seem to mind interacting with the four people in our group". Well of course they didn't seem to mind, because I'm sure they were getting the fish 'rewards' I spoke of. Dolphins have a permanent smile, but that does not mean they are having a good time. If a captive dolphin waves at you, it is because it is hungry, plain and simple.

Yes, in the US we have some regulations concerning the captive mammals, but not all countries do, and paying to participate in ANY SWTD program keeps the industry alive. And furthermore, from the WSPA web site: "Currently, the USDA does not regulate SWTD programs, and as a result, record keeping concerning human injuries and dolphin deaths are not complete, with countless dolphin deaths going unreported."

Grcxx3,
I apologize for the one sentence that appeared to be a 'verbal' attack. But I feel the rest of my post WAS 'informative and educational.'

Believe me, I know there are dolphin encounters all over the world but that does not make any of them right.

As for education? Give me a break. If you have ever attended a show at any of the many facilities that offer them, you will find the educational aspect is very limited. They do tell you the the size of the animal, in weight and length. That's about it. They fail to mention the distances travelled by these animals, the depths they dive in the wild. If they told you, you might wonder what they are doing int 20 or 30 feet deep pools.
The only thing that those companies "teach" our children is the 'ability' of human beings to abuse animals just to gain an economical profit. The future conservation of the marine environment depends on the way we educate our children. We must teach them to respect nature of which we are a part and this concept cannot be learned from the contact with captive animals. Visiting a place where animals are enslaved just for amusement and profit is not a positive learning experience for our children.
As Jacques Cousteau wrote: "There is about as much educational benefit to be gained by studying dolphins in captivity as there would be stydying mankind by only observing prisoners help in solitary confinement."

John D:
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 conserve dolphins. The truth of the matter is that captive breeding programs offer no contribution to the conservation of wild populations, acting instead to replenish the industry's dolphins when supplies run low. They make more money by selling the dolphins born in captivity. The fact is, whether a dolphin is born in captivity or pulled kicking and screaming from the ocean, all dolphins share the same physiological and psychologial needs.

And dolphins will die in the wild, from human pollution and tuna fishing, but that does not mean it's okay to keep them captive by providing 'a safer food supply', especially when it's not safer.
Dolphins have been on earth for thousands of years. They are perfectly evolved to live and flourish in their wild ocean home, not within the confines of a human-made concrete tank or artificial lagoon. Statistics of dolphin deaths during capture and confinment prove that dolphins do not belong in captivity. Consider the fact the Sea World, one of the the most recognized captive dolphin facility 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 extrapolated to include the total number of captive dolphin facilities around the world, the number of dolphin deaths as a result of captivity in the last 30 years would be astronomical.

Hi Ally - I just wanted to thank you for all the information you have passed along. I am a HUGE animal lover and truly want only the best for each and every animal on this earth. It truly kills me to see them suffering in any way and not in the wild when at all possible.

All of your posts have not fallen on deaf ears trust me. I think sometimes people just need some time for things to sink in and in other instances no matter what you say - people won't get it.

I am not an animal activist or anything like that, just someone who wants the best for all animals.

Thank you for taking a stand - this world needs more people like you.

Kind Regards -