Since the American hit series “Flipper”, the dolphin is one of the most popular animals ever. Always friendly, smart and helpful, the perpetually smiling bottlenose dolphin swam into the hearts of viewers. Soon they were also attributed healing abilities: American behavioral scientist and psychologist Dr. David E. Nathanson developed so-called dolphin-assisted therapy in the late 1980s, with initial approaches dating back to the early 1970s. Soon dolphin therapy was declared the new miracle therapy for various physical and mental disabilities. However, to this day, the effectiveness of dolphin therapy is controversial; moreover, criticism is mounting that the dolphins are not kept in a manner appropriate to their species.
Dolphin therapy for autism, trauma and co.
As before, dolphin therapy does not comprise a uniform concept, yet there are more and more providers of this costly form of therapy worldwide. Above all, children with autism, spasticity, traumatic brain injury, mental retardation and mental illnesses are said to benefit from dolphin therapy, although, for example, “there is no scientific evidence that dolphin therapy helps to promote and heal children with autism” (Maria Kaminski, chairwoman of the Bundesverband autismus Deutschland e.V.). Often the patients are people who have difficulty communicating with their environment or have motor deficits. The dolphins are primarily intended to help them better perceive their surroundings and make contact with them, as well as to increase their ability to concentrate.
Dolphins as a reward
Often, dolphin therapy is based on the principle of reward: the patient is first asked to complete a series of tasks set by physiotherapists, speech and behavioral therapists. After successful completion, play with the dolphin beckons, either from a platform or in the pool with the animal itself. Some critics complain that the dolphin therapy approach assumes that learning and motivation difficulties are largely attributed to the attention deficit of the patient groups in question, which is inconsistent with current research.
Dolphin therapy: scientifically controversial
To be sure, there is widespread agreement that dolphin therapy does indeed lead to success. But disagreement persists over whether patients’ progress is actually driven by the dolphins or determined by other factors. Critics complain that scientific studies on the effectiveness of dolphin therapy have not sufficiently taken into account circumstances that positively promote learning success, such as changes in the environment and a vacation feeling that may be induced as a result, exercise in the water or increased attention and a positive attitude of expectation.
Effect of sonar waves not clearly proven
Opponents of dolphin therapy also criticize that statements about the widely propagated healing effect of sonar waves, which the dolphins use to communicate with each other, are partly contradictory. While one group of scientists claims that the frequency of the brain waves is increased and therefore has a calming effect, others assume that it is lowered and thus activated and performance is increased. Still other scientists consider the possible effects of ultrasound on tissue to be extremely unlikely.
Dolphin therapy: progress, but no miracles
Erwin Breitenbach of the Institute for Special Education at the University of Würzburg is quite positive about the dolphin therapy: not only have the children become more active, self-confident and courageous, but their ability to communicate has also improved. Even half a year after the end of the dolphin therapy, the success can still be observed. Nevertheless, Breitenbach also warns against expecting true miracles from dolphin therapy. Some experts note that certain groups, such as the clinically depressed, may become too accustomed to the dolphins and suffer severe setbacks from their subsequent absence.
Dolphin therapy: cost of therapy
Dolphin therapy does not come at an insignificant cost, especially since it is neither covered nor subsidized by health insurance companies. Although some associations promote the dolphin therapy in individual cases, nevertheless still high costs come on the families. The costs of dolphin therapy can vary greatly depending on the provider, the type of therapy and the destination country.The range is from 5,000 to 20,000 euros or more for a family, as there are additional costs for flights, accommodation, meals and transfers. Often the different therapy approaches are also reflected in the costs:
- While some dolphinariums only let a parent and the child swim with the dolphin, elsewhere trained therapists and trainers work with animal and human; some therapy centers put an hour per session, others only 20 minutes.
- For an additional charge, additional procedures such as speech therapy, play therapy, physiotherapy or behavioral therapy are often offered.
- In addition, the cost of dolphin therapy may depend on the season.
TAD: Therapeutic Animatronic Dolphins.
In recent writings, Nathanson, the “father” of dolphin therapy, has confirmed that the same therapeutic success is achieved with robots. According to experts, these therapeutic animation dolphins, or TADs, which look deceptively similar to real dolphins, produce even greater progress than live porpoises in some cases. If this alternative becomes established, the cost of dolphin therapy could potentially be reduced in the long run. In addition, the dolphin robots are not subject to limited working hours, which have recently been discussed for introduction.
Dolphin therapy as animal cruelty?
Above all, animal rights activists are pleased about TAD: A species-appropriate attitude of the highly sensitive and intelligent animals is not possible in captivity. Free-ranging dolphins gather in associations of up to 1,000 animals at times, swimming between 60 and 100 kilometers a day and diving up to 500 meters deep. In contrast, captive dolphins cannot choose their mates, live in a small tank or segregated ocean area, and must learn to eat dead fish. In addition, they are usually treated with drugs and hormones to prevent disease. Nevertheless, humans and dolphins in the tank can infect each other with existing diseases. Since captivity means great stress for dolphins, injuries to patients also occur again and again (due to aggressiveness or accidents).
