Across 5 iconic Keys' locations, travel with Rob + Holly through incredible parks and excursions to give you a sample of what the Florida Keys and Key West is all about before you book your own trip.
00:00Hey, we're The Rob and Holly Show, broadcasting live from Faro Blanco Resort and Yacht Club in Marathon Key.
00:05And we're being joined by Rita Irwin, the president and CEO of the Dolphin Research Center.
00:10So nice to meet you.
00:12This morning, Holly got to come out and check it out.
00:15We had two different excursions, so I apologize.
00:17I missed out on yours.
00:18I was at a different excursion.
00:19Oh, you missed out big time.
00:20Excursion.
00:21I know.
00:22But look, I'm going to make sure I make some time to get out there because I love dolphins, too.
00:27Doesn't everybody love dolphins?
00:28They should.
00:29And once they've come to our place, they really know how to love a dolphin because our dolphins love you right back.
00:35Can I tell you, one of the things I feel that is most special about your place is I was learning that you guys really give all of the animals at the place choices.
00:47And I feel like that is so special and that's not always the case with everywhere that you might go.
00:53Can you tell us a little bit about that?
00:55Absolutely.
00:55Absolutely.
00:56We're all about relationship and positive reinforcement.
01:00Yes.
01:00And if you've met the dolphins, as you have, you know, it's really hard to make an animal that big do what you want.
01:06Yes.
01:07You've got to do what they want.
01:08And we always say every day we have a schedule and then it's dolphin's choice.
01:13So we don't make them do anything.
01:15It's all about cooperation, about supporting them and about making connections.
01:20So when you come to the Dolphin Research Center, we always hear, oh, your dolphin seems so friendly and interested.
01:26And you might have seen this morning, Holly, when you were walking dolphins, they're like, oh, who's this?
01:32What does this one do?
01:33They think we bring you guys in to entertain them.
01:36That's how I felt.
01:38And I felt that way with Ranger.
01:40I was like, Ranger is flirting with me and he's got my heart.
01:43And so much so that I, like, bought stuff in the gift shop on the way out because I was like, I love Ranger.
01:48So one of the dolphins.
01:49Ranger's a Texas dolphin.
01:50He has his own merch.
01:52A lot of the dolphins have their own merch.
01:53Absolutely.
01:54And Ranger is one of the rescue dolphins.
01:56That's one thing that we do is we provide a forever home for animals in need.
02:01And when that happens, Ranger was rescued as a very young animal.
02:07And that's usually what happens.
02:09And what happens when they find an animal alone, in this case, he was near his mom.
02:13And they bring him to a place that will rehab him.
02:16In this case, the Texas Aquarium.
02:19And then the government makes the decision, could this animal go out and survive on its own?
02:24And usually when it's a young animal, the answer is no.
02:27They have no skills.
02:29And so they need a forever home.
02:31And what the government does is puts out a survey.
02:33They look at all the different facilities that could be a home for them and try to match them up with the place that would provide the most family-like atmosphere.
02:41Because family is really important to dolphins.
02:44So at the Dolphin Research Center, this is where those types of dolphins would go that are not able to go back out into the wild?
02:51Exactly right.
02:52So a questionnaire comes out and says, for this particular animal, like for the youngster, we're looking for a place that has moms that would adopt them.
03:02Because it's really important to learn from your mom.
03:04We all learn from our mamas, right?
03:06Yes, yes, of course.
03:08And also that there may be other animals that are around their age so they can have friends.
03:12Because everybody needs a friend.
03:13You gots to have friends.
03:15Absolutely.
03:15And I love that you guys, you don't really have tanks.
03:19No, no.
03:19Tell us about their living space.
03:21Because I feel like that is also very special.
03:23It's very important.
03:24Our dolphins live in the Gulf of whatever.
03:29Okay.
03:30Yep, yep.
03:30And that way they're in their natural environment and that's important to us.
03:35And so there are just some, we call them lagoons, but we have, mostly we have fences up to keep things out.
03:41Because on Grassy Key, our lagoons are the deepest part of Grassy Key in the Gulf.
