Text: Anastasia Prokhorova Knowing that I was actively exploring the places of interest in Dubai, my friend gave me the opportunity to ride dolphins. NO, NOT ON WAKEBOARD AND NOT ON MEGA YACHT WITH THE SAME NAME! AT REAL DOLPHIN. SUCH ENTERTAINMENT IS OFFERED IN THE DUBAI DOLPHINARIUM. I WAS IMMEDIATELY SENT TO HERE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT AMAZING CREATIONS WHICH WE LOVE Ever since childhood!
First, let me introduce you to my new friends and tell me how I spent the day at the Dubai Dolphinarium (located in Creek Park - approx. Ed.). Meet the bottlenose dolphins of Enya, Ksenia, Jerry, Aunt and Thekla. That is the name of the dolphins with whom I have to spend the whole day. And which I will see in the evening at the popular Dubai performance - the Dolphin and Fur Seals show "The Legend of the Mermaid". For over five years now they have been living in the Dubai Dolphinarium and give the joy of sharing bathing and dolphin therapy to all visitors. The oldest Ksyusha is 27 years old.
Bottlenose dolphins of the Middle East
Bottlenose dolphins belong to the family of cetacean dolphins. It is known that they live settled or roam in small flocks. They love coastal zones, which, according to scientists, is explained, first of all, by the benthic nature of nutrition. Bottlenose dolphins are able to dive to a depth of 90 m (Black Sea) to 500 m (Gulf of Guinea) for food. In pursuit of fish, dolphins move in jerks and with frequent sharp turns. At the same time, their respiratory breaks last from a few seconds to 6-7 and even 15 minutes. It is verified that in captivity bottlenose dolphins breathe only 1-4 times per minute.
Dolphins are most active during the day. And they are able to reach speeds of up to 40 km / h and jump to a height of 5 m. They are skilled talkers and control a complex voice device. Talking to each other, they make a whistle or bark (if they are chasing prey), meow (when feeding), pops (if they want to restrain other dolphins) ... Under the water they also emit echolocation clicks that resemble the creak of rusty door hinges, with a frequency of 20-170 kHz.
Bottlenose dolphins rest, like all cetaceans, at the surface of the water. But they sleep at night. In the afternoon, a sleeping dolphin can be seen only after feeding: it has been scientifically proven that one hemisphere sleeps alternately in sleeping dolphins, while the other is awake at this time. In the Dubai Dolphinarium, dolphins sleep 4 hours a day, in turn. Instructors say that in the UAE, on average, dolphins have a life expectancy of 45 years in the basin and 37 years in the open sea.
And the dolphins are good ...
Sessions with dolphins are held both individually and in groups of up to six people. It is noticed that both adults and children really like to play with dolphins, hug, kiss, stroke them.
Meanwhile, in the course of numerous studies in bottlenose dolphins, the ability to behaviorally imitate people was discovered. During the experiments, dolphins correlated the image of their body with the structure of the human body, using analogies. They also demonstrated the ability to generalize rules and create abstract concepts, track their own behavior, understand symbols for various parts of the body and pointing gestures.
And the most curious thing is that they all easily and immediately recognized themselves in the mirror, which, of course, indicates the presence of self-awareness.
In nature, bottlenose dolphins are generally not aggressive towards humans. They do not attack, often show friendliness and interest, and sometimes even save people by bringing ashore drowning or protecting people from predators. For example, a case is known when dolphins saved people from sharks. So, in 2004, a group of bottlenose dolphins rescued four swimmers from a white shark off the coast of New Zealand. Dolphins surrounded people with a dense ring and swam around for about an hour, preventing all possible shark attacks. And three years later, already off the coast of California, a flock of bottlenose dolphins took a shark attacker into the guard ring: dolphins helped the victim get to the shore and save his life.
A lot of eyewitnesses talk about the cooperation of dolphins and people during fishing. There is evidence that dolphins drive schools of fish from a depth in shallow water - towards fishing boats, block fish, and then give signs to the fishermen with nods and blows of their tails on the water. It is clear that at the same time part of the catch always goes to dolphins!
Soul healing
According to statistics, the probability of seeing dolphins is 98%, and the probability of swimming with one of them at least a few meters is 70%! I was lucky, I participated in an individual adventure.
The body temperature of bottlenose dolphins is close to the temperature of a person. But it is important to remember that their skin is very tender, and many nerve endings pass through it. And treat mammals carefully so as not to harm them. By the way, that is why, before the session, participants are asked to remove all jewelry ...
