Dolphin Swimming

Dolphin Discovery 2010 Year in Review

// December 17th, 2010 // View Comments // About Dolphins, Cancun / Isla Mujeres, Cozumel, Dolphins for kids, Grand Cayman, Locations, News, Riviera Maya, Sea Life, Tortola, Vallarta, costa maya

It’s that time of year again, the season to join with family and friends and celebrate the holidays, reflect on the year past and look forward to what the new year will bring.  2010 was a busy year for Dolphin Discovery, new ventures, new friends and a whole lot of smiling faces.  Let’s have a look at some of the highlights of 2010…

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Cozumel Welcomes Sea Lions!

Dolphin Discovery Cozumel was thrilled to welcome sea lions into the family this  year, with their feisty characters and silly antics, the sea lion program is a delightful addition to Chankanaab Park.  Pingo and Karla make us laugh every day, and little baby Taco has a huge personality!

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Miss Caribbean World Pageant Tortola

Dolphin Discovery Tortola is a truly beautiful place, but the participants in the Miss Caribbean World Pageant made it gorgeous!  These lovely ladies from all over the Caribbean took time out of their busy schedule to join us for a swim with dolphins in Tortola, we thank them for their visit and offer congratulations once again to winner Marcia Baptiste of Dominica!

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“Por la Libre” Open Water Race

Dolphin Discovery was pleased to be a sponsor of the 10 km open water swim race from Cancun to Isla Mujeres.  More than 500 international athletes hit the water in Cancun and made the ocean crossing to the finish line at Garrafon Park.  Seventeen year old Fernando Betanzos finished first, with an incredible time of 1 hour and 33 minutes!  Televisa Verde made this event extra special by donating 6000 mangrove plants to revitalize the Nichupte Lagoon.

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Manatee Madness in Riviera Maya

Our little family of manatees in Puerto Aventuras had a fantastic 2010.  In June we had a big first birthday celebration for our rescued manatee “Robert”, with a fruit and vegetable birthday cake and a visit from local school children.  In September we welcomed the newest member of the manatee family as Julieta gave birth to a bouncing baby boy,  another success for our reproduction program!

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Merlin the iPad Dolphin

One of the biggest news stories of the year was the release of the iPad and our smart-as-a-whip dolphin Merlin was one of the first to give the tablet a whirl and make his own headlines.  Researchers from “Speak Dolphin” introduced the touch-screen device to Merlin in an effort to bridge communications with our dolphin friends and learn more about these incredible creatures.  The fame has not gone to Merlin’s head, he is as down to earth (down to sea?) as he has always been, a vital part of our Riviera Maya crew.

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“Dive with Dolphins Cozumel”

Dolphin Discovery Cozumel introduced a unique new program this year, “Dive with Dolphins” invites our guests to join dolphins under the sea and discover a whole new way to play.  Chankanaab Park and Cozumel are paradise to scuba divers all over the world, what better way to explore the underwater home of the dolphins?  This was one of my personal highlights of the year, donning the mask and tank and playing with Titan near the ocean floor was a truly phenomenal experience.

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Cruisers Delight, Dolphin Discovery Costa Maya

November 2010 we celebrated the grand opening of our newest dolphinarium in the cruise ship port of Costa Maya near the town of Mahahual.   Located about 400 kms south of Cancun, Costa Maya is a HOT destination for cruise ships!  Dolphin Discovery is excited about our new venture and we look forward to welcoming new friends from the cruising community in 2011 and the years to come.

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This is just a taste of some of the great experiences we’ve had at Dolphin Discovery this year, I could write all day about new births and visiting celebrities and the numerous charity and community events that we were honored to be a part of.  I would like to thank every member of the Dolphin Discovery team for all their hard work and smiles, let’s do it again next year!

To all of you, our guests, we thank you for making 2010 a special year and we wish you a happy and safe holiday season and a new year full of love, life, happiness and success.  Dolphin hugs and kisses to everyone, see you in 2011!

Dolphin Fun Facts

// October 12th, 2009 // View Comments // About Dolphins, Dolphins for kids

Did you know…..

Dolphins may live in water, but they don’t drink it?  They get all the water they need from the fish they eat.

Dolphins have teeth but don’t chew their dinner?  They use their teeth to catch their fish then swallow them whole!

You can tell a dolphin’s age by counting rings in their teeth like the rings of a trunk of a tree?

Killer whales are not whales at all, they are actually part of the dolphin family?  They can be up to 30 ft in length and weigh 20 000 lbs!

Dolphins only sleep with half their brain at a time and with one eye open?  They need to be at least half awake in order to breathe.

Dolphins communicate using clicks, grunts and whistles?  Every dolphin has it’s own “signature whistle”.

