Marine Mammal Therapy Ethics and Welfare

Swimming with dolphins and cetacean-assisted therapy programmes raise significant welfare concerns - the evidence for therapeutic benefit is also limited.

Key Facts

Dolphin-assisted therapy (DAT) programmes operate across many countries for children with disabilities
Systematic reviews find limited, low-quality evidence for DAT's therapeutic benefits over other interventions
Captive dolphins used in DAT programmes show elevated stress indicators and abnormal behaviour
Wild dolphin swim programmes risk habituating animals to human contact and disrupting natural behaviour
The International Dolphin Watch and other organisations have raised welfare concerns about DAT
Some DAT facilities have poor welfare standards and high dolphin mortality rates

Welfare Considerations

The use of dolphins in therapy and swimming programmes creates significant welfare harm regardless of claimed therapeutic benefits. Captive dolphins in programme settings show chronic stress and reduced life expectancy. Wild dolphin populations habituated to human swimmers face disrupted social behaviour, reduced foraging time, and increased injury risk from boat traffic. The therapeutic claims made by DAT operators are not supported by robust evidence. Recommending DAT to families of children with disabilities is ethically problematic when evidence-based alternatives with no animal welfare cost are available.

What You Can Do

Do not participate in captive dolphin swim or therapy programmes
Educate families about the lack of robust evidence for dolphin-assisted therapy
Support alternatives including evidence-based animal-assisted therapy with appropriate welfare standards
Engage with disability advocacy organisations about the ethics of recommending DAT
Report welfare concerns about specific dolphin facilities to WAZA or national regulatory bodies
Support wild dolphin research that monitors population impacts of human interaction