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Loading...Dolphin Tourism Hurts Dolphins (VIDEO)
Tourists love to put on masks and dive down to “play” with friendly dolphins. And although some people think the dolphins enjoy it, too, conservation experts say it is too much.
In Hawaii, the dolphin population has declined as divers have interrupted them during mating season and/or when they want to rest and be left alone.
This is also currently a problem in Mozambique, where the government has encouraged more dolphin play, which brings in dollars. In one section of beach, seven tour operators are competing to take tourists to see the dwindling number of dolphins.
What can we do to protect the dolphins from too much human interaction?
Read more: animal welfare, conservation, dolphin play, dolphins, hawaii, mozambique, tourism
Photo credit: Willy Volk
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202 comments
+ add your ownAlways comes down to the money. They need to be left alone.
They should never be affected
Thank you for sharing.
thanks for info. I do believe that tourists should leave the rest in dolphins. If the dolphins want to have contact with the people, they will come by itself
All they think about is bringing in the $$, what about the poor dolphin.....it needs privacy just as we do!!!
Let's think about the animals' welfare first, before thinking about having fun.
Sadly, there's no easy answer here. The benefit of ecotourism is that it gives poorer countries a financial incentive to protect wildlife. For example, I suspect that around Mozambique, which was mentioned in the article, if dolphins aren't seen as a way of attracting tourist dollars, they are seen as competition for fishermen and killed. At least "dolphin watching" tours give the locals a reason to protect them. But, as the article points out, that is also having a negative impact on the dolphin populations.
It's all down to human overpopulation. I thnk this should have been addressed in the article. Wildlife is competing with the human race for scarce food and space, and wildlife is losing. Wild animals can't survive in a world that's completely overrun by the human species. We humans need to have fewer children, or none at all.
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From: jwhitney47@hotmail.com
To: bounce@australia.care2.com
Subject: RE: Care2 Personal Message: Comment on: Dolphin Tourism Hurts Dolphins (VIDEO)
Date: Sun, 4 Sep 2011 02:12:03 -0600
I absolutely couldn't agree with you more. Animals were not here for our entertainment......and a lot of that 'entertainment' is so brutal and cruel that I'd love to put these people through the same thing. Our precious animals belong in their own habitat, unless they're babies, injured or sick. Then they should, as much as possible, be put back where they belong and happy. Of course, humans ruin quite a bit of that idea because so much of these poor animal's habitat is being destroyed by man. Wow, who's the smarter animal here? There's too many uncaring, self-absorbed people who want what they want to do and to heck with the other creatures of our planet who are innocent and have done nothing to deserve such treatment. But I do completely agree with you. Just because a person wants to have a "dolphin or whale' experience, that is just so wrong. And capturing killer whales and dolphins to perform (which I'm sure that's just what they want to do) is disgusting. It should be outlawed. I think instead of putting animals in cages, we should just start tossing these idiot people in there instead. I really believe that if the human species came to an end and there was nothing left but animals, plants, trees, etc.....that this world
Interacting with wild animals, though might seem romantic and out of the world experience, it should be done on the animals terms, if at all. Just as they do not interfere in our lives and go about their daily business of feeding, playing and procreating, we should not interfere in their lives. As much as we enjoy our freedom, we should let them enjoy theirs. Since the issue is about dolphins, everyone should read the book by Leah Lemieux 'Rekindling the Waters - The Truth about swimming with Dolphins'. It is an eye opener to the lives of the dolphins, in the wild and in captivity. interacting with dolphins does impinge on their freedom and interferes with the cycle of life they are at that particular time. Tourists often are not informed or care about that.
Why are we humans so convinced that what we find entertaining and fun should be the same for other species? arrogance and lack of respect for other living beings!
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