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Swimming with dolphins has been banned since January 1, 2021 in France to protect cetaceans. However, companies have continued to market these outings at sea. Their boats have been seized by the authorities.
Swimming with dolphins in the open Mediterranean Sea is a dream for many people. The practice has been banned in France since January 1, 2021, but three companies on the Côte d’Azur still offered the activity to tourists. Their boats were seized in July 2022 by the authorities. It is, in fact, forbidden to approach cetaceans within 100 m and to swim with them. The offending professionals claim that they were not too close. “When [les dauphins] come, indeed, what we were doing, for the people who wanted it (…) they slip into the water, they watch them go by and they come back up”assures Magalie Grimont, of the ship “Annett”.
Environmental associations have alerted the courts and denounce methods of tracking with aerial means. “Practices of harassment of dolphins by planes, which then warned companies swimming with dolphins which were chasing the schools of dolphins (…) it is a real market”warns Élodie Martinie-Cousty, head of the ocean, seas and coasts network at France Nature Environnement.