A recent road trip to South Carolina included a nature boat tour on Broad Creek. It was a pretty day; the water was calm and there was a lot to see.
But what I really wanted to see was a wild dolphin. This was not my first time hoping to see these amazing creatures in the wild. Some years ago, I set out with a similar goal near St Augustine, Florida. On that first attempt, we were kayaking in the Matanzas Inlet/ Pellicer Creek area. The tour operators guaranteed we would see dolphins.
Our kayaks were equipped with soft lights and the tour was scheduled around sunset. It was beautiful!
We saw entire schools of mullet leaping out of the water but we didn’t see a single dolphin—not even off in the distance! At the end of the tour, to make good on their promise that we would see dolphins, the guide offered us tickets to the nearby dolphin amusement park. We did not accept the tickets and we learned a valuable lesson: there are no guarantees when it comes to viewing wildlife!
Given this previous experience, my expectations for the recent Broad Creek boat tour were quite low. I was hoping to see a dolphin but wasn’t counting on it. So, I was thrilled when we actually spotted a wild dolphin—a Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncates). The first sighting was off in the distance—a barely discernible half-moon-shaped dorsal fin just above the water.
We watched carefully for the dolphin to resurface. Dolphins are oxygen-breathing mammals and, although they can hold their breath for over five minutes, they typically dive for 20-40 seconds.
The captain cautiously moved his boat in the direction of the dolphin so we could get a closer look.
It was not the only dolphin we saw. Over the course of our 2-hour tour, we saw 4 dolphins!
The captain took care not to approach the dolphins head on nor at high speed. And he did not chase nor harass the dolphins. He also ensured the dolphins weren’t overcrowded—if another boat was nearby, he backed away. These are all important practices a responsible tour operator will follow to ensure minimal impact on the dolphins (see More Info below).
Watching these beautiful creatures glide through the water so effortlessly was amazing.
We were all thrilled when one curious dolphin decided to take a closer look at us.
But when it appeared the dolphin was studying us as intently as we were studying them, it was awe-inspiring.
Its curiosity apparently satisfied; the dolphin moved on to other pursuits.
We returned to the dock all smiles! As I was walking along the pier, I noticed a group of people off to one side looking into the water. Incredibly, there was a dolphin, right there, beside the dock!
Of course, I had to investigate. Turns out, a fisherman was cleaning his catch and occasionally throwing his discards into the water. The dolphin, apparently familiar with this routine, waited patiently for any scraps. Meanwhile, our small group stood in awe!
I was busy taking photos when a bizarre thing happened. The people started to clap—as if they were at an amusement park and the dolphin was performing for them—as if a wild dolphin would appreciate applause! It was unnatural and disturbingly unsettling! I can’t imagine this happening for any other wildlife sighting… would people clap if they spotted a moose? Or a puffin? Or a monkey?
Of course, anyone who has attended a marine amusement park would understand why these people clapped. It is, I suppose, a learned behavior—the dolphin does a trick, you clap your hands. I admit, I attended one of these shows—over 20 years ago, before I knew better. Some might argue that these shows are educational but I think Ric O’Barry, Dolphin Project Founder/Director, says it best with his pithy observation that “Dolphin shows are as educational about dolphins as Mickey Mouse is about real mice.”
Nowadays, anyone who cares about nature and marine wildlife, avoids shows, parks and programs that involve captured dolphins. You can, in fact, make your views known on this subject by joining O’Barry’s Dolphin Project pledge to NOT buy a ticket to a dolphin show (see More Info section below).
In her 2016 book, Saving Wild: Inspiration from 50 Leading Conservationists, Lori Robinson recognizes “men and women who have devoted their lives to saving some of the most endangered species and the most threatened areas on earth”. O’Barry is one of these people and he has been fighting against the multi-billion-dollar dolphin captivity industry for over 50 years. But he started his career on the other side of the issue.
