By Amira Dessouki
Eighteen years ago, a dolphin therapy center chain has been opened in Egypt called Dolphina Center. It was the first with such a unique and different type of therapy as it helps cure a large variety of physical and mental disturbances through a truly delightful experience.
When the center first opened in Egypt it was in Sharm El Sheikh when experts from Russia first trained Egyptian therapists on the dealings with dolphins, their biology and psychology and most importantly their effect on human beings. Another branch was then opened in the coastal city of Hurghada offering the same treatments and activities which are dolphin and sea lion shows, swimming with dolphins and extended therapy sessions for various disturbances.
Biologically speaking
To begin with, according to Ali Maher, the dolphin therapist of 15 years of experience who leads the team of dolphin trainers in the Hurghada, dolphins are extremely intelligent creatures who as rumors had it, are very close to humans in terms of intellect. Not only that but they also share the same biology, down to the five finger bones that humans have on their hands and dolphins have inside their fins.
“The only difference,” he stated, “is that unlike humans who have just one lobe, they have two lobes. Their brain is always working and their lobes quite literally exchange shifts. When a dolphin is awake, their left lobe is working while the right one rests, and when they fall asleep at the surface of the Red Sea, their right lobe awakens and the left ones starts its rest. That way a dolphin is always alert and always ready to defend against any possible threat.” Another difference of the few is that while humans have their small intestines come first and then the large one, dolphins have the opposite. Their large one comes first and then their small one.
A sense only animals have
But dolphins, as smart and as close to humans as they are, still have that sense and intuition that animals have that helps them predict weather changes, the purity or evil in a stranger or sense the dominance or submission of a patient or a trainer. This trait is plays a huge role in its healing process in a regular therapy. Just like horses and cats, these mammals have the ability to sense the negative and positive energy of a human and regulate it. Regular therapy sessions are sure to help balance the positive and negative flow of energy in a human body.
The range of the disturbances that this therapy helps cure is quite wide starting from people with physical impairments such as walking to mental ones such as speaking and those with late metal growth to increased electricity in the brain that can lead people to falling unconscious a lot.
A therapy session often lasts from 25 to 30 minutes and usually leaves the patient in a bit of a relaxed, almost drunk state. Dolphin therapy from the patients and the trainers is quite a spiritual experience that could remind one of yoga and meditation.
According to Ali Maher, one has to have a clear head when dealing with a dolphin as they can sense any disturbance or distraction in their trainer or their patient and whilst they treat patients with disturbance, a trainer cannot afford to be distracted with dolphins and they might lose control of the animal and their obedience. They aren’t dangerous, especially those bred in captivity but one needs to have dominance and a strong character if they want a dolphin to obey.
“A dolphin can decide if a person is not pure-hearted or not. There have been a lot of cases where for example a married couple would come in for a swim with the dolphins and they would refuse to come close to the husband. It’s like they can read the mind of the person in front of them. It’s incredible.”
Wild and domestic strictly don’t mix
Dolphins in dolphin shows and therapy centers, said Ali in an interview, are bred in captivity. Taking a wild dolphin from its natural habitat in the sea can lead to its death. A dolphin in captivity can live up to 40 or 45 years. Taking a dolphin from the sea and keeping them in captivity shortens their life largely and they are bound to die early, if not in a few month, then in a year or two.
That is why wild dolphins and domestic ones can never change their habitat, ever. Such an action may even lead the dolphin to committing suicide as domestic dolphins cannot handle living in the sea, where it isn’t as pure and as clean as a specialized swimming pool. And neither can wild dolphins live in a confined man built pool after living all their life in the vastness and freedom of the sea. That is why domestic dolphins need so much care.
Coronavirus cannot stop the therapies even if patients are reducing
Even in the chaos that Covid 19 has brought with its spreading, dolphin trainers continue to go to work and take care of their dolphins that they describe as their “precious babies”. Ali continued to explain the way dolphins are taking care of which turned out a very sensitive and careful way of work.
“Everything is sanitized when dealing with dolphins.” He said. “The kitchen where we prepare their fish, our clothes, our bodies. We wear gloves, masks and head wear to keep our hair contained. Everything is made of stainless steel. We can never risk giving the dolphins fish that we are not sure of being of quality. Even the fish comes from abroad and is especially prepared for the dolphins. We do not fish for them in the Red Sea as we cannot guarantee the fish here for our dolphins.”
They themselves as trainers are strictly forbidden from smoking, drinking or any kind of drugs. Just like football players. It’s a truly sensitive matter, stated Maher. They have to have regular blood analysis, both them and the dolphins to ensure their health. The temperature they swim in is relatively cold with the warmest temperature being a 22/23 degrees. Not to mention the amounts spent on quality filters, sea salt and veterinary support. The water in their pools is not like the one in our regular pools in hotels but rather salt water fit for dolphins as they cannot survive in anything but that.
All about that mutual understanding
Finally, Ali Maher concluded by saying that there are few people all over the world who do what he does with only around a thousand dolphin trainers and therapists all over the world, also commenting that Dolphin trainers and Dolphin vets are two completely different jobs. Dolphin vets are all about biology, and the medical field. Dolphin training is all about the sense and a mutual understanding between the trainer and his dolphin.
