Dolphinella in Sharm

[pubestone]

Some of the travel agents are boycotting booking this place. It's nobody's place, on this forum, to tell people not to go but many people have pledged to raise awareness & ask others to think carefully about it. The Marine Connection are trying to get this place closed down as the treatment of the dolphins is disgusting.

There is an online petition and Marine Connections also ask that concerned tourists write letters to the Prime Minister of Egypt and various tour operators.

I am under no circumstances telling people not to go, thats is up to them, it is just to raise awareness. You can see loads of wild dolphins on boat trips and you will get a much better experience.

[HW iaintwoeyes]

Thanks for that pubestone

There has been a thread posted sometime ago discussing the Dolpinella and if you're interested, it's probably worth reading.


http://forum.holidaywatchdog.com/Sharm- ... -7100.html

[TiggerRoo]

and on that note...

http://www.marineconnection.org/seered.htm

go to this link to see what all the fuss is about and see how you can team up with others to try and make a difference

[Sekhmet]

Just a quick word on the dolphins, taken / adapted from a post that has been left as a warning to 1st Time Travellers on another forum:
Dolphinella is a captive dolphin "attraction" in Sharm & is not popular on several travel forums. Several of us have pledged to raise awareness about the place so that 1st time visitors can be prepared when they are offered the excursion & may be better informed to consider the implications, including the possible impact on their own health, or that of their children, by swimming in a tiny pool, with dolphin excrement, plus the results these conditions may have on the long term health of the dolphins, whose immunity can't be at it optimum, given their unnatural lifestyle. It must be easy to get swept along by the tour op's hype & also by children asking to swim with dolphins.
Previous threads on other forums have run into difficulties because it's an emotive subject & some people feel that keeping such animals in captivity, merely for entertainment, is distasteful & unnecessary, especially when they can be seen in the wild. One of the junior Russian trainers admitted to me that one dolphin was wild caught & not born in captivity.
Dolphinella did have 2 beluga whales which were confiscated by a welfare organisation - sadly, it was too late for one & it died. Their pool at Dolphinella was extremely small.
The dolphin pool is tiny for 3 grown dolphins, there is no shade & the dolphins have no privacy from each other, so they bear the scars from having repeated squabbles amongst themselves. Despite the request not to go in with suncream or jewellery, I suspect some still do. It's not that deep so I've wondered if they can swim down deep enough to be cool at times.
Apart from the 30 minute swimming sessions, with 2 people per dolphin, they have to perform several acrobatic shows a day too. Failure to perform adequately results in withdrawal of rewarding treats for any dolphin who fails to execute the exercises correctly.
Sharm is a 365 days a year resort. All 3 are from the Black Sea, where the temps will be nothing like the heat of Sharm.
On the way into Dolphinella, there are tiny cages, with no shade, housing numerous tortoises & a couple of rabbits.
It's nobody's place, on this forum, to tell people not to go but many of us have pledged to raise awareness & ask people to think carefully about it.
Many posters on another forum have seen wild dolphins when out on boat trips along the coast of Sharm; some have posted photos under their profiles Another poster went snorkelling at Marsa Alam & found himself swimming with a sizeable pod who joined him, on their terms.
Divers on the other forum have also posted their experiences & photos with wild dolphins
I also understand that a live croc & snake show has opened near Na'ama Bay during 2007. Feelings also run high concerning this "attraction."
The Tips for 1st Timers thread also contains a section on other less emotive & contentious activities & excursions available in Sharm. Plz click this link to see:



http://forum.holidaywatchdog.com/Sharm- ... -7649.html

As there is a wealth of accessible facilities at one's finger tips today, I decided to research Dolphinella a little more; I wasn't happy with what I found. I also looked into how to "voice an opinion" & what provisions are in place to should they ever be safely removed & felt heartened by that information.
I, & several others, have written to some tour ops & we have expressed our concerns at Welcome Meetings; even tho this may not go down well with the rep.
A poster on another forum contacted Sky Travel, who talked with the Marine Society &, as a result, had tour companies remove any reference that promoted Dolphinella. This same poster has also posted video footage of her swimming / diving with a wild dolphin.
So, in conclusion, may I simply ask that anyone reading this just pauses for a moment before booking a trip to see the dolphins in Sharm & seriously consider if it's what you really want to do? Thank you.

[Honey Bunny]

I think i read some info about these kind of places on the WDCS site that is the whale and dolphin conservation society.
I do admit going to the waterpark in tenerife many years ago and there was dolphins there which did amazing tricks however i wish they were just left alone in the wild. They did seem to be looked after but would be better off in their own natural environment.
I certainly dont like the explotation places where you can swim with them/stroke/pat them etc, that is just making money out of their misery, its cruel.