Dolphin Quest Travel Video Duration - 4.12 minutes Dolphin Quest Dockyards, Bermuda Travel Video Earth Calling - Adventure – Ecology Katrina Smith Head Trainer As you know, my name is Katrina and I’m going to introduce you to some of our dolphins. Before we do that though, we just need to go through what we call “dolphin etiquette.” I’d also like to just familiarize you guys a little bit with what we’re all about... One thing that I want you to keep in mind is that the dolphins, they’re there because they want to be. So we need to reward them for hanging out with us. The way that you do that, is by clapping and cheering. The clapping and cheering and being enthusiastic for the dolphins, also they really enjoy touch. But only if they know when it’s coming - they’re expecting it. And this is the way that you touch dolphins – nice, smooth, open handed touch, obviously avoiding areas like the eyes, and the blowhole and the mouth as well – those three areas. The echo location is great to help them navigate. The whistle means good and that’s all that it means, as well as our enthusiasm. Also, we communicate with our hands so we ask the dolphins to do things. I am going to get you guys to help me out with a few more hand signals, but just be aware that they do look towards our hands for communication. So if you have your hands out, they may actually think that you’re trying to say something. (Voices, laughter, cheering) Katrina, it’s such an unusual habitat for dolphins. Where are we? We’re actually in the Maritime museum, in the Dockyards. So, lots of local maritime history here. Ok ready? We’re going to do this; we’re going to go for some swim. How fast are the dolphins able to swim? That’s a good question. They can actually reach speeds of up to 20 miles an hour, which is actually the local speed limit. Wow. What do they typically eat in the day and how much do they eat? That’s a good question too. We actually feed the dolphins based on their needs, individually. So if they’re nursing a calf, they might need more food. If they’re a young baby and they’re drinking milk, they may not necessarily need as much food as the adults. So, we do vary their diet. We come in at seven o clock every morning to prepare for them specially and individually and they all eat kind of a mixture of Caitlin, herring, mackerel and squid. I’ve been here for about 9 years time now, four years full time, so I have a great relationship with all the animals. It is our job to make it fun, and even when we’re training things like husbandry and implementing the preventative health care system for the animals. Actually, if the dolphins are having fun, we’re having fun as well. That’s very important. Well. I think we had fun, didn’t we? (chorus) yeah I’d say we had a great time. It’s definitely something that we would love to do again. Thank you so much for guiding us into their world. You’re welcome guys. It was nice to meet you.