[caribou] [dolphins] [elephants] [gorillas] [great apes] [grizzly bears] [orang-utans] [pandas] [polar bears] [rhinos] [snow leopards] [tigers] [wildebeest migration]

Shame on the Japanese for hunting dolphins and eating them - it makes me feel sick - they are not fish

Dolphin watching in Australia

I live in Tin Can Bay, Queensland, Australia and we have wild Indo Pacific humpback dolphins that visit us almost every day. Well, we have one called "Mystique" who visits us regularly and who has started to bring another called "Patch" with a few others. These dolphins live in the Tin Can Bay estuary and rarely visit the open ocean. Mystique and Patch will stay for about 45 minutes then usually return the next day.

Dolphin watching is one of the reasons for Tin Can Bay's fame. Almost every morning around 7.30am, the dolphin(s) swim into the Snapper Creek boat ramp area near the Barnacles cafe. Fish for the dolphins can be acquired free at the shop but you will be limited to how many can be fed. This is a control imposed by the state goverment to limit their dependance on human intervention and to prevent any health problems. Very strict hygiene rules also apply to help prevent the spread of diseases. Recent new rules now apply to dolphin watching and feeding, the dolphins must now be fed under the water and people can only wade in knee deep. We have had a few idiots trying to dive in and swim with the dolphins who themselves just simply swim away and disappear for days (brilliant for tourism !!). It is not a right to feed these wild dolphins - but a priviledge to watch dolphins in the wild, so please be aware that this priviledge can be taken away very easily.

Dolphin watching in Hong Kong - endangered species especies

In Hong Kong a population of approximately 120 indo pacific humpback dolphins are struggling to survive in Hong Kong's harbour due to pollution, overfishing, excessive boat traffic and habitat loss.

These dolphins are thought to be an unique sub-species of the chinese white dolphin - a member of the Indo Pacific humpback dolphin family. They are known for their bright pink colour. These dolphins are also found in small populations off the coast of China, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Hong Kong dolphin watch has been working since 1995 to increase the publics awareness of these dolphins plight. More on these dolphin watching here.

You can't kill what you grow to love

There are still those who would seek to kill dolphins. Tuna fishermen who set tuna nets in a particular way, can snag dolphins (either deliberately or accidentally). The dolphins cannot then get to the surface to breath and drown.

In the United States, dolphins are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) which prohibits the hunting, harming or harassing of any marine mammal by any person under legal jurisdiction of the United States and under the International Dolphin Conservation Act of 1992.

Dolphin watching ecotourism

The International Dolphin Conservation Act (IDCA) is a federal law passed by Congress in 1992 that is designed to bring about a rapid phase-out of all purse-seines set on schools of dolphins. The way the Act is designed to work is by providing countries that are currently purse-seining on dolphins with economic incentives to stop. Once the Act goes into effect in 1994, any country that continues to set purse-seines on schools of dolphins in order to catch their tuna will have trade embargoes placed on them by the United States. This would mean that the United States would refuse to buy any seafood products from these countries, until they are able to reliably prove they have stopped purse-seining. The Act also establishes the United States as an official "dolphin-safe zone," making it illegal for any person to sell, purchase, offer for sale, transport, or ship tuna or tuna products that are not considered dolphin-safe, and provides three million dollars to fund research on alternative fishing technologies. The IDCA is truly a landmark in legislation and is important to the conservation of dolphins and other marine life.

International protection of dolphin species considered to be endangered or threatened is provided under CITES, the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. More on CITES

Dolphin watching ecotourism - be a responsible ecotourist

Where to go Dolphin Watching

This is a good starting point and so is this - but there are plenty of dolphin watching holiday packages available online. It really depends where you want to go. You can even go and watch dolphins in captivity or at utube online. Enjoy your dolphin watching but be a responsible ecotourist.