Swimming With Wild Dolphins – What You Need To Know

Written by: Deneice Arthurton

For many people, swimming with wild dolphins is the dream of a lifetime. Throughout history and for many cultures worldwide these beautiful creatures have held fascination for us as humans and many ancient legends and mythologies tell of mystical dolphin encounters.

Dolphins are mammals, which means they are warm blooded, air breathing creatures who give birth to live young. Although studies continue to assess the intelligence of these creatures there is much that is still unknown. Many experts who have spent years in the presence of wild dolphins suggest that not only is dolphin intelligence equal to that of humans but may actually surpass it.

Whatever may be the case there is no denying, in my experience, that an encounter with wild dolphins will change you in some way. It is impossible to move with a dolphin in their ocean environment and not be profoundly affected.

On our first experience with wild dolphins my partner had just come along for the ride. He was supporting me in my dream of a lifetime but wasn’t particularly bothered either way. After a 20 minute session of swimming with Bottlenose dolphins he got out of the water and was unable to speak for the next 2 hours. When he did eventually manage to string a sentence together, without being overcome with emotion, his verdict was that if everyone could experience this, many of the world’s difficulties would be solved. You need to understand that my partner is a stiff upper lip Englishman not given to overt displays of emotion. He has since been the instigator in each of our subsequent encounters with dolphins of which there have now been many. He talks little of them afterwards, saying that they are impossible to put into words and it is a private and highly personal thing which he wants to keep deep within himself.

I know what he means. Swimming with wild dolphins is a spiritual experience. This may sound somewhat over the top but should you ever be lucky and honored enough to experience it I have no doubt that you will agree with me, no matter how pragmatic and cynical a soul you may be.

Wild or Captive Dolphins?

I personally have extremely strong feelings on this subject. I find it particularly hard to reconcile the fact that in a world where we condemn some-one for saying the word retard we also find it totally acceptable to kidnap and imprison wild creatures.

There are some programmes of dolphin swim that claim they are ‘wild’ encounters or ‘simulate’ swimming in a natural habitat. Make sure you do your homework and check that these dolphins aren’t actually contained within a lagoon or other restriction. These types of places may offer a bigger cage to their captives but the dolphins are still prisoners and cannot head into the open ocean should they so wish.

You will find no references to swimming with captive dolphins here. Aside from the ethical issues there is also the fact that your experience will be a pale imitation of that which you may have in the wild. Captive dolphins are trained to interact with you. No honor is being bestowed, it is what they have done with thousands before you. In the wild, dolphins choose when and with whom they wish to play.

Check the company’s ethics

It is a sad but true fact that some dolphin swim companies are only in the business to make money and the protection and welfare of the dolphins is not a priority. Having said that, these companies are very few and you will be far more likely to encounter companies and individuals whose love for the dolphins is apparent and their passion for their protection is uppermost.

Look for companies who explain that encounters are totally on the dolphin’s terms; who shy away from bothering nursing mothers and pregnant females; who have rules on ‘chasing’ dolphins and have limits on how close boats can get to a pod.

Which type of dolphin?

In different parts of the world you will have the opportunity to swim with many different species of dolphin. Some species are known for certain characteristics and some seem to have a particular desire to interact with and approach humans. Others seem mostly disinterested but may under some circumstances become more curious.

There are no hard and fast rules – these are wild creatures and unpredictable. However there are some generalisations that may help you decide.

Bottlenose dolphins: Bottlenose dolphins, the most familiar to many people, are often known to seek human company and can be very playful, especially pods of adolescent males. They are the second largest dolphin after the Killer Whale or Orca and can grow up to 2.5 metres/ just over 8 feet in length.

Spinner dolphins: Spinner dolphins, so called because of their spectacular acrobatics and spinning lengthwise around their body, have been known to seek human company.

Atlantic Spotted dolphins: Atlantic Spotted dolphins can be extremely playful and interact on a high level with humans in the wild.

Common dolphins seem to be one of the least interested in humans in the water. There are of course exceptions to this.

Dusky dolphins: Dusky dolphins are the great performers of the dolphin family. They can be seen in spectacular displays doing huge leaps, dives, somersaults and twists. As Dusky dolphins stay in large pods, sometimes as many as 800 strong, their presence in the water can be an incredible spectacle and can look like the ocean has been whipped into a frenzy with flying dolphins everywhere. Some of the dolphin swim programmes offer a swim with Dusky dolphins but this can consist of being dumped in the middle of a fast travelling pod that has no desire to have you there. As the vast pod will take sometimes as much as 15 to 20 minutes to pass through, the company will claim this is your dolphin swim. As exhilarating as this may be you will have no interaction as such with the dolphins.

Hector’s dolphins: Hector’s dolphins are the smallest and rarest of the marine dolphins and can only be found in the waters off the coast of New Zealand. So tiny are these dolphins that babies are the size of a rugby ball. I have spent sessions of over an hour in the water with these dolphins and was only then forced out of the water before hypothermia set in!

Hector’s dolphins love to surf. As they often inhabit shallow water I have watched these creatures ride a wave literally right into the beach and only at the very last second leap out the back of the wave. I have also watched them teaching their babies to do this. They will even break off from feeding to have a quick surf if the right wave comes along.

Continue Reading: Where in the world can I swim with wild dolphins?

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