Swimming with dolphins = detriment to the dolphins = an unethical experience.įor this reason, we’d actively encourage you not to book onto any kind of tour that offers the opportunity to swim with dolphins in Hawaii. But, as human interaction can be harmful to dolphins’ rest, the natural conclusion is that: This is also where most interactions with humans occur as these bays are popular snorkelling spots. On Big Island, Hawaii’s spinner dolphins rest in the shallow and sandy-bottom bays along the west coast, which provide them shelter from predators. Is it ethical to swim with Hawaii’s spinner dolphins? Why are Hawaii’s dolphins not more protected?.How can we experience Hawaii’s dolphins without harming them?.Watching this raised several questions for us: There is another possibility, of course: the swimmers were just ignorant of how damaging their actions could be to the dolphins. The boats and swimmers were uncomfortably close to the pod and we were so disappointed that, to these people, the experience of swimming with dolphins was simply more important than the wellbeing of the dolphins themselves. To make matters worse, another boat approached from the far side of the bay, blocking the dolphins off on two sides.
On the second morning, we were disheartened to see a boat chase up to where the dolphins were playing and a group of people got out into the water with them. It was a truly magical experience and one we hope everyone has the opportunity to have themselves. We were lucky enough to spend two mornings watching spinner dolphins perform flips, slaps and spins in Ōneo Bay, Kona, during our trip. They need this period of uninterrupted rest to ensure they have enough energy for fishing and that they have their wits about them. Hawaii’s spinner dolphins rest during daylight hours and feed during the night. Human interaction with dolphins can interrupt their well-needed rest and disturb their natural behaviours. While this may sound like the highlight of your holiday, unfortunately these can be incredibly harmful to the dolphins. And there are a number of companies in Hawaii that offer swimming with dolphin boat trips. Known as Naiʻa in Hawaiian, dolphins are universally beloved and, for many, seeing one could be the dream of a lifetime.įour kinds of dolphins can be found around Hawaii: pacific bottlenose dolphins, rough-toothed dolphins, spotted dolphins and spinner dolphins, of which the latter are the most common.
If you were a dolphin-lover as a child, like Lucy, you’d have had a windowsill of ceramic dolphin ornaments, dolphin jewellery and a multitude of clothing with dolphins on. Read next: Let’s Talk About Ethical Wildlife Tourism Dolphins We’d like to share those thought with you, in the hopes of broadening the discussion on ethical wildlife tourism in Hawaii. This sparked a discourse between us about ethical tourism, particularly in relation to 3 animals: dolphins, sea turtles and manta rays. Hawaii has a lot of rules in place to protect the land, people and animals but we unfortunately still witnessed instances where tourists put their experiences above the welfare of the local wildlife. While our trip to Hawaii was a dream, there were some aspects that encouraged us to think a little more deeply about our actions and responsibility as tourists.
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