Sandy loves balancing basketballs on his rostrum
Instead of tossing the large disk, Calusa surfs on it.
Most of the time, people visit DRC and expect to be entertained by the dolphins and Kilo. That happens, of course, but what you might not realize is that you are also here to entertain them in return.
In addition to delivering top quality food, providing excellent health care, and maintaining a beautiful, clean living environment, we want to make sure that the dolphins aren’t bored, and that their lives are filled with interesting activities. This is known as enrichment and it can happen in many ways. Their training sessions and learning new behaviors, participating in research, or even simply flying around the lagoon in those spectacular aerials are all forms of enrichment.
The dolphins and Kilo are very playful, so giving them different types of toys and other things to play with is very enriching, too. Interacting with them either in their regular sessions, or at casual, unstructured times is another way we enhance their lives. All of DRC’s staff gets to take part in something called voluntary docktime. It’s all up to the dolphins whether they come over to get a backrub or want to initiate a game of seaweed toss when we visit the docks in their lagoons.
You might wonder how your visit provides enrichment. Simple. Your very presence around their lagoons interests dolphins and sea lions. Many of them go out of their way to solicit your attention. Then, when you smile, look at them and talk or laugh or applaud, your actions reinforce their efforts. They’re all very curious so the more people around, the better.
The next time you visit Dolphin Research Center, remember that not only will you learn a lot and have fun, but you’re creating fun for the family pod, too!
