Are you pregnant and thinking about swimming with the ever-grinning and adorable dolphins instead of just having pictures? Well, you will love reading this, as dolphin encounters are an amazing thing to experience!
Swimming is one of the recommended outdoor fun activities for pregnant women. If you feel too tired to go hiking or camping, pop into the pool instead. Just be careful to tread carefully and not get too excited or overdo it!
Dolphins are an incredibly intelligent species, much more intelligent than previously thought. They can distinguish between a pregnant woman and one who is not, and they’ll show particular interest in a pregnant woman. The dolphin can use echolocation sounds to sense a fetus inside the womb.
So, can you swim with dolphins while pregnant?
The short answer is yes, but it depends on how pregnant you are. For example, if you are in the advanced stages of pregnancy, say, the last trimester just before you give birth, pregnant women swimming with dolphins is not recommended. This is to ensure your baby’s safety. However, you may swim in the first and second trimesters only allowed in the resort. Dolphins can use echolocation (using sound waves to detect sounds above, called ultrasound), and it is believed that they can see a fetus inside the womb.
You may also ask: Can Dolphins tell when a woman is pregnant? Apparently, they can, and they then use sound waves from echolocation to detect the form of the fetus by bouncing their sounds off of objects, sometimes referred to as ultrasound.
As a result, they would stay close to the pregnant woman, making that buzzing sound to “communicate” with something behind an opaque wall. Due to their curiosity and fascination, they might not obey commands from their keepers or trainers.
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Dolphins Show Particular Interest in Pregnant Women
It seems there is more to dolphins than just the lovely grins. They are smart, love women, and can “see beyond walls.” Keep reading to learn other interesting things about dolphin therapy for pregnancy.
Swimming With Dolphins While Ovulating
Another common question that many people ask on the web is, “Can dolphins detect when a woman is ovulating?” However, there is no evidence suggesting that dolphins can be unusually attracted to an ovulating woman.
Ovulation is the fertile window when hormones in the woman’s body trigger the release of the egg from the ovary. This usually happens 12 to 16 days before the next period. During this time, she can easily become pregnant if she has unprotected sex.
Dolphin Therapy For Pregnancy
While it may not be substantiated yet, there are many suggestions to show that dolphin therapy for pregnancy can trigger the healthy development of a human fetus, especially brain activity and development.
Dolphins emit sounds that are echoed back to them when the sound waves hit objects. This is a form of a buzzing sound, and many pregnant women have reported that when swimming with dolphins while pregnant, they moved close to their bellies and started making buzzing sounds.
The brain of the unborn baby responds to these sounds with increased brain activity. And why not? Pregnant women have used music therapy and read to their unborn babies for many years. This is believed to help babies with brain development. Therefore, we cannot rule out that dolphin therapy for pregnancy helps with your baby’s healthy development.
Is It Safe?
A pregnant dolphin enjoys a lot of care and adoration from the other dolphins. These animals have a sharp intuition, and they can detect when a woman is pregnant. Dolphin therapy can make swimming a lot of fun for a pregnant woman. However, the animals may not obey the orders of their trainers as they show more interest in the baby, which could make the situation unsafe for you and your baby.
In the first trimester, pregnant women can swim safely with the dolphins since the fetus is quite small at this time, usually only 1/2 to 1 ounce and 3″ to 4″ in length. However, in the late second to the third trimester, as your baby continues to develop and grow larger, you would do much better to stay on the side of the pool and pet them. Besides, you don’t want to bend or squat too much when you are 37 weeks pregnant or about to give birth, do you?
Swimming With Wild Dolphins
This is not recommended at all for safety reasons. While these animals are not known to be aggressive towards human beings, when you rouse them from their resting state, they will get curious, and all come to investigate you.
Now, snorkeling is a lot of fun. However, having the hulking 440-pound 12-foot-long bottlenose dolphin lurking near you all the time can be a bit too problematic. That is why it is recommended that you do not swim with wild dolphins at the beach. It is also important to note that we are not talking about all fish or sharks. Each species is different and will react differently.
Most definitely, you should not swim with wild dolphins while you are pregnant. Bottlenose dolphins can grow beyond 12 feet long, which is quite large and intimidating!
Your Behavior While You Swim
Once you have decided, with your doctor’s advice, that dolphin therapy for pregnancy is your kind of thing, you need to know how to safely handle yourself while close to dolphins.
Here are a few things to know:
Get Information About the Dolphins
Never swim with wild dolphins! At a dolphin resort, it’s ideal to have a discussion first to ask whether they have a unique program for helping pregnant ladies swim with dolphins.
If they do, do your research! Get all the information beforehand about the different dolphins. What are their names? What do they like to do? When is it best to approach them? And so on. That way, you know something about what to expect by the time you get into the water.
Don’t Insist
If a dolphin does not want to play with you, do not follow it and try to force it to interact with you. These are big, heavy animals, and even a firm rub might not be suitable for you or the baby inside your belly! Animals, too, have their moments. If it is not in the mood to play, keep your distance.
Know Where to Touch the Dolphin
Do not hug the dolphin, and most certainly, do not touch his mouth, spout, or eyes. Even for human beings, these are sensitive areas. We need to accord these majestic beauties the same respect we would give a human or any other type of animal who prefers not to be hugged and touched.
Know When to Stop
Stop swimming with dolphins when you feel tired, when the dolphin’s mood changes, or when you think it has become somewhat aggressive. Anecdotal evidence shows that a moody or aggressive dolphin can become dangerous for you and your baby since they can sense the fetus.
Your dolphin trainer will offer all the support and knowledge they can to make your trip safe yet memorable, so communicate with them if you have any concerns and always follow their advice.
The Answer!
The answer is YES! You can swim with your unborn child and enjoy your dolphin encounter as long as you take precautions. It is best that you swim in a resort like Discovery Cove rather than in the open sea, but it will be just as fun and impressive.
As previously stated, a dolphin uses echolocation to make sense of its world. Since this is the case, dolphins might show lots of interest in you and your unborn baby. This can help enhance positive emotions for you as well as your unborn baby, which is just one benefit if you choose to participate instead of just watching!
