Hurghada Tour Operators Move Against Dolphin-Chasing Trips as Protectorates Penalise Violators

Tourism companies in Hurghada have moved urgently against boat trips that chase dolphins, while the protectorates authority is imposing penalties on operators who break the rules, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported on 5 September.

The report links the two: pressure from inside the trade alongside sanctions from the protectorates on violators. It does not say what the companies' measure consists of, how many boats have been penalised, what the penalties are, or which sites the trips run to.

Dolphin excursions are a fixture of the Hurghada day-trip market, sold from hotel desks and marina kiosks across the coast. The practice the Arabic report singles out is chasing — pursuing a pod with the boat, as opposed to holding position and letting the animals decide how close to come.

It is the second wildlife-pressure story on this coast in recent weeks. Hurghada News reported that rangers asked tourists not to touch whale sharks that were being sighted repeatedly off Hurghada and Marsa Alam.

For a visitor booking a dolphin trip, the practical point is that the operator now carries a regulatory risk the customer cannot see on the ticket. There is no published list of penalised boats, and the report offers no way to check an operator's standing before boarding.

What the report leaves open is the substance on both sides: whether the companies' move is a formal industry code, a suspension of particular trips or an internal warning, and whether the protectorates' penalties are fines, licence suspensions or something else.