Is it illegal to swim with dolphins in Costa Rica?
It is illegal to enter the water or drive a boat within 100 meters of Cetaceans. It is just as illegal to drive a boat close to dolphins as it is to swim over to them. However, they frequently approach boats, swimmers, divers and kayakers and that is not illegal.
There is not one study that shows swimmers bother dolphins, but there are countless studies showing boats molest them all over the world, including Costa Rica. The same agency that, with no evidence, wants to stop people swimming with dolphins is also the same gang that said its ok to sew shark fins back on to dead sharks to get around anti shark finning. The same ones that permit tuna workers to swim with and kill dolphins nearly everyday, weather permitting, in Costa Rica. The no swimming with dolphins act of 2006 was a political diversion to pass these other nefarious regulations.
You can get in the water close to dolphins everyday if you work for a tuna boat. Many days you will have to as all available hands are ordered to the water to manhandle trapped dolphins, live, dead and dying, out of the nets filled with tuna. You also get to see and throw away the live, dead and dying sailfish, marlin, sharks, turtles and other cool marine life. The pay is not bad, but you might find the work a bit depressing. Many tuna boat divers say the dolphins scream and cry as they die.
Blue Water Pelagic Dive guide Shawn Larkin, does not work for tuna boats but has a permit to enter the water close to dolphins and whales for photo video documentation of data valuable to conservation and science. His photos and videos have already been widely used to educate Costa Ricans and the international community about Cetaceans, as well as in numerous scientific projects for well over a decade. Larkin says that “Its very rare that I get in the water closer than 100 meters, but when I do its usually to photo what the animals are eating. Otherwise they must come to you, or there is no chance of a good interaction. If you just plop in the water next to dolphins or whales they will almost certainly get spooked and swim quickly away. The offshore Osa dolphin pods have been constantly hunted and netted by the tuna fleet for decades, so most days when they are with people in the water it is during the panic, terror and death of a giant tuna net set. Its absolutely mind blowing that they are still so friendly with us. If you are really concerned about the dolphins, stop eating canned tuna from Costa Rica, stop eating shrimp and do not give your money to hotels that serve these foods. Check your hotels wastewater treatment and only stay places that are not helping to kill the dolphins and other sealife. Please, our friends our dying.
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