Why do People push when feeding the Dolphins!!!!!!!

[Delboy]

Why do people push you out of the way when you are trying to feed the dolphins!!
When we was there Feb 09, Thank you to the lovely french family, who pushed my wife out the way (on her birthday) beacuse they all wanted to get in the photo!!
Got justice though, once they left, the staff gave me and my wife a private 5 minute session with the dolphins!!!!!
Has anybody else had any incident around the dolphins??

 

[disneynewbee]

We didn't really have any pushing or shoving but it was crowded. One issue we had was that we bought food so that we could get some good pics of the girls feeding them. The dolphins were kinda fair weather friends once your food was gone they went and made new friends LOL. So we were trying to take pics of the girls feeding them but all the people who didn't buy food would crowd up on trying to get closer to the dolphins so much that I could barely get pics. We also saw a kid throw trash in the water and the dolphin ate it before the trainers could get to it to fish it out.

 

[Dolphina]

is it still like that? I heard they let small groups in the feeding area now...

 

[Delboy]

Yes i hated that also, We bought a professional photo taken "from the beach" and in the background of the photo were the people who didnt pay to feed the fish, really spoilt it,
I think they should completely section it off so if you dont pay you cannot come up close, We also saw people who didnt pay put there own food (Hotdogs etc) in the water to tempt the dolphins, Also people putting empty little white trays in, we also had a dolphin who ate that and they could not get it out.
I know it is €7 for some fish but if it goes to maintaining them and if it all goes to a good cause then why not,

 

[Josh Hendy]

They now have a roped-off area where only a limited number of "feeders" are allowed. It is quite roomy and my kids had no problems with crowding. There is a staff member sitting on a viewing platform across from the feeding area who is watching like a hawk for anyone in the non-feeding area who tries to throw hotdogs, etc. into the pool. My kids only complaint was that the number of fish was small, and after they ran out of fish the dolphins paid more attention to the smallest kids in the feeding lineup and not them - which is totally understandable, because dolphins prefer to look at and interact with baby animals the same as humans do.

I got pretty good pictures from standing in the viewing area opposite the feeding area, but a good camera with lens focal length greater than 70mm will get you better pictures. I didn't look at the pix taken by the Seaworld photogs but they're probably pretty good quality, maybe a bit expensive but how often do you get to feed dolphins?

Other strategies for getting good pictures are for a parent to pay for fish and then give them to the kids while they shoot from right beside them, or else to position yourself right at the rope at the edge of the feeding area and try to get the feeders to stand close to this spot.

Oh yes and one more thing - the brown stuff floating in the pool that looks like algae? Dolphin poo.

 

[disneynewbee]

They now have a roped-off area where only a limited number of "feeders" are allowed. It is quite roomy and my kids had no problems with crowding. There is a staff member sitting on a viewing platform across from the feeding area who is watching like a hawk for anyone in the non-feeding area who tries to throw hotdogs, etc. into the pool. My kids only complaint was that the number of fish was small, and after they ran out of fish the dolphins paid more attention to the smallest kids in the feeding lineup and not them - which is totally understandable, because dolphins prefer to look at and interact with baby animals the same as humans do.

I got pretty good pictures from standing in the viewing area opposite the feeding area, but a good camera with lens focal length greater than 70mm will get you better pictures. I didn't look at the pix taken by the Seaworld photogs but they're probably pretty good quality, maybe a bit expensive but how often do you get to feed dolphins?

Other strategies for getting good pictures are for a parent to pay for fish and then give them to the kids while they shoot from right beside them, or else to position yourself right at the rope at the edge of the feeding area and try to get the feeders to stand close to this spot.

Oh yes and one more thing - the brown stuff floating in the pool that looks like algae? Dolphin poo.

I'm glad to here they are roping it off some now I should be able to get some good shots this time and not have to pay for the ones they take. I never realized that dolphins pay more attention to the little ones guess I'll have to entice them with my 1yo LOL.

 

[Dolphina]

good to hear they do it in a better way now.

do they let you buy only one tray of fish now or can I still buy more?

 

[inkkognito]

You can buy as many as you want, and if you don't buy you don't get in. One poor little boy was pretty scared because his dad didn't buy fish and was waiting for him outside, and he didn't really know where to do and what to do.

 

[Dolphina]

is the time limited during the feeding?

 

[disneynewbee]

You can buy as many as you want, and if you don't buy you don't get in. One poor little boy was pretty scared because his dad didn't buy fish and was waiting for him outside, and he didn't really know where to do and what to do.

How old was the boy? You would think the parents would be allowed in with the little ones.

 

[Dolphina]

How old was the boy? You would think the parents would be allowed in with the little ones.

only if you buy fish, i think.

 

[disneynewbee]

So if I buy my 3yo fish I also have to buy one for myself or she would have to go in by herself to feed them. Or if I buy one thing of fish for two of my kids to share they won't let two people in with one tray of fish. I have 4 kids so at 8 a tray that could be crazy costly.

 

[SandrA9810]

no food, no entrance. While it can be a "cool" experience, it's a very costly experience. I'd stick to touching the stingrays. They're just as cool and you're not forced to buy food.

I've tried to get near the tank on the non-feeding side and it's been the worst every time i've tried. Whether it was me by myself, or with some one else. Every one stands shoulder to shoulder and pushes their way in to the smallest gaps. Unless you're going in dead season, you might have better luck first thing in the morning as most people run to get in line for Manta.

 

[PKap]

Fed the dolphins on Tu. the 18th. Not to crowded. We had enough time to feed though we could have stayed longer. We were the last ones out. There were 5 of us and it was well worth the money. As far as taking pictures. First my son took pictures while we fed then i took pictures while he fed. We got some good pictures.

 

[Dolphina]

Fed the dolphins on Tu. the 18th. Not to crowded. We had enough time to feed though we could have stayed longer. We were the last ones out. There were 5 of us and it was well worth the money. As far as taking pictures. First my son took pictures while we fed then i took pictures while he fed. We got some good pictures.

can you post some of them?

 

[qcmommy]

How much is a tray of food for the dolphins?

 

[wwessing]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1790619&page=5

Here's a link to my trip report with two days of extensive details of our visit to SeaWorld. We went two days and fed the dolphins both days. The first day is on the linked page above several posts down. The reports includes details of our dolphin feeding experience, how much things cost and lots of pics while feeding. Hope this helps some folks.

 

[qcmommy]

Thanks I really enjoyed reading about your experience and looking at the photos.

 

[bas71873]

How much is a tray of food for the dolphins?

$7 CASH ONLY for each person that enters the feeding area. We just did this on Sunday!