Feeding Dolphins in the Rosario Islands

After my Dad and I had such a great time anchored off Isla St. Martin (the aquarium) in the Rosario Islands, I knew I had to take Ashley back there.

We picked up the mooring just outside the dolphin tanks and the following morning went ashore. We had some amazing fresh coffee and bread before heading into the aquarium. We watched the shark demonstration, checked out the sea turtles and watched the dolphin show. After the dolphin show we saw Margaretta and were met with the same hospitality that my Dad and I received. They invited us back after the aquarium had closed to feed the dolphins.

We walked down the gangplanks around the dolphin tanks with 6 buckets of fish. Each fish is about 6 inches in length and each dolphin eats about 12kg a day! They eat two meals a day, but are given a half ration at night if they'd had a show because they eat so much during the show.

We sat down on the dock and put our feet into the tank. This makes you really nervous at first as the huge dolphins approach you at top speed. But, they're extremely friendly and social animals that are just really excited to be fed.

They would swim up to the surface and open their mouths. We'd take one fish each out of the bucket and toss it into their mouth. They swallow the entire fish whole in about .5 seconds. Immediately after they're ready for another. We would toss them a fish about once every two seconds. They were very gentle and would be very careful to avoid bitting your hand as you fed them. The real danger was the giant birds that would swoop down from behind you and try to steal the fish from your hands. They were masters at this. You wouldn't even see them coming and they would take the fish cleanly without touching you.

After feeding them the entire bucket they know meal time is over when you pour the remaining fish bucket water onto their heads. As soon as that happens, they quickly swim away. We continued to sit on the dock with our feet in the water and they would come back and rub their entire bodies against your feet. All the way from their nose to their tail-fin exactly like a house-cat would do.

My Dad, Ashley and I all feel very lucky to have had this experience.