Mission and Message

Our mission is to present the truth about dolphins despite their popular and sometimes mythological image.

We do this by providing an educational venue with our programs. Through this venue visitors may observe and interact with trained bottlenose dolphins in both spacious enclosures and the open sea. By offering information and interaction, we hope to encourage a sense of wonder and fascination based on fact, not fiction.

Dolphin Academy hopes to motivate its guests to a personal contribution for a better living environment for dolphins and therefore gives them the message:
If mankind continues to shroud dolphins in myth and mysticism...we risk losing them. Only by seeking the true nature of our fellow creatures, can we hope to protect them.

Upon completion of a dolphin program, we implore our guests to remember their dolphin experience. We ask that the next time they read in the news, or see on television that a "x" number of dolphins have washed up on a beach, or drowned in fishing gear... they remember the names and "dolphinalities" of Curaçao - and realize that each dolphin is a valuable individual and not a mere statistic.

It is our sincere hope that these experiences foster care and concern for the welfare and protection of dolphins and their environment.

Training Philosophy

The physical and mental well-being of the animals under our care is our number one priority. We emphasize intimate and genuine interaction between humans and Dolphins. The Number of participants is strictly regulated, and the dolphins are free to interact spontaneously.
The care and training of the dolphins for all of our programs is based upon the following idea:
Whenever the dolphins respond correctly - they are rewarded... if they make a mistake; we simply try again or move on to a different request. In effect we reward the correct and ignore the incorrect. This is called the operant conditioning method of positive reinforcement. Specific behaviors are gradually taught and shaped by providing the dolphins with a variety of "reinforcers" for desired responses. These rewards are praise and attention from trainers, food (fish) and tactile (touch). It is very important to note that we are adamantly opposed to withholding food as a means of motivation. All animals are fed a required daily diet regardless of "performance".

Our animal care staff carefully schedules and regulates the public programs - avoiding routine and repetition in order to ensure that the dolphins are not burdened by their activities. The dolphins' enthusiastic and energetic response to these programs is indicative of their level of interest.
The lagoons are spacious and not sectioned off into individual pens. Thus, the dolphins themselves reserve the right to halt any program by simply leaving an area inhabited by visitors.

We consider our open water program to be symbolic of the cooperative relationship that the trainers have developed with the dolphins. As the dolphins accompany the trainers on daily excursions to the open ocean, they are free to leave or choose to return "home" with us.

At "home" the dolphins enjoy a dynamic social environment. The individual animals of Dolphin Academy exhibit natural patterns of association among one another. They have also retained the ability to forage and feed for themselves. In fact, mothers teach their calves how to catch fish just as they would do in nature.

Special projects

Apart for our regular programs the Dolphin Academy also executes different special projects.
This both to educate people about dolphins, but also in order to provide more people with the chance to enjoy the pleasures of an encounter with dolphins. The projects may concern different organizations and foundations that benefit underprivileged children and adults.

The Dolphin Academy also has an education project for the local elementary schools in which the students learn more about the sea that surrounds them and the animals that live in it. In this way they will be able to protect these animals better in the future. In brief, the Dolphin Academy is an active and involved organization with different programs for various people of all ages. The base for education, fun and personal development is always formed by our dolphins!