In his 1988 book, Behind the Dolphin Smile, O’Barry writes: “I was the trainer of the dolphins for the TV series ‘Flipper’ [broadcast on NBC from September 1964 to April 1967], the lovable and resourceful sea mammal that a whole generation grew up with. The series ran four years originally, and is still [in 1988, when the book was written] shown in about thirty-six foreign countries. So the whole world to some extent has grown up with him. I grew to respect and love all five of the dolphins who played the part of Flipper, but especially Kathy. The most valuable and highly trained animal in the world, she played the role most of the time.” It started with the film Flipper in 1963.
“The movie … was a big success and Ivan Tors [producer] signed to do a sequel, Flipper’s New Adventure, a feature film that would also serve as a pilot for a possible TV series. Even before it was shown in theaters, NBC saw the film, liked it, and signed the TV series for a year.” It was a huge entertainment business success story — two movies, a multi-year TV series and lots of themed merchandise, such as this 1967 metal lunch box. (Learn more about the Lunch Box Museum in my previous blog post No Such Thing as a Free Lunch Box.)
After the show wrapped up, the show’s dolphins were retired but the public’s fascination with dolphins did not wane. Marine amusement parks and shows flourished. “It was the Flipper TV series that created this multi-billion-dollar industry. It created the desire to swim with them and to kiss them and hold them and hug them and love them to death.” says O’Barry in the award-winning documentary The Cove.
O’Barry, himself, went from being the most famous dolphin trainer in the world to one of the strongest opponents of dolphin captivity. “When Kathy, the dolphin who played Flipper most of the time died in his arms, O’Barry realized that capturing dolphins and training them to perform silly tricks is simply wrong. From that moment on, O’Barry knew what he must do with his life.” states the Ric O’Barry Project Dolphin website.
“Wild dolphins don’t jump through hoops, dance on their tails, applaud themselves with their pectoral fins, or tow people through the water. Wild dolphins don’t live in tanks, where their movement, diet, social structure, behavior and entire way of life is manipulated, controlled and restricted.” explains the website. “One of the most concerning aspects of dolphin captivity, is that it teaches the public that it’s okay to mock and disrespect one of nature’s most fascinating ambassadors. The entertainment industry profits from twisting a beautiful and sentient species into a parody of itself.”
Interestingly, O’Barry is not the only expert who changed their position after working closely with dolphins. Dr. Lori Marino is a Neuroscientist and President of the Whale Sanctuary Project. “The mission of the Whale Sanctuary Project is to transform the way people relate to whales and dolphins by bringing an end to their exploitation.” states their website. “We do this by: creating seaside sanctuaries, assisting with international marine mammal rescues and advancing whale and dolphin science. … In the sanctuary we are creating in Nova Scotia, orca and beluga whales coming from marine entertainment parks will be in a natural ocean environment of one hundred netted off acres, receiving lifetime care, where they will explore, dive, play, and choose how to spend their time. The enrichment and stimulation of the wild ocean world will provide them with the opportunity to exercise their most natural whale behaviors, and give them the chance to thrive- back to nature.”
In her online article, The Landmark Study that Led Me to Reject Research on Captive Whales and Dolphins, Dr Marino explains “The year was 2001, and I was working with another scientist, Diana Reiss, at the New York Aquarium to see if bottlenose dolphins could recognize themselves in a mirror. The ability to recognize that the face in the mirror is ‘me’ has long been considered a key measure of self-awareness. … The two captive dolphins there, Presley and Tab … made it quite clear that they understood that the dolphin each of them [was] looking at was himself.
Once our paper was published, Presley and Tab shot to international fame as the first cetaceans to demonstrate the ability to recognize themselves in a mirror. … But now I was beginning to see the two dolphins as much more than just research subjects. Presley and Tab were self-aware individuals who had large, complex brains. And they were living in a tiny barren tank in Coney Island, New York … endlessly swimming in circles within run-down concrete walls. And then, not long after the study, these two profoundly intelligent and sensitive beings would meet untimely deaths from diseases related to stress and immune-system dysfunction.” Dr Marino goes on to say “What I learned most from the study was that dolphins and whales do not belong in concrete tanks. I now understood the real significance of our mirror study: Presley and Tab were not just research subjects; they were victims. I felt ashamed that their ‘reward’ for what they had shown us was just more exploitation, suffering, and the loss of their lives.”