Baby dolphins are called “calves”, just like baby cows?  Calves stay close to their mothers for 3-6 years.

If you have any dolphin questions, let us know, we’ll be happy to help you out!  Leave a comment below and we will answer.  Hope you can join us to swim with the dolphins very soon.

Swimming with Dolphins- A Kid’s Eye View

// September 29th, 2009 // View Comments // About Dolphins, Cancun / Isla Mujeres, Dolphins for kids

Hi everybody, my name is Sam and I am 5 years old, I am in kindergarten and I love swimming and boats and all the things in the ocean.  The other day my mommy and daddy and me had a really great day, they took me to swim with dolphins!  It was really cool, first we got to ride on a big boat, I looked for pirates but didn’t see any, maybe next time.  When we got off the boat, I saw a whole bunch of dolphins, jumping in the air and waving to me and saying hi, I wanted to jump in the water with them but mommy and daddy told me I had to wait.

Dolphins Saying Hello

I was so excited, I didn’t want to wait, but the nice man with the toy dolphin told me that I had to learn how to train the dolphins.  He told me never, ever, ever touch the eyes or the hole on their back that they breathe through.  You have to be very gentle with dolphins!  We practiced putting our hands out so the dolphins would come and give us a kiss and dance with us.  Then we put on our life jackets that help us float and we went to where the dolphins live.

Be Gentle with Dolphins

We were so lucky, we got to be friends with two mommy dolphins and their little babies!  The mommies were named Shelley and Daniella and the babies were Noe and Dani.  They were so cute, I told my mommy that I wanted to take a dolphin home, but she said that two cats and a dog were enough and that a dolphin wouldn’t like to sleep in my bed.  We got into the water and the dolphins were right there with us!!  They swam right in front of me and I got to touch them, they feel like the floatie toys I use at the beach but nicer.  Their backs are grey but their tummies are kind of pink and they always look like they are smiling.




I was a little scared when it was my turn to kiss the dolphin, but it was so fun and easy and the dolphin kissed me on my cheek and I kissed her on the lips!  I put my hands out in front of me and the dolphin put their flippers in my hands and we danced, it was so cool!  We got to splash the dolphins with water and they splashed me too, they swam really really fast and they jumped high in the sky!  I was sad when it was time to go, I had so much fun with my dolphin friends.  I want to go back again really soon, mommy said if I am a good boy we can go for my birthday.  I think I will bring them a cake made of fish.

My Dolphin Friend

–(Sam is a real kid who really did swim with the dolphins, he’s my kid in fact!  I’m the mean mommy who wouldn’t let him bring the dolphin home.  We went to the Isla Mujeres location and did the program called “Dolphin Encounter“.  This is a great program for young children, a lot of interaction with the animals and time to play in the water with them.  Outside of the actual swim with dolphins program, there is a play area for children and a pool with a shallow area for kids.  Contact Dolphin Discovery to book a tour that is great for the whole family.)

My name is iiiuuiiiioo

// June 23rd, 2009 // View Comments // Dolphins for kids

Bottlenose dolphins identify themselves with a specific whistle. Each dolphin chooses its own whistle, usually by starting the day of its birthday. This name stays the same for at least ten more years.

big big family

// June 15th, 2009 // View Comments // Dolphins for kids

Dolphins are very social animals and they like to travel in large groups called pods. Bottlenose dolphins can travel in pods with other two hundred marine friends. These super pods stroll around several miles of open sea. Dolphins often hunt together, allowing them to cover larger areas.

Tooth fairy’s paradise

// May 27th, 2009 // View Comments // Dolphins for kids

Some dolphins have even more teeth than crocodiles. Bottlenose dolphins have between 88 to 100 teeth, and they only get one set of them for the rest of their lives. They don’t use their teeth to chew their food, they use them to catch their food and then they swallow it.

are sharks afraid of dolphins?

// April 23rd, 2009 // View Comments // Dolphins for kids

Not really, unless the shark is relatively smaller.
This is a common believe, based on the record of a bottlenose dolphin killing a leopard shark, that was publicized by Flipper TV show.

The truth is that dolphins will avoid natural predators whenever is possible. In the wild, dolphins and sharks pretty much leave each other alone, but 70% of wild dolphins show some degree of shark scarring.
In many cases, dolphins are able to elude attack by detecting through echolocation.

Drinks for dolphins

// April 2nd, 2009 // View Comments // Dolphins for kids

Dolphins don’t drink ocean water because is too salty for them. If they decided to drink salt water, they would actually use more water trying to get rid of the salt than the water they drank first. Instead, dolphins get all the water they need from the fish they eat. Their kidneys are also adapted to retain as much water as possible. Although they live in water, they live as desert animals with no direct source of drinkable water.