24. Swim with dolphins

A swapsy on my list was to swim with dolphins as actually this is something I've probably wanted to do since I was a kid but never had an opportunity to do and I had been quite weary about funding dolphins in captivity.  A recent trip to the Florida Keys gave me a great opportunity to swim with dolphins in a more natural setting.

After a briefing about the centre and anatomy of a dolphin, we got wet suited up and into the water with 7 dolphins...by this stage I was actually pretty nervous, they are big, powerful animals and although naturally quite docile, I still was feeling a little bit anxious about entering their territory.  Most pairs are allocated 2 dolphins, but because a couple of the dolphins are younger and still learning, we had 4: Grace and Zoe (3 year olds) and Fiji (the only male in the pool) and Dinghy (the alpha female!).

We got to shake hands (flippers) and rub their bellies, got squirted with water, pushed backwards across the pool, pulled forward, supermanned (pushed forwards) and, in pairs, the dolphins jumped over a bar we were holding.  Of course the whole thing was over too quickly and I'd had a whale of a time (pun intended) but it was lovely to do and would definitely recommend the place we did it (information below).

14 down, 16 to go!




Dolphins Plus in Key Largo is a research centre where dolphins are kept in enclosures that are part of a sea canal and although they are netted in, other fish, lobsters, crabs etc are able to enter the enclosures creating a more natural environment for the dolphins.  Also, the dolphins do not do performances, their primary purpose is to be able to be researched but they help fund this by allowing members of the public to swim with the dolphins in a structured way.