TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Captive Dolphins may come back to BVi

The captive dolphins may come back to the BVI, Stop this in every way you can. It is cruel. Dolphins

Hi. I agree, but do you have a link to a story?

Oh no. That's awful

Sad. Reading the comments, it probably was a request by the cruise ships. That's a popular excursion in the BVI.

One more reason why courting those cruise ships was a very bad decision.

Utterly disgusting...anyone who has looked into these "prisons" and researched the capture and lifespan of these lovely creatures should fight this..my God what the cruise lines have done to effect life on the islands and in the ocean..and not in a good way. If you want to swim with the dolphins..jump in the ocean.

I don 't believe for one moment that it is a request of visitors or tourists. Most people see this as inhumane! It's the big business operators that see the bucks they can bring in for themselves. It's always about the money. What a shame!

here is a link Dolphins

This was day 7 of my July trip. Priceless.

“Day 7 was a rather uncomfortable ride to Guana Island as we took the northern route but we were rewarded with one of the highlights of the trip. Picked up a ball at Monkey Point and was entertained by a dolphin with her calve. They would skirt around as snorkelers chased them, slow enough to tease but would accelerate if the gap was too close. To say the least we were exhausted but thrilled for the experience in such a natural environment.”

I was surprised to find that at the Curacao dolphin discovery park they have had to train their dolphins to go on open water excursions and when they turn back to the marine park the dolphins are there waiting to go back in before the diver's boat arrives. We all prefer to see these delightful creatures in their natural environment but perhaps if things are done right there are ways to provide a quality of life for the animals without negative consequences.

They are not returning because they enjoy being caged. They do not know how to hunt in the wild so they return to get fed.

This is just wrong on so many levels. They will never get a dime of my money. I have no problem with rehabilitation centers. But to be captive for the rest of their lives is just wrong.

But the point is that they could not bring in the big bucks if visitors and tourists were not willing to pay for the experience. So in the end, it is the fact that there are a whole lot of people out there who don't really care if it is inhumane, and who will pay to swim with dolphins, that perpetuate this kind of thing. It really is quite sad that so very many human beings are so utterly inhumane.

So sad, so wrong. Can’t think of a way to stop them from returning to BVI

Back around 2000 I attended a meeting/talk/documentary-screening at HLSCC featuring Ric O'Barry (famous anti-dolphins-in-captivity activist). This was before Dolphin Discovery was built, but it was in the works, and the purpose of the meeting was to spread the word against it. O'Barry came across as a little too strident for my taste, although I agreed with his desire to not see it built. The meeting's attendees were predominantly white Tortola ex-pats, and also against it. There were a few local there, and all who spoke were strongly for it. Their view was basically, these are animals, let's make money off this. If you know anything about BVIslanders and dogs, this is no surprise.