Surge in "swim with dolphin" offers raises concerns

By Rebekah Kebede

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - As thousands of tourists prepare to dive in and swim with dolphins this summer, animals experts are appealing to them to ask themselves one question: does the dolphin want to swim with you?

Frolicking with dolphins -- in the wild and in captivity -- has become increasingly popular, with a sharp rise in the number of tour operators cashing in on the fascination with the intelligent aquatic mammal that always seems to be smiling.

Harassing wild dolphins or other marine mammals is illegal under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act but the wild dolphin adventure business is booming in other countries eager to lure tourist dollars in the Caribbean and Latin America.

Trevor Spradlin, a marine biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said there are no estimates for how many wild dolphin adventure operators there are in the United States or internationally.

But he said the fad has skyrocketed since the late 1980s when the first commercial swim with dolphin programs appeared in the Florida Keys.

"Around the same time that captive (swim with dolphin) programs were developing, the ones in the wild were developing in the wild, too ... it became a trend," Spradlin said.

These programs have come under heavy criticism from animal rights activists who claim "swim with dolphin" attractions in the wild are cruel and even harmful. Well-meaning swimmers can drive dolphins out of their feeding and resting areas.

"I totally understand why people want to be close to them, but we're basically loving them to death," said Naomi Rose, a dolphin biologist from the World Society for the Protection of Animals.