![]() ![]() We didn't create the problem that exists. ![]() More than half of our families receive scholarships to come to our program and no veteran has ever paid to participate. The manner that we have been able to stay afloat without opening ourselves to the public and charging exorbitant amounts for dolphin rides is by creating therapy programs for children with special needs and PTSD veterans, and using these efforts to justify fundraising. So along the way, to care for these animals at the highest level is also a significant cost that we work relentlessly to raise. That said, this requires an immense amount of support and working to acquire the $10+ million is very challenging as you can imagine. Our goal is to give these dolphins the best possible lives and working to raise the funds with other collaborative partners to create an open ocean sanctuary. To clarify how our dolphins came to the center so you can better understand what we are working to achieve, over the course of the last decades we have successfully removed these 8 dolphins from being used in "swim with dolphins" programs and we DO NOT offer these experiences to the public. It has been a long journey to achieve what we have achieved and there is a long way to go. This is our primary focus and we do everything in our power to avoid exploitation of animals in every manner. We feel exactly the same about animals being taken from the wild and are 100% against those practices, which is why we have spent our lives trying to come up with solutions. We understand your sentiment and we are absolutely in alignment with what you are saying. I feel bad that so many are duped into buying tickets and continuing the cycle of hunting sea life to trap them in a pool until they die.Īnd thank you for your response. ![]() Have you ever seen Black Fish or done any research on dolphins or whales in the wild vs captivity? These bold statements are fabricated to make the people working here to feel ok about keeping wild animals trapped in a small swimming pool to perform for treats. This is completely untrue and a full blown lie. When we asked how the dolphins came to the center our tour guide tip toed around the question (I don’t blame her because she was probably told lies from the owners) but she did announce that dolphins in captivity live longer. I do appreciate that they are trying to do good in the world for children with disabilities but it is at the expense of another living thing. My mother in law had bought the tickets and we were mislead about what the dolphin care center was about. We left the facility 5 minutes after we arrived when we realized the facility was not a rehab for dolphins but a cage for trapped wildlife that had been ripped away from their family in the ocean. If we ever return to Key Largo, we'll be back! The dolphin trainers are very knowledgable, friendly, and accustomed to working with families with special needs. The dolphin swims were amazing, and the staff took pictures the whole time that they then uploaded to a website where we had full access so we could be fully present during the experience. It probably also helped that they had elevators at the facility (he loves elevators), and he did some bubble painting the first day before going to swim with the dolphins (he loves bubbles). We always felt well cared for and most importantly, our son was engaged, happy, and looked forward to going to the sessions. The lead therapist we worked with, Eli, has over 16 years of experience at IDC and was a special education teach before that. There was a warm welcome sign welcoming our son and our family, and the staff were also there to welcome us. I'm not sure if it's because they were still in the process of reopening to the public post-COVID or the holiday weekend, but we had the WHOLE place to ourselves during our 2 hour morning therapy sessions. Although the application form took about 25 minutes to fill out, the staff carefully review it to tailor the session to your child and family's needs, and they already knew a lot of specifics about each family member including names, preferences, and dislikes when we first arrived. It was clear that they are NOT a tourist trap or an amusement park, and ARE completely dedicated to animal assisted therapy and individually tailored therapy sessions. From the start, the communication with the staff at IDC was professional, warm, and caring. We probably would have done the 5 day program, but it was the 4th of July week and we had already planned a few other excursions during our time there. ![]() Our family and son with ASD participated in Island Dolphin Care's 3 day program while we were in Key Largo. ![]()
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