DOLPHIN SWIM FACILITY TO OPEN

The dolphin programme at the Prospect reef Resort will very shortly be opened to the public, according to reports reaching The Island Sun newspaper.

Four dolphins and their trainers arrived here September 30th to begin a programme run by Dolphin Resorts BVI. Dolphin Plus, the corporation, was the first in the world, in 1980, to put people in the water with dolphins. And now, for all those people in the BVI and visitors who have wanted to be close enough to touch, now you can do just that.

The dolphin swim facility is not actually officially opened for business just yet, although guests of Prospect Reef Resort are welcome to watch an 8:15 am dolphin session. This is where the trainers feed the dolphins and have them put on a mini show.
The dolphins are fed five times daily. When the programme gets started, there will be three paid swim sessions per day.
Three persons had the unique privilege of being among the first to use the facility, when they were given a showing on Sunday November 11th. “They reserved months ahead of time and we didn’t want to disappoint them,” according to curator Steve Kimmey.

He told the Island Sun Tuesday that the facility is still under construction and they don’t as yet have an opening date. A previously announced Friday November 16th date has had to be postponed.

Dolphin Resorts BVI is a marine mammal facility offering human-dolphin interaction programmes. “Natural sea water pools situated on the Sir Francis Drake Channel make a beautiful setting for the educational programmes designed to heighten public awareness of marine mammals and their environments,” Kimmey said.

The four dolphins in the programme - a mother and daughter team Jessica, who is 19 ½ years old and Tracey, 2 ½ years; Isla, who is 18 ½ years old and 8 year old male Kimbit. They all came from the Key Largo facility and have been interacting with swim participants for years. “So, we didn’t collect them from the wild,” Kimmey told the Island Sun, in an apparent reference to the other company Dolphin Fantaseas which was originally scheduled to set up operation here.

The trainers are reportedly very familiar with these dolphins, having worked with them in Key Largo. On staff are Kimmey himself, his fiancée Allison Ginsburg as Assistant Curator; Tim Hoellein as Trainer/Educational Director and Scott Mara - Director of Training.
The facility, which is a partnership with Prospect Reef Resort, offers two swim programmes. In the Structured Programme, the dolphins are delighted to do things such as handshakes, hand kisses, swimmer tows and other behaviours. All guests would receive an informational briefing, which includes facts about marine mammals in general, as well as specifics on these dolphins; some content on the environment and programme highlights.
Dolphins can weigh up to 600 lbs and measure up to 10 feet long. The local facility has 25,000 square feet of surface area at an average depth of 12 feet and the ocean pool uses up two thirds of the area. There are two separation pools for medical purposes and a lagoon pool to be used for other animals, such as green sea turtles.

After the briefing, swim participants are escorted by one of the experienced Dolphin Trainers to a floating platform and take turns entering the water with the animals. Those who are not swim participants can watch the fun from specially made observer bleachers.

The average length of stay is two hours. When the swim session is over, guests would be encouraged to visit other animal displays (to be established later), and purchase a memento of their visit from the gift shop. There are visors, beach bags, lunch boxes, water coolers, wooden sculptures, picture frames, stuffed animals, magnets and key rings with photos of the actual dolphins and other items.

Meantime, a snorkel programme called The Natural Swim is expected to come on stream next year. This is where persons can put on snorkel gear and swim with the dolphins. No touching would be allowed.

“There have been mixed responses to the programme so far…mostly good,” Kimmey told the Island Sun. “We’ve had some negative response due to the fact that people think we are that other company collecting dolphins from the wild, but once we tell them, we’re able to ease some of their concerns.”

The programme will be open to everyone. Dolphin Resorts BVI is working with the Ministry of Education to accommodate school groups periodically for educational purposes. Other persons are encouraged to call the Prospect Reef Resort and ask for CarolAnne, for more information and for reservations.
Dolphin Plus has two other facilities in Key Large, Florida and a fourth is being built in Dominica.