Conscious Choice - Guidelines For Choosing A Dolphin Swim
by Katryn Lavanture

















In this article we will be exploring the swim opportunities and experiences available in the
United States, however the guidelines and protocol apply to any dolphin journey worldwide.  It
is good to know, first of all, that swimming with cetaceans is illegal in the United States
according to the Marine Mammal Protection Act.  The wild encounters that used to happen in
Key West are no longer permitted, so all encounters with wild dolphins there occur from the
boat.  In Hawaii facilitators either try to operate "under the radar" or won't allow people in the
water, as they will be fined if caught.  The easiest place for Americans to swim with wild
dolphins is in the Bahamas where there are no restrictions.
There are many factors to consider when choosing an up close, intimate dolphin encounter.
"Intimate" is an important word here, because when you want to swim with dolphins you are
asking them to agree to the equivalent of meeting a stranger then immediately spending a few
hours with them, touching, hugging, becoming deeply emotional, and maybe even falling in
love. Although dolphin intelligence is no longer underestimated, their awareness and
consciousness often is. Asking that kind of intimacy with very conscious beings demands an
honoring and understanding of who they are and how we can best relate in a respectful way to
them.
The most obvious way we might begin that understanding is with clarity regarding the
difference between a captive dolphin swim experience and a wild dolphin interaction.
Swimming with wild dolphins means you meet them on their turf, your experience totally
dependent on their choice of how, when, and how long they will have an intimate experience
with you. What is so wondrous about wild dolphin swims is that they actually do come to swim
with people – they make a clear and conscious choice to be with them. I have been out on a
boat with a group, anchored, minding our own business, and then looked up to see dolphins
swimming straight for the boat like greyhounds, then hanging around the boat until we got in
to swim with them. That takes a lot of consciousness.  
There is a very clear wild dolphin swim protocol for participants which does not allow touching,
feeding, or any kind of aggressive swimming or boating around them. I have never seen or
heard of one incidence of aggressive behavior from dolphins on a wild swim. In fact, they go
out of their way to not touch you.
Although many wild dolphin encounters entail week long journeys either on a live aboard boat
or a land-based experience, there are opportunities to do half day, land based trips out to the
dolphins.  You can do half day excursions to the spinner dolphins in Hawaii, and can swim with
the spotted dolphins in Bimini on either half day or weeklong swims.
Captive facilities range from research facilities who sponsor Dolphin-Assisted Therapy programs
and public dolphin swims, to resorts who offer dolphin swims as a sideline, to theme parks like
Seaworld, Disney World, etc. What is curious is that most captive dolphins are bottlenose
dolphins who, in the wild, are typically very shy and wary of humans. The conditions in which
the dolphins live vary from saltwater lagoons with nets blocking their exit, to concrete tanks
with no “live” water or sea life in them.  How the dolphins are treated within these facilities
varies as well, but all captive dolphins are trained to perform stunts, and to interact with
humans under the very vigilant supervision of the trainer.   They are trained to allow touching
and hugging from people, no matter who the person is. There is no room for spontaneity in a
captive situation. That very point makes a huge difference in the kind of interaction one will
have with a captive dolphin compared to a wild one who is free to make it’s own choices.
As with all creatures forced to live outside their natural environment, captive dolphins do not
live in accordance with their own natural rhythms. They cannot range as far and deep as they
normally would or catch their own fish, they cannot mate according to their natural rhythms, or
live within a pod social structure, and  are required to interact with humans, up close and
personal, on a regular basis. This leads to the issue of aggressive behavior in dolphins. Dolphin
trainers warn swim participants to behave in a certain way should the dolphins show any signs
of getting "pushy”. Pregnant women are not allowed to swim with captive dolphins because the
dolphins have been known to get very excited about the new life-force energies in the mother
and get more physical than the woman might be comfortable with. Some people have in fact
been crowded, bumped, or pushed by captive dolphins.
My take on the issue of dolphin aggression is this: If you squeeze a very highly aware and
conscious being, with holographic awareness, and sonar frequencies that can theoretically alter
cell structure, into a tight energetic and spatial structure you will have aberrations in the
behavior of those beings.  Whether those dolphin beings have “chosen” to be in captivity as
part of their karma or dharma as some people believe, makes no difference. They have to deal
with confinement that would create stress on anyone, causing them to be testy and off center
with their reactions and responses at times.







It is true that many people have amazing, life changing experiences with captive dolphins.  
Even though they seem very different to me - they are often bored with their confined,
unstimulating homes, and behave differently than wild dolphins - their essential essence isn’t
changed. I do support Dolphin Assisted Therapy, in fact, as I have seen the extraordinary
healing that disabled children have experienced with captive dolphins.  I wonder though, if a
person is strong and healthy might they not have a responsibility to meet these beings on
equal terms, where both human and dolphin have free will to decide in any given moment how
much intimacy they are willing to give and receive. This, then, would be a win-win situation for
all involved, one that reflects “spirit of change” thinking.  
This is an important issue to reflect deeply on – what will you support with your time, energy,
and money when considering a dolphin encounter?
Another dolphin swim dynamic to consider is the choice of facilitator. Facilitators range from
people who consider their work with dolphins a “calling” and for whom it is a primary focus, to
those who are healers or therapists of some kind who desire to take people on a dolphin
journey as an adjunct experience. There are more and more of those kinds of facilitators, as it’
s much easier now to find dolphin swim boats to charter without needing to know anything
about dolphins.
Facilitators who have been “called” to this work have usually quite literally been called by the
dolphins.  They most likely have some combination of life changing dolphin experiences and
synchronistic events that led them to it, and so have a deep understanding of the true dolphin
spirit.
As with any travel operator, facilitators need to make their trips look good to get people to join
them.  In truth, we have spaces to fill and boat charters to pay for in addition to our love of
these journeys. Do your homework, investigate seriously who you choose to go with, as these
are very powerful experiences. Ask the boat operators about different facilitators, they know
them the best. If any facilitator is consistently inappropriate in either the way they do business,
or in their interactions with the dolphins, the boat operators will not recommend them.
Consider what kind of boat you will be on as well.  Is it a monohull which rocks more in rough
weather, or a cat or trimaran which is stabilized by pontoons? Also consider whether it is a
power boat that “powers” into the dolphin waters, or whether it is a sailing or gently powered
vessel that eases into dolphin territory. How many people the boat takes is also important.
There is a big difference in swimming with a group of dolphins with 8 other people compared to
20. There is protocol that should be honored in how the boat and crew interact with the
dolphin pods. They should show awareness and respect for times of dolphin feeding, resting,
or playtime and not put people in the water when those activities are happening.  Interacting
and swimming with wild dolphins is like an intricate dance - it takes time to be with a dolphin
pod, to see if they are interested and available in the first place before you start jumping off
the boat, and if they do seem interested it can take some time to get a feel for how they want
to interact.  The captain and the facilitator should both be well schooled in this process, and be
nothing but honoring of the dolphins.  Sometimes it's a No from the dolphins, and that needs
to be respected as well.
However you choose to be with dolphins, know that you are entering a powerful, catalytic
relationship dynamic, infused with more consciousness than you realize.  Being with dolphins is
not a vacation, it is a sacred journey, and should be treated as such.  If you do, you will be
rewarded with a life-changing experience that will never be forgotten.
Photos of Hawaiian spinner dolphins courtesy of Terry Walker