dolphin trainer q&a

>>2448199
Know anybody from Bad Dragon?

>>2448200
No lmao

>>2448201
I take it you were aware of the silliness that occurred. In all seriousness though is it hard for men to become dolphin trainers now? Almost every trainer I see now is a grill.

Do any dolphins have a crush on you? Why do they seem to fall for certain people?

>>2448209
Was it something dolphin related? I'm not aware. I only know bad dragon as the makers of dragon dildos and shit. 99.9% of dolphin trainers are girls or gay men. Straight men there are barely any and most of the ones who say they're straight end up coming out of the closet a few years later. But they do exist

>>2448211
They mostly just have sex with each other. I know dolphin sex is a bit of a meme but dolphins don't try to fuck humans or anything or get handjobs or whatever. The only (extremely rare) times I have seen a dolphin try to get a human to rub his dick are young horny males that just rub their dicks on everything...each other, inanimate objects, toys, literally anything it seems like they just constantly swim with their dicks out for a couple weeks when they go through puberty. Other than that they'd much rather fuck each other than us

They have unique personalities and do like some people more than others (in a platonic best friend kind of way). Some trainers and dolphins really just click it seems like. This is probably biased but from my experience it seems like young animals really like high energy, variable, playful trainers and older animals while they like that too also do well with more laid back trainers

>>2448212
Wow, ok, I'll probably fuck up the timeline but, gay dolphin trainer did something dolphin related on camera but only shared clip with other gay dolphin trainers. He was also friends with a BD member and left an unsecured laptop where a third party could steal the clip and post it on 4Chan. Then some white hats connected his FA account with his BF account and outed him to his employers and the public. Around the same time the BD guy who let this happen wrapped his car around a tree and died.

>>2448223
Jesus Christ. The guy got fired right? That's fucking gross

>>2448226
I'm not sure what happened actually. I know nobody involved and as much as I posted but yeah I'm pretty sure he got canned but quietly since whatever aquarium didn't want any bad press. Pretty sure they blackballed with all the other aquariums too but there's always the 3rd world where dolphin parks seem to be booming. All the places where I could see dolphins have replaced them with seals and that seems to be trending in the 1st world.

>>2448233
Yeah I'm sure he was blackballed. Probably ended his career, those 3rd world places seem to give less of a shit about good trainers and only really care if you can speak the local language.

I haven't really noticed a rise in sea lions, people don't really seem to give a shit about them. I used to train them briefly and while they are more of a challenge I prefer dolphins, seems like it is easier to build more of a real friendship with them and they don't just see you as a fish dispenser

>>2448238
The money parks will keep their dolphin programs going for obvious reasons but education parks have been eliminating their dolphin exhibits. When the National Aquarium in the Wire gives up their program later this year or next there won't be any dolphins near me unless I go all the way to Miami, Atlanta or Chicago.

>>2448242
Yeah. Public opinion is shaping the future which in this case I think is sad. Blackfish fucked everything up for dolphin people, I know dolphins can be happily and humanely and morally kept under human care because I train free release/open ocean dolphins and they always come home

>>2448199
I'm actually interested. I'm going to college for a 2 year ocean studies degree and a 1 year art certificate to figure out what I want to do with my life, and I did my graduation project on being a mammal trainer. Did you choose to be a dolphin trainer, or did you get placed there? I'd like to go into penguins or otters but the zoo I job shadowed at said they kinda just got placed wherever, and none of them have degrees in animal training either, so it feels kinda unstable.

>>2448248
I chose. But your description is right, a lot of people get placed on different species without much of a say until they have experience. Depends on the facility. Most people I know have a BS in either psych or bio or marine bio. Some masters. It is pretty stable once you're in, but actually getting your first training JOB is pretty difficult and partially luck

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>>2448244
>I train free release/open ocean dolphins and they always come home
Is that you, John Wayne? Is this me?

Thanks for doing this! What are your views on the movement to stop keeping orcas at seaworld? Do you think it's ethical to keep orcas and/or dolphins in captivity? From your experience working with dolphins, do they seem to be happy living in an aquarium? How about at places in tourist spots where they let you swim with the dolphin?

>>2448259
Sorry I didn't see >>2448244

>>2448244
So basically Blackfish fucked things up for you trainers. Poor you. I can't imagine how anything in the world could be worse than your personal problems.

I'll never believe that cetaceans are happy in tanks. Some have killed themselves there.

>>2448199

>>>>/reddit/

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>>2448316

>>2448199
how many dolphin rapes have you heard of?

>>2448244
I've always wondered about an idea like this, but I've never actually googled it or anything. How feasible is this free release/open ocean thing? Would it call for places that are nearby a good section of ocean to which the dolphins are native? I guess that the main problems would be based on getting the dolphins to return when you wanted them to and the affects on wild dolphins. Kind of like how rehabilitated seabirds bring wild ones after rehabilitation by saying "Hey free fish."
I think that some species have favored resting spots during the day. Does that have anything to do with it?

>>2448316
>I'll never believe xyz

So, you can't be persuaded by evidence because you are attached to be predisposed to beliefs you already hold?

I hope you don't vote.

>>2448259
It's a bit blasphemous to say around my coworkers but I honestly don't know about orcas because I've never worked with them. I think I'd have to really get to know a few to make that call. But dolphins, do I think they can thrive in captivity, a million times YES. And I think they are thriving in many many facilities. Not all. There are terrible dolphin facilities out there and those should be shut down. But there are also amazing ones.

>>2448346
None desu

>>2448378
Free release training is already happening at at least 4 facilities that I can think of off the top of my head. It's extremely successful using positive reinforcement techniques no different than training your dog to walk off leash. It's enriching for the animals and makes a powerful point to PETAfags that look an animal can be trained with only positive reinforcement to frolic in the ocean and always CHOOSES to come home of its own accord. Training and playing and being with their trainers is SO FUN for the dolphins way beyond just getting fed for it. I have literally seen dolphins swim straight through schools of fish in the ocean, completely ignoring them because they were full and were having a great time interacting with their trainer

>>2448397
describe what you consider to be a terrible dolphin facility