A popular tourist activity in North Bali (Lovina) is 'seeing the dolphins whilst the sun rises'. Whilst this may seem like an utterly perfect experience when it is sold to you, reality is a sobering reminder of the damaging nature of tourism.
I partook in this activity which involved clambering into a local fishing boat, before sunrise, and motoring offshore. It is here, where the dolphins live. The number of fishing boats grows by the minute and by the time we left, there were approximately 30 boats. Bearing in mind, that it was not even high season. At the first site of dolphins, the chase begins, with all the boat drivers trying to get their tourists as close to the pod as possible. It really is horrific, with the boat engines extremely loud and all criss crossing over each others tracks. This is not a sustainable activity and one which must cause much distress to the dolphins.
To not babble on in protest, what I would recommend, to save taking away this vital income from the local people, is to organise a boat tour to watch the sunrise, as that is pretty spectacular - ask your guide to drive you out and then cut the engine away from all the other fishing boats. This is a more peaceful and quiet option, the sunrise is stunning and it is not distressing to the dolphins who will probably (if you're lucky) pop up to say 'hello'.