When I arrived at the Dubai Dolphinarium, I met another lucky woman who had attended the session before me - a rather sweet and sociable 75-year-old woman. And before she left the dolphinarium, we managed to exchange impressions. It turned out that she had not entered the water for about 15 years and almost forgot how to swim.
But according to her, she so wanted to just sit next to the dolphins and at least "stroke them" that she bought a swimsuit again and decided on a bold experiment. “I was told that every encounter with these amazing creatures carries healing for the body and for the soul,” she confided to me confidentially. “And after talking to them a bit today, I realized that all this is true.”
My briefing went exactly 15 minutes. And then I went to visit the Dubai flippers. I spent about 25 minutes in the pool itself and was literally surrounded by the care and affection of four dolphins. Such kind, smooth, beautiful, funny. How, tell me, you can not love them or harm them ?! But every year, thousands of dolphins die, entangled in fishing nets. In many regions of the world, people annually commit massacres of dolphins (including bottlenose dolphins) for meat, catch them for sale to dolphinariums, and shoot them. And regular overfishing and poaching of fish during spawning, coupled with pollution of the oceans, leads to depletion of fish stocks and a decrease in the food supply of dolphins. Many individuals die regularly from oil spills, due to severe general intoxication and blockage of breathing oil film.
One of the main problems is the constant noise created by ship engines, echo sounders, and oil platforms. Spreading over great distances in the water, the noise creates an acoustic “fog”, interfering with communication, spatial orientation, food production and the reproduction of all cetaceans. The radiation of powerful sonars used by the military and geologists, underwater explosions during exercises and seismic surveys, lead to the mass death of dolphins, causing them an decompression sickness. Recently, entire families of dolphins have been washed ashore - and it’s rare to save anyone! They say that throwing ashore is the result of violations in the operation of the echo sounder arising from the fault of ship's radars. Dolphins lose their ability to orientate and land, starting to cry for help. And the mutual support of the cetaceans is very strong: it is believed that this is why so many dolphins and whales have recently appeared on the shore!
Marine enthusiasts
I rode two dolphins at once, holding both fins with both hands. The average speed with which a dolphin swims is 5-12 kilometers per hour. They swim in circles and always watch with one eye what is happening around. And obviously everyone notices! And when it comes time to demonstrate their skills, then everyone tries to ride you with more enthusiasm than a relative. And do not even try to refuse, depriving someone of attention - they can be jealous, and how! For example, one of the dolphins simply poked me in the back: they say you don’t understand that it was my turn? In a word, everything is like people’s.
But the professional shooting of all these funny moments will become a pleasant bonus. At the exit from the dolphinarium, you can buy a disk with photos taken during the session. Personally, I have already compiled a whole photo album.
And now I show my friends and acquaintances my own dolphin stories: they say, we get to know each other, and this I participate in feeding.
By the way, adult bottlenose dolphins eat up to 8-15 kg of fish per day. They hunt together and always help each other during fishing: with a whistle, dolphins surround the school and prevent the fish from floating away. They say that they actively use all kinds of sounds to disorient and stun the fish. When there is plenty of fish, dolphins hunt in the afternoon. When there is little food, they go out on a night hunt and catch octopuses and fish that live on the seabed.
Having made friends with dolphins, I just could not help but go to their presentation! The show began at 18.00 and after the session, which was held from 16.00 to 17.00 hours, I still had a lot of time! But the hour of waiting flew by. Indeed, the dolphinarium has a cafeteria, a souvenir shop and the only Mirror Maze labyrinth in the UAE, from which, believe me, it’s hard, fun and I don’t want to get out! By the way, the attraction works seven days a week, is open from 10.00 to 19.30 and it costs only 25 drh!
A musical performance with the participation of the best illusionists gave me a fairy tale in which my "brothers" dolphins played the main and very good role ("dolphin" - derived from the word "dolphos" in Greek means "brother" - approx. Ed.). A day spent in the dolphinarium flew by! And he was full of pleasant impressions and vivid memories.
I was returning home inspired, in a good mood, thinking that no matter how much, in essence, we were five, or 25 years old, in our souls we still remain children. And how great it is to pamper your inner child with such a pleasant, useful and amazing pastime, like a session and shows with dolphins! Details: www.dubaidolphinarium.ae
