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?


Photo credit: Willy Volk


Judi W.
Judi W8 months ago

Thank you for sharing.

Jeanne Rogers
Jeanne Rogers8 months ago

Thank you for sharing.

Lorraine Andersen

Always comes down to the money. They need to be left alone.

Fiona T.
Past Member 3 years ago

They should never be affected

Duane B.
.4 years ago

Thank you for sharing.

Tanja Z.
Tanja Zilker4 years ago

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

Ana P Martinez
Ana Martinez4 years ago

All they think about is bringing in the $$, what about the poor needs privacy just as we do!!!

Marina Sola
Marina Sola5 years ago

Let's think about the animals' welfare first, before thinking about having fun.

Shel G.
Shel G5 years ago

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.

Judy W.
Judy W5 years ago

--Forwarded Message Attachment--
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