03:48And things come in, you know, everything falls into the deepest point.
03:52So we have fences up, but like I said, it's mostly to keep things out.
03:56Yeah, it's actually just such a special place.
03:59Can you tell us a couple of things that if we're visiting the Dolphin Research Center, you know, we've got to experience a different kind of tour.
04:07But there's all these different things that you can do there.
04:09Tell us about that.
04:10Oh, absolutely.
04:10First of all, you can just come and be there.
04:13And I always tell people, come in the morning because that's when the dolphins have spent the day alone.
04:18That is literally, I said I could stay here all day and just sit with the dolphins.
04:22And they're like, you can do that.
04:23I was like, okay, next time.
04:24That's on my list of things to do.
04:26We're a non-profit, so you can become a member.
04:28So you can come in every day of the year for just one fee.
04:31Oh, wonderful.
04:32And that supports our animals.
04:33And we have lots of locals who do that.
04:35You'll see them and they bring their dogs.
04:37Our dolphins love dogs.
04:40And the funny thing about dogs.
04:42So who has a dog?
04:43Everybody.
04:43It's right now.
04:44We all raise our animals.
04:44We all do, yeah.
04:45So what do dogs do the first time they meet someone or something new?
04:51They sniff their butts.
04:52They sniff their butts.
04:54Absolutely.
04:54They take a big old sniff.
04:56Yeah.
04:56Because everything, your part in the expression, smells.
04:59So a dog will run up to the edge of our lagoons and the dolphins run up and they pop up and
05:06the dog sees them and they're like, okay, that's alive.
05:09And the dog does a big old sniff and you can see the little doggy brain going and they're
05:14like, well, that ain't right.
05:17What is that?
05:18It doesn't smell.
05:19It looks like it's alive, but it has no scent because dolphins do not have a scent.
05:24Wow.
05:24I did not know that.
05:25That's such a fun fact.
05:26Yeah, fun fact.
05:27And so they take another sniff, especially the hunting dogs.
05:30And they're like, yeah, that is so wrong.
05:32And then they crouch down and back away.
05:35Now, the little dogs don't care because, you know, little dogs think they're big dogs.
05:39Right.
05:39So when you come in the morning, they'll come up and see who you are and say hello and
05:45try and scare your dog.
05:47But it's very peaceful there.
05:48And also at the end of the day is a peaceful time.
05:51We really try to respect their time alone at night.
05:54So we don't do a lot of things at night, though.
05:56We have one cool special thing you can do.
05:59Okay.
05:59All right.
05:59You're going to be back.
06:00Can you sleep with the dolphins?
06:01That's going to be.
06:02Oh, it's even better than that because you can drink with the dolphins.
06:06Yes.
06:07Because we are in the fabulous Florida.
06:09Yeah.
06:09Yes.
06:09But actually once a month we do what we call the Dolphin Sunset Celebration.
06:14So we bring a few people in and at the end of the day you go out and our dolphins love
06:19ice and special Jell-O.
06:21Okay.
06:21Not Jell-O shots, folks.
06:22Right.
06:23And so we'll bring up to 30 people onto the docks in smaller groups and you'll just throw
06:29them this treat.
06:30Oh, wonderful.
06:31And they're like, party on!
06:32And they just love it.
06:34And that way you're really interacting with them.
06:36And then at sunset we go to the point.
06:39Ollie, you've been there.
06:39It's such a beautiful spot.
06:40It is beautiful.
06:41Yes.
06:41And we have a little bubbly and we toast the sunset and have another day in the fabulous
06:46Florida Keys.
06:47It sounds incredible.
06:48How do people find out more information if we're looking forward to coming down to Marathon
06:53and planning a trip down here to come see you?
06:55We have a great website at dolphins.org.
06:58We are a non-profit, so it's .org.
07:00And you can see all of our different programs.
07:02You can spend an hour.
07:04You can spend a week.
07:05You can volunteer for a couple of weeks.
07:07We have all sorts of programs that you can get involved in.
07:11And we'd love to have you visit because I'm cute, but they're so much cuter.
07:15Well, thank you so much for spending some time with us and spreading the word about your
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