Can I go for a swim with a Dolphin?

Minding my own business this afternoon (a right scorcher it was and all), downing a couple of bags of wine gums I snatched off another unsuspecting tourist, I overheard a bit of a ruckus going on between two of our feeders, I mean taxi drivers, and so I shuffled over to listen in.  

They were arguing about whether or not we should have a dolphinarium here in Gibraltar and, whilst I may not look like the sharpest knife in the box, I'm a pretty talented ape. The guy who sounded like he was against the whole thing was talking about how the dolphins are treated badly and how we don't need it and that, somehow, there could be a better use of the land.  Funnily enough, there was no suggestion from him as to what exactly would be more 'imaginative.'  I found it particularly funny how the guy saying it was a bad idea had had such a good time on holiday with the kids last year, swimming with Dolphins... but not in Gibraltar, no, we're better than all that!

The guy who was in favour of it seemed to have really done his homework.   I surreptitiously took a detailed note of what he said.  A summary of the main attractions was an interactive swim with dolphins experience as well as sea lion and parrot shows; a walk-through aquarium centre which would include many indigenous species; a Battle of Trafalgar and Nelson display housed within a specially constructed museum (which sounds fantastic); leisure facilities including a restaurant, bar, children’s play area and shop as well as a classroom and day centre facility for special needs children. Heck, we could with some of that action up here!

The taxi driver couldn't be sure but said that surely a project like this would see significant investment (maybe somewhere over £20m, I wonder how many packets of monkey nuts that gets me), a rebuild and regeneration of the area of Rosia Bay to which anglers would still have access, giving us a much improved tourist product which would generate a significant amount of business. Quite apart from that, and as irrelevant as it may be for me up here, it looks as if the project would generate significant employment and therefore additional revenue, whatever that is...

Frankly, it sounds like a great deal of fun. I'd love to go for a swim myself with the dolphins and I'm sure that so would many of our special needs children, which studies show respond positively to interaction with animals generally and dolphins specifically.  I really don't understand what all the fuss is about and why so many are against it.  They've probably got caught up in the frenzy fed by one or two who may have more than just 'animal rights' in mind, but hey, I'm in captivity and let's be honest, I hardly have a hard life...

But what do I know, I'm just an ape with a stub for a tail...