Panama City Beach’s Water Planet
In the last 6 years, the internationally renowned Water Planet Inc. has put together programs that revolve around these children and dolphins found in the wild off Shell Island between St. Andrews Bay and the Gulf of Mexico in Panama City Beach. This is not your ordinary dolphin feeding tour though. In fact, Denis Richard, President of Water Planet, discourages the illegal act of feeding the wild dolphins. The dolphins also are not held in any holding tanks or aquariums to cause interaction with the children. The Dolphins are curious by nature and will approach swimmers to find out who they are and what they are doing in the water. Water Planet does not believe that dolphins have any intentions to heal children even though they certainly are able to detect disabilities.
The organization has built a strong relationship with the animals in the wild, and the impact on the special needs children causes significant changes, both emotionally and developmentally. Other therapeutic programs cater to children with social, behavioral and developmental issues. Combining the healing effects of the marine environment and the emotional impact of encounters with wild dolphins with expressive arts, music, aquatic bodywork, physical therapy, occupational therapy, cranio-sacral therapy and the compassion and human qualities of Water Planet’s staff can be favorable in helping children coping with their disabilities and help their families deal with their disabled children.
The two programs offered by Water Planet are the Harmony Program and the Serenity Program. The Harmony Program combines interacting with the animals with expressive art, massage, Watsu, a sequence of gentle movements and stretches as you are held in warm water, and music. This has been shown to help a wide variety of children with most spectra of autism, manic depression, Turrets Syndrome, ADHD, Down Syndrome, and hyperactivity among other conditions. The Serenity Program caters to children with serious developmental delays, physical and motor disabilities like cerebral palsy, Head and Spinal Cord Injury, Mitochondrial Disorder, Spina Bifida, Muscular Dystrophy, and other disabilities, which require mechanical intervention.
Another important aspect of Water Planet’s mission, besides helping the special needs children, is to increase awareness of Shell Island’s ecosystem and the importance of its conservation through research, mutual respect, and giving back to nature. From the marine life within the sea grass to the starfish, and the seagulls to the dolphins themselves, the animals of Shell Island are intertwined and one could not live without the other. Through mutual respect and research provided by Water Planet and their volunteers and associates, the marine life of Panama City Beach will be here for generations. Helping those in the future to better cope with their mental or physical ailments. A maximum of six individuals are allowed in the educational/recreational programs, though Water Planet can accommodate larger groups like scouts, church groups and schools.
The age range is between newborns and the elderly. Groups in the therapeutic programs can be between two and six families with a total of up to 35 people including parents, sibling, relatives and staff. The age range of the children is 3 to 22 with an average of about 6 years of age The next chance to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity will be held June 18 through June 23, 2006 or July 16 through July 21, 2006. Spaces are limited so contact Water Planet with any questions or concerns. For more information about pricing and availability please call their offices at (850) 230-6030 or Toll free at 1-866-449-5591, or email their office at info@waterplanetusa.com.
