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Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS) is a scientific research center located in
Roatán Roatán () is an island in the Caribbean, about off the northern coast of Honduras. The largest of the Bay Islands Department, Bay Islands of Honduras, it is located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja. It is approximately long, and le ...
, department of Islas de la Bahía, in the Republic of Honduras. It is part of Anthony's Key Resort, a tourist complex belonging to the Galindo family, that offers accommodations in
bungalows A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide verandas. Th ...
,
kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...
,
spas Spas or SPAS may refer to: * Spa, a therapeutic water treatment Geography * Spas, Russia, several rural localities in Russia * Spas, Kalush Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, a village in Kalush Raion in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine * Spas, Sambir ...
, excursions and various interactions with captive
dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
such as
swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...
. It was founded in 1989 with the purpose of investigating
coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. ...
and
aquatic life An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem found in and around a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms—aquatic life—that are dependent on each other and on their environm ...
in general in the coastal zones of Honduras and the surrounding areas. The institute also has a small marine museum and the "Dolphin Discovery Camp" for the study of dolphin behavior (two when it started) and in 2017 the population of the
dolphinarium A dolphinarium is an aquarium for dolphins. The dolphins are usually kept in a pool, though occasionally they may be kept in pens in the open sea, either for research or public performances. Some dolphinariums (sometimes called dolphinaria in plu ...
was twenty-six
cetaceans Cetacea (; , ) is an infraorder of aquatic mammals belonging to the order Artiodactyla that includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. Key characteristics are their fully aquatic lifestyle, streamlined body shape, often large size and exclusively c ...
. Of these, seven were captured wild, one was rescued and eighteen were born there. They are spread over two coastal enclosures, one on the small island of Bailey's Key (Dolphin Encounter) and the other on the main island of Roatán (Dolphin Presentation). The institute has scientific research programs that are visited by students from colleges, universities, and high schools from abroad. Héctor and Iván are two of the dolphins, whose
behavior Behavior (American English) or behaviour (British English) is the range of actions of Individual, individuals, organisms, systems or Artificial intelligence, artificial entities in some environment. These systems can include other systems or or ...
was studied by the psychologist Dr. Stan Kuczaj. These dolphins use complex language with each other, which is the basis of scientific study to understand them better.


References

{{morecat, date=May 2024 Roatán Scientific buildings