Irishdolphins - charting interactions between dolphins & people
irishdolphins.com - charting interactions between dolphins and people
Irishdolphins international conference in support of interactive dolphins
Irishdolphins conference 2008 homepage Conference Details Conference background Book for Conference Contact Irishdolphins Go to the Irishdolphins.com website
Please note: Conference 2008 is now over but there are plans for another in 2009 so please call back here
    Alison Burgess

I don't have any formal marine mammal qualifications, but I spent many hours observing Dave the solitary bottle-nosed dolphin in Sandgate,Kent, because I felt passionate about what was happening to her.

Interestingly,my experience of dolphins in Ireland was very different from my experience in Sandgate - so much so that I crossed a boundary that I had previously imposed upon myself, and swam with Dusty (Marra).It was an amazing experience, and I do feel changed in a way that I cannot fully explain.

It's true to say,however, that I haven't changed my views so radically that I think it is always OK to swim with dolphins(I am still scarred by witnessing some of the human behaviour exhibited in regard to Dave), but I can now see that every situation is different, and therefore needs to be assessed individually.

I look forward to developing my knowledge of solitary and interactive dolphins further.

 



Irishdolphins.com is dedicated to giving accurate information about 'friendly' or sociable wild dolphins (and whales) around the coastal waters of Ireland - i.e., those cetaceans who from time to time choose to interact with humans.. Dolphins include Fungie the Dingle Dolphin, Dony and Dusty.