In Reply to: Swimming with dolphins posted by Leon on Friday, 30. August 2013 at 15:42 Bali Time:
Surprising your daughter with the experience of swimming with magnificent caged or netted animals who have probably been captured from their wild and free life is a great lesson in compassion and respect for other species.
Read a bit about the stresses these wonderful creatures go thru and all the evidence against such exercises and see if you still want to give your daughter the surprise of cruelty.
13 is a very impressionable age and may decide how she will develop as a young adult.
These are captive animals who should be roaming the ocean and deciding when and if they wish to interact with people.
Whether they are in a concrete pond or netted and in the bay at Benoa, it is wrong and cruel and should not be supported in any way by anyone.
I believe there is an Indonesian law about to be enacted that these animals must be set free or sent to a proper rehabilitation facility and think this would be wonderful.
If you really want a dolphin encounter for your daughter there are many in Australia both east and west coast and other countries which involve going to the dolphins home, the sea or ocean, and if the dolphins want to swim with you, they come to you.
These are wild, free dolphins and enjoy their lives splashing about in the huge expanse of ocean.
These are far more expensive and have no guarantees but are the only way you can show your daughter a real encounter with an animal that wants to interact with her.
Please, reconsider the message you are giving your daughter about how humans treat other beings on this planet.