Swimming with Dolphin Florida Keys

[journeyman47]

Please see "The Cove". movie to learn the ugly truth behind the dolphin-swim industry, before you support it. .

Did you ever wonder where they came from? Or how they were torn away from their parents before captivity? See the movie and learn the truth; you will be glad you did.

Please, people, do NOT pay to swim, ride or be photographed with any animals while traveling.. See WSPA's site for more compassionate travel tips before helping to exploit animals in the name of "entertainment".

[wk891309]

Be careful- "The Cove", although a heart wrenching movie, is not entirely factual. No marine mammals in the United States have come from the Taiji dolphin drive hunts, and no marine mammals have been taken from the wild since the 1970's, due to the marine mammal protection act. Successful breeding programs are the reasons that dolphin programs are still around; if the dolphins weren't happy, they wouldn't be breeding. When stressed, an animal's reproduction system shuts down.

[journeyman47]

wk89: What a load of hogwash. Marine mammals are still taken from the wild every year, as is DOCUMENTED ON FILM.

And just because some dolphins breed in captivity doesn't mean they're happy. Were slaves happy? Probably not, but they and many other species reproduce according to their natures anyway.

"When stressed an animal's repro system shuts down"? Now you're just making stuff up.

Stop spreading lies. Go collect your 40 pieces of silver from SeaWorld and peddle it somewhere else.

[wk891309]

@journeyman47

No marine mammals have been taken by the US because of the MMPA. Captures still occur in some other countries, but these animals do not come to the US.

Stress does has an effect on the reproductive system of mammals. It's easy to just call something a lie, and I know putting effort into researching things is hard, and time consuming, but you will look a lot less stupid and ignorant :)

... just google it :)

LOL @ SeaWorld comment and your use of "hogwash". What a comedian ;)

[journeyman47]

Thanks for reminding me, I want'ed to say one more thing: this Marine Mammal Protection Act you speak so highly of. Just because it exists doesn't mean it always protects all the animals... look at the sushi restaurant that was just busted in California for serving endangered whale meat. Where was the Act then?

Any law is only as good as the people enforcing it... and obviously we're pretty weak on that.

PS I'm a veterinary technician and know a little about mammal reproduction.

[wk891309]

Well of course there will be those who violate the act. There are still people feeding and harassing dolphins in the wild, just like we still have people stealing and murdering. We do need to regulate this better, I will give you that... but the fact that we have this act in place prevents more restaurants from serving whale meat, and gives us the ability to punish them for doing so.

PS

I am a marine biologist, so I know a little about biology, and marine mammals :)

[BanWolfHunting]

@wk891309 I can't believe a marine biologist would actually defend SeaWorld-- unless you work there. Most biologists who study other animals in the wild despise places like circuses (And SeaWorld is simply another form of circus) which exploit wild animals for money.

If you have really studied marine mammals, it should break your heart to see captive dolphins & whales performing silly tricks for clueless visitors for 15 minutes, and living their entire lives in barren pools.

[wk891309]

@BanWolfHunting nope I don't work there. I don't even work for any captive facility. I just don't like hearing people spread false information about these facilities.

The difference between a circus and SeaWorld is pretty big. Circuses use dominance theory, while marine mammal facilities use positive reinforcement. Ric O Barry talks about how poorly the animals are treated in facilities stating he used to be a trainer. He used dominance theory, even harming the animals to get them to do things

[wk891309]

@BanWolfHunting He claims the animals are starved, this is also not true. Marine mammals don't operate under those conditions; they will get sick and be unable to perform. The animal gets all of its fish whether it decides to perform or not.

Although the environment they live in is not ideal (I do wish the pools would be bigger with more realistic designs), the people that work with these animals make sure they are mentally stimulated and healthy.

[wk891309]

@BanWolfHunting And one more lie Ric O Barry claims in that movie: no research has come from any captive facility. We now know that dolphins are self aware, are capable of syntax (not even chimps understand it), can interpret abstractions, as well as many other interesting demonstrations of intelligence. Information collected on captive animals has helped stranding organizations develop methods for rescuing stranded animals and successfully releasing them back into the wild.

[BanWolfHunting]

@wk891309 wk: I don't remember anything in The Cove about "starving" dolphins or research done on them.

Rick O'B admits it was wrong what he used to do with dolphins; he's sorry and that's why he's working to stop the killing and exploitation of them now.

And I hardly see how places like Marine World have helped rescue organizations with releasing them. All they do is teach them tricks.

[BanWolfHunting]

@BanWolfHunting

Even if it did hellp, I still don't think that holding them captive in those pools (and you have to admit they're pretty crappy for beings as large as orcas) can justify ANY of the few positive results that happen at those places of expoitation. You know how intelligent they are; all the more reason why they deserve to spend their lives free in the oceans where they belong.

[wk891309]

@BanWolfHunting these animals serve as educational tools to help change peoples perspectives about animals. before orcas were captured, the US military used them as target practice because of the misconceptions we had about them.

SeaWorld has helped in the rehabilitation and release of hundreds of marine animals. Other facilities donate staff, time, money and fish to help stranding organizations. If you released these animals, they would die in the wild. Most were born in captivity.

[wk891309]

@BanWolfHunting Well as long as he's *really* *truly* sorry then I guess I can forgive him for the dolphins he's killed in the process of trying to "rescue" them, as well as the fabricated information he's spewing out to the public.

Are you against all captive animal facilities? What about those that deal with dolphins that have been rescued and are non releasable?

Do you want to free every animal that is in a zoo or aquarium? Or just dolphins?

[journeyman47]

Of course I am not against sanctuaries and preserves that keep unreleasable animals. The definition of a sanctuary is a place that does not sell or exploit them. I am against any place that does.

As for Marine World being "educational", I can't believe a marine biologist would use that tired old excuse that circuses and zoos use and then have the animals dress up in tutus and perform stupid tricks for clueless halfwits.

[wk891309]

@journeyman47 I have yet to see a facility that dresses up a dolphin in a tutu. They probably exist, but I haven't seen it, nor do I support it.

The animals that are in captivity now are unreleasable. They have spent the majority of their lives in captivity or have been born in captivity, and they will be unable to live and thrive in the wild. So what do you want to do with them?

And what about releasing every animal that lives in a zoo? Do you want to do that as well? Or are dolphins special?

[journeyman47]

@wk891309 (by the way I am also BanWolfHunting) And as a marine biologist yo may be interested to know that studies have shown that visitors to zoos and circusese leave with little or no increase in meaningful knowledge about the animals they've glanced at between riding rollercoasters and stuffing their faces with overpriced junk food.

[1948knight]

i liked this video :)

why cant i see the video MP