Bodacious Boomer

I admit it. We took our kids to Sea World to see Shamu about 15 years ago during spring break.  Sea World hadn’t been open very long In San Antonio and everybody in Texas couldn’t wait to go. We thought it was great- at the time. Later that same summer, we learned what we did was wrong, very wrong. In my defense, we didn’t know any better. (However, that never really gets anybody off on Law and Order does it)?

We laughed, and oohed and aahed along with everybody else in the crowd, naively assuming that the lives of their animal performers were  great. I did think about the confinement issue. However, I justified that in my mind by thinking that they really didn’t have to do that much everyday and they only worked 6 months a year. They had major medical; not to mention no more worries about being attacked in the wild or having to forage for food.

A few months later we took to the kids to Corpus Christi, a resort town located down the Texas coast about 225 miles from Houston. Being raised by two avid (fisherpeople)?, Corpus was where we went every summer, two or three times. I wanted our kids to see the town and some of the places that I so enjoyed growing up. While checking into the hotel I saw a brochure that had dolphins on it. It was for a small little business called the Dolphin Connection. For $15, you could go out in a small boat into Corpus Christi bay and interact with wild dolphins, so it said. I called and booked our trip for our last day of vacation.

The next few days were fun, a little too much sun and some so-so food; but the kids had a good time. They even saw the hotel pool where I learned to swim. I was waiting for the last day. When we got to Ingleside, a tiny little community right by Corpus, we met Erv Strong and his wife and Sonja AKA The Dolphin Connection. Weather permitting, Erv takes a maximum of 6 people at a time, out to see the dolphins in the bay. I think now he charges $25. This trip is so worth it.

It is like nothing you could imagine. These wild dolphins come up to the boat to interact with you because they want to, not because it’s their job or because they get fed. You can dangle your feet in the water and they come right up to you. If you love dolphins and whales please go to the link and check out the entire website. You’ll learn a lot and probably never go to Sea World again.Here’s a link to just one page of their blog.

I’m not against Sea World. They rescue and rehab all kinds of marine life. That’s just great. However, after listening to Erv, who has been with dolphins for almost 30 years, you’ll never again want to see a captive dolphin or whale show. I’ll probably never again get to be as close to an orca as I was at Sea World. I may never even get to see one on a whale watching tour; but that’s OK. I’d rather see them on Animal Planet or the Discovery than ever see a captive dolphin or whale again.

Here’s an excerpt from one of the links on their site. I heard this info for the first time while out on a trip with Erv. Ric O’Barry, who captured and trained the dolphins that played “Flipper” said, “Flipper was the best and worst thing that ever happened to dolphins.
On one hand it made the masses aware of them, and on the other, it created an image of them that made people desire to have, hold and be with them.
What turned me around on the captivity issue was when Flipper die in my arms inside a cold, chlorinated, steel tank at Miami Sea Aquarium.
I must tell you. I believe it was suicide.”

If you decide to go, please tell him that you heard about him from the Bodacious Boomer. We gone many times over the years and enjoyed it every time. Last time it was just Doug and I.

FYI- They have life jackets for your little ones; and it’s usually better when the water gets a little warmer.