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Charleston dolphin boat tour
You came for captained boat tours where wild dolphins show up, and the federal rule on touching them comes first.
It is illegal to touch, feed, swim with, or harass dolphins.
The Act sets fines of up to $100,000.
Strand feeding in the Charleston area happens year-round and slows in winter.
The useful part of a dolphin trip is how close the boat is allowed to get. The Oceanography article states the behavior and the statute in the same piece.
Dolphin strand feeding happens only in the Lowcountry and a very few other places around the globe. Along the East Coast, strand feeding can be observed only in the tidal creeks and marshes of South Carolina and Georgia. In the Charleston area, strand feeding happens year-round, but slows in winter when mullets go offshore. The best time to see strand feeding at Captain Sam's Spit, according to Feary, is the four-hour period around low tide. On a summer day, the presence of hundreds of onlookers can increase stress on the dolphins and lead to a change in behavior, illness, or reproductive failure. Under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, it is illegal to touch, feed, swim with, or harass dolphins, with fines of up to $100,000. Harassment is defined as any human disturbance that alters a dolphin's behavior (such as the dolphin ceasing to feed, chuffing, slapping its tail, or leaving an area). The bottlenose dolphin is the most common marine mammal in the Charleston region.
Oceanography, High-Stakes Mudbank Chase
| Conduct | What the article states |
|---|---|
| Touch, feed, swim with, or harass | Illegal under the US Marine Mammal Protection Act |
| Fine | Up to $100,000 |
| Harassment | Any human disturbance that alters a dolphin’s behavior |
Questions people ask
Q1. Can passengers swim with or touch wild dolphins?
The article says it is illegal to touch, feed, swim with, or harass dolphins, with fines of up to $100,000.
Q2. What is dolphin strand feeding, and where does the article place it?
Dolphins herd fish onto a mudbank. The article says strand feeding happens only in the Lowcountry and a very few other places, and along the East Coast only in the tidal creeks and marshes of South Carolina and Georgia.
Q3. When does the article say strand feeding is easier to see?
In the Charleston area it happens year-round and slows in winter when mullet go offshore. At Captain Sam’s Spit, the article says the four-hour period around low tide.
We did not measure the tide, the seats still open, or a fare.