Discovery Cove - cruel or not?

[buschqueen]

I booked my tickets for Discovery Cove for April 09 a couple of days ago, but now i'm wondering if it was a good thing to do or not. I just read somewhere that it is cruel to keep dolphins in captivity and that they are distressed a lot of the time. Have I done the right thing by purchasing tickets? What do you think? Can anybody put my mind at ease?

Thanks.

[Guest]

Its entirely your own decision if you want to go to DC, everyone will have different views on this so it wont therefore put your mind at rest..
you could say the same about bushgardens, animal kingdom, seaworld, gatorland, etc.

[Guest]

First post, I've been reading a while

I've had the same thoughts as you, wondering if it was cruel or not (it tends to be a frequent thought when I'm sat watching shamu) but came to the conclusion that are far as theme parks treatment of animals go - I trust Sea World more than I would do any other. Maybe it's just that their marketing has worked on me, but I reckon they treat their animals much better than say a theme park in Europe would

I think dolphins would be much happier in the wild than at any park, but as most (all?) at Sea World have been bred in captivity, I wonder how much, if anything, that they miss. It seems like they're very well treated, and from what I've read, dolphins thrive on stimulation, so as long as they're well cared for and given adequate playtime, attention, etc then I don't think it's too much of a problem.

Also, and this is just another guess really, but I'm assuming the dolphins at discovery cove aren't 'working' all day, that they go to a separate area between the guest meets?

Don't worry about it too much, have fun

[DizzieMinnie]

when we were there a few year sago they had the dolphins ready to do the encounter and it was obvious one dolphin wasn't in the mood so they let it go back to whereever they go and managed with the ones that were left - so not totally cruel no!

its decision only you can make imo

[buschqueen]

Thanks everyone. I feel a bit better now! x x x

[SandyW]

When we did this are few years ago, our dolphin was rather young and the trainer told us that if we didn't keep her interested, she'd go off to see her mum, who was with another group of guests.

The way I saw it - we were there to entertain HER. If we got boring she was free to leave at anytime!

[Guest]

My daughter and now DH then DP swam with the dolphins in 2003 I couldnt as i was pregnant. They had a mother and baby in there pod and she was the most friendly well looked after playfully wonderful little thing you could ever see.
I to grew up with the feelings about zoos and wildlife parks etc, and i have been to most of them all over England. And people will tell you i cant keep my gob shut when it comes to animal crulty. I have to say the Americans do it and do it well comparied to us in England. I love to go to this peaceful place and i can wait till my daughter is 6 to take her swimming with the dolphins. Well looked after is an understaitment they live in a 5* hotel and have the best food. So no dont be guilty and have a wondeful time. I hope this helps as it is my opinion and alot of others.

[buschqueen]

Originally Posted by KathStacey

My daughter and now DH then DP swam with the dolphins in 2003 I couldnt as i was pregnant. They had a mother and baby in there pod and she was the most friendly well looked after playfully wonderful little thing you could ever see.
I to grew up with the feelings about zoos and wildlife parks etc, and i have been to most of them all over England. And people will tell you i cant keep my gob shut when it comes to animal crulty. I have to say the Americans do it and do it well comparied to us in England. I love to go to this peaceful place and i can wait till my daughter is 6 to take her swimming with the dolphins. Well looked after is an understaitment they live in a 5* hotel and have the best food. So no dont be guilty and have a wondeful time. I hope this helps as it is my opinion and alot of others.

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That has made me feel much better. Thank you! .

[Guest]

We have a DVD from Seaworld and on it there are the trainers with the Dolphin's and the Whales and you can see the love between the trainers and them.We were told that if they did not want to perform they simply would not do it and they would not be forced to do it.

Jean.

[Guest]

I've swam with dolphins 3 times at Discovery Cove (in a couple of weeks it will be my 4th), once in Cuba, once in The Bahamas also done Trainer for a Day at Discovery Cove and Dolphin Encounters. I had no problems with both the experiences at Discovery Cove and the Bahamas but I did have a real problem with Cuba.

At Discovery Cove, as people have said before the dolphins aren't forced to interact with anyone - if they don't want to, having an off day then the trainers don't make them. Practically all of these dolphins are captive bred, the trainers love them so much and their environment is far from boring - the only thing I would say is I think their pools are small. Also guests at Discovery Cove are educated as to how to behave with the Dolphins. This is a similar scenario to Dolphin Encounters in the Bahamas, their environment is very natural.

In Cuba I felt very uncomfortable as it was blatantly obvious that the dolphin was not really enjoying himself, the cuban economy being what it is meant they are there as money earners only. Also certain members of the group had no respect for the animal at all. I actually got out as I couldn't handle a certain Canadians attitude and probably would have ended up smacking him one - no respect and no brains.

Personally I do have a problem with the dolphins in the Key West area of Seaworld. Again people that visit there are not educated in not touching the melon, poking, not wearing jewellery etc. I get very frustrated there as people will not listen to anything, so again I walk away. I do like the underwater viewing area (I like to find it when there's no one there and just sit and chill watching them) but also again that's quite sad in some ways as I don't know who's noticed but the dolphins swim past the windows with their eye closed because people use flash photography.

Personally give me Discovery cove and an educated, well organised, respected experience any day. Places like Discovery Cove satisfy peoples curiosity and hopefully stop people hankering after the 'wild dolphin' experience, letting the wild dolphins live in peace.