TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Dolphin Discovery..

I'm sure many of you know how I and millions of others feel about dolphins caught and kept in captivity. "Dolphin Discovery"on Tortola, I hear, has been wrecked and all the dolphins have escaped into their natural habitat. I have no doubt they will quickly adapt to life outside. Looking forward to watching them dance and dive in the open ocean..we had " Free Willy'..now " Free Dolly"..My only regret is for those who have lost their jobs and livelihood but, like those escaped dolphins, they will learn to adapt.

Mal, the aerial photo I saw on line of DD was about the only one that made me smile. Not because people lost their jobs but because the dolphins found their freedom.

With the destruction that rolled into that area unless the Dolphins were released before the storm I suspect sadly they did not make it.
G

With all of the sadness that has surrounded the last few weeks.....I would like to hope Mal is right...

Don't be too surprised if some of them eventually return to dolphin discovery and if they do it is obviously their choice......

In Curacao they have trained the dolphins to follow their dive boat so they can take them out into open water. The dolphins are free to leave if they choose to do so but every time they are waiting back at the entry gate to their lagoon well before the boat returns. It seems they feel that is their home.

I remember visiting a place like that in Florida. The trainers said that before a serious storm they release the dolphins and after the storm they aways return. They have become attached to the people and the free food.

Dolphins born in captivity have no natural instincts and probably won't make it in the wild. I understand and agree with the argument against confining dolphins, but they've been somewhat domesticated now. Think about releasing your pet dog into the wild. Where would it rather be and where will it thrive? Best to let them live out their lives where their comfortable. And don't add any new ones! Same can be said for most zoo animals.

Weren't these dolphins taken from the wild?

If they were, they have a chance.
https://dolphinproject.net/about-dolphin...ptive-dolphins/

I had seen a post that stated they were not in the pens, but moved to a different location. Seemed to be posted by someone that worked there.

I'm not sure why natural instincts would disappear due to captive breeding. The term instinct means internally programmed. Now, the learned behaviors that come from growing up in the pod might be more difficult to figure out; When to migrate, where the fish will be, etc.

I'm pretty sure they'll figure out. Hope they got out!

Speaking of natural instincts, what are all of those seagulls doing hanging out by the back of my boat.

I read that too but I call bullsh*t, the answer was too vague. Where do you relocate a dolphin to? The whole explanation is just odd.

People on FB are demanding proof of life pics
https://www.facebook.com/dolphindiscoverytortola/

pooping <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

Seems like it would be easy for them to show a video or something. The fact they haven't could just mean communication is poor where they are or it could mean they aren't being truthful. Hopefully we'll find out.

Michael Fritton ,Lord Landcrab, tells a tale of a dolphin he met in Brewer's Bay while swimming. The dolphin started performing tricks and jumping over him..Fritton thought he was a natural genius til some guys in a boat pulled up to hunt down the dolphin who had escaped from captivity. Hopefully the dolphin got away. So, while I believe dolphins dont forget how to interplay with humans I think they are much happier doing it in their own environment not in some stinking pool. I was lucky enough to witness two dolphins playing with kids in The Bight on Norman and it was magical to watch. When they had had enough they just swam away..

Yes, I agree. I'd much rather see them in the wild then in captivity. I'd never pay to swim with them.

My most magical moment, and a very special BVI memory is of a very early morning in Little Harbour, Peter. No one else around except a male dolphin about 20 yards away. He swam the length of our boat, disappeared and returned 2 or 3 yards nearer to repeat this show several times until he was right alongside. I could see every striation on his body. I'm saying 'he' as he was showing off to a female! At the last pass by he flicked his tail and disappeared. Worth £££££ to me. It couldn't be repeated in a prison, somewhere I would never visit. Keep dolphins free!!

We were on " Jeannius" heading to Martinique and the winds were not helping at all. Mike Beswick came to me and asked how I'd feel about heading to Dominica for the night...and dining at a great place we had visited on an earlier trip called " La Robe Creole" (hope its still there after Maria).As we turned ' Jeannius" towards Dominica a huge pod of dolphins surrounded the boat and led us all the way to the island..magic moments..

We've had a few experiences.

This one on our passage from St. lucia to the BVI (As it happens it was as we were passing Dominica).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPtxweh4BUw

And this one while diving the Indians, which was too short

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84ZYr1YfZaY

Also heard one surface as we were sitting on a mooring in the Bight - we were close to the entrance near the edge of the mooring field.

We also saw about 50 or so in a pod off the coast of St. Vincent on our first trip down there about 5 years ago. Very cool. Same trip we also saw two different groups of whales.

We were sailing from CGB to Jost...and there on a quiet morning a pod of 8-10 dolphins raced along side our boat, it was a magic moment as those that have seen this happen know..captivity? Swimming with dolphins? Seriously!

According to the workers there, the Dolphin Discovery dolphins were moved to the Prospect Reef swimming pool before the storm (they do this every time there is a hurricane) and have since been shipped out to another Dolphin Discovery in Jamaica.

Shame on them..

It's why we would never ever stay at Prospect....ever.

I'll give the folks that visit these dolphin prisons the benefit of the doubt and assume that they don't know that the dolphins were captured in the wild, ripped from their family and social group and will most likely die in captivity. However, they can be informed. Take to Google reviews and TripAdvisor and let people know that if people were not willing to pay to interact with captive dolphins, the dolphins wouldn't be captured and held in these cages.