Here’s a final look at one of the wild bottlenose dolphins I had the privilege to see in Broad Creek, South Carolina. I was aware dolphins were amazing creatures even before these brief encounters but, after seeing them in person and learning more about them, I’m in awe!
More Info
Previous blog posts mentioned in today’s blog post include:
. No Such Thing as a Free Lunch Box about the vintage lunch box collection at the Lunch Box Museum in Columbus, Georgia.
See How to Watch Whales and Dolphins Responsibly on Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project website to learn more about the practices a responsible tour operator will follow to ensure minimal impact on marine wildlife.
As mentioned above, anyone who cares about nature and marine wildlife, avoids shows, parks and programs that involve captured dolphins. You can make your views known on this subject by joining Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project pledge to NOT buy a ticket to a dolphin show.
The following books, articles and websites were consulted in the writing of this blog post:
. Saving Wild: Inspiration from 50 Leading Conservationists, 2016 book by Lori Robinson, which is available here on Internet Archives.
. Behind the Dolphin Smile, 1988 book by Ric O’Barry, which is available here on Internet Archives. “The heart-felt true story of Ric O’Barry, a successful animal trainer who … came to realize that dolphins were easy to train, not because of his great talent, but because they possessed great intelligence, and that keeping them in captivity was cruel and morally wrong.”
. Ric O’Barry’s Dolphin Project website. “Dolphin Project is a non-profit charitable organization, dedicated to the welfare and protection of dolphins worldwide. Founded by Richard (Ric) O’Barry on Earth Day, April 22, 1970, the organization aims to educate the public about captivity and, where feasible, retire and/or release captive dolphins.”
. The Cove, 2009 documentary, which is available here on YouTube. “A team of activists, filmmakers, and freedivers expose a deadly secret hidden in a remote cove in Taiji, Japan. By utilizing state-of-the-art techniques, they uncover a horrible annual tradition of unparalleled cruelty. A provocative mix of investigative journalism, eco-adventure and arresting imagery makes this an unforgettable and courageous story that inspires outrage and action.”
. The Whale Sanctuary Project website and Instagram account. This organization is “creating a gold-standard coastal sanctuary in Port Hilford Bay, Nova Scotia, where cetaceans (whales and dolphins) can live in an environment that maximizes well-being and autonomy and is as close as possible to their natural habitat. It is being designed to serve as a model for many more that can then be built all over the world in the coming years.”
. The Landmark Study that Led Me to Reject Research on Captive Whales and Dolphins 2021 article by Dr Lori Marino.
. Blackfish, 2013 documentary, which is available here on YouTube. “Blackfish rocked the entire marine park entertainment industry with its revelations about the extreme stress that captive whales experience in concrete tanks. It brought to light how captive orcas are forced to perform and to breed and how these stressors lead to aggression toward other orcas and humans.”
. The Case Against Marine Mammals in Captivity, a 2019 Animal Welfare Institute report by Naomi A. Rose, Ph.D. and E.C.M. Parsons, Ph.D.
. Dolphin Doctor, 1995 book by Sam Ridgway, a pioneering veterinarian and scientist tells the unabashed story of praise for the extraordinary dolphin that inspired his career. It is available here on Internet Archives.
. Wikipedia entries for the Bottlenose Dolphin and Flipper (1964 TV series).
Today’s Takeaways
1. Always follow established practices for watching wildlife responsibly.
2. The more people know about dolphins, the more passionate they are about bringing an end to their captivity and exploitation.
3. Bottlenose dolphins are fascinating—they are highly intelligent, socially skilled, agile and playful marine mammals.
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