Dolphins and People
Inside a new campaign to have them protected as “persons”
Part One: The Smartest of Us All?
“So long, and thanks for all the fish!” It’s the famous message left by the dolphins when they depart Planet Earth in the sci-fi classic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy just before the planet is demolished to make room for a galactic expressway.
On a visit back to Earth, interstellar hitchhiker Arthur Dent discovers an audio message explaining that the dolphins, aware of the impending destruction of Earth, have left the planet for an alternate dimension. They’ve also gone to the trouble of saving the human species by replacing the destroyed Earth with a new version and transporting everyone there.
(This was especially nice of the dolphins, considering that the rather bone-headed humans had consistently ignored their warnings, believing that their squeaks, whistles and clicks were nothing more than mindless play, rather than the complex language of a super-intelligent species.)
Complex language? Super-intelligence? The truth about dolphins may turn out to be just as remarkable as the sci-fi version.
So just how smart are they in real life?
What are we learning about them and from them?
How do they treat us?
And how do we treat them in return?
We explore all this and more in this Big Story about the animals who may just possibly be the most advanced life form on Planet Earth. Enjoy!
. . . oh, and here’s the opening sequence from the movie version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide. It does quite a good job of summing up our relationship to dolphins.
Next: Dolphins: How Smart Are They?
Part One: The Smartest of Us All?
"So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!"
The famous message they left us in the sci-fi movie.
How Smart Are Dolphins?
What one scientist learned about them. It's amazing.
Dolphins or Humans: Who's Smarter?
Here are some of the facts. You decide.
Dolphin Society and Culture
How they live, learn, play and use their amazing echolocation.
They're Super-Brainy, Too
Neuroscientist shows us a dolphin brain.
More Fascinating Stuff
The Great Researcher
Prof. Lou Herman taught us most of what we know. (Check out the videos.)
A Society that Works
Dolphin society is more successful than ours.
Are Dolphins "Persons"
Author Tom White explains what a "person" is.
Life and Culture
Their lives, games and gatherings.
How Smart is a Dolphin?
The processing power of their brains is huge.
Experimenting on Dolphins
Should we still be doing it? "Please don't ask me," says scientist who does it.
My Visit to the Dolphins
"A beautiful creature with liquid eyes was gazing up at me as we motored along."
Other Links & Videos
Mirror Self-Recognition Test
How we know that dolphins are self-aware.
David Attenborough on Surfing
Spinner Dolphins with Humans
A Dolphin "Stampede"
And Another One!
And Riding the Bow Wave
Playing with Bubble Rings
Dancing in Tahiti
The Herman Investigation
The results that ended his research.
The Minds of Whales
A scientific paper about the brains of cetaceans.
Next: Part 2: The Business of Dolphins
Posted May 2, 2010, by Zoe
A great quote: "It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English (up to fifty words used in correct context)
no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese."
--Carl Sagan
On Sunday evening, I watched an Academy Award winning documentary that opened my eyes to an atrocity that recurs every year in a Taji, a small fishing village in Japan, beginning September 1st. It is in this small village that thousands (approximately 20,000) of dolphins and porpoises are lured to a cove to be assessed for their suitability for sale to theme parks and "swim with the dolphin" outfits throughout the world. For each animal that meets the exacting standards of these businesses, the fishermen can get as much as $150,000. About one in 1000 make the cut. The rest are slaughtered and sold as whale meat. The methods used to lure the dolphins are conniving and cruel; the methods they use to kill are crude and barbaric, resulting in drawn-out suffering.
The documentary itself, "The Cove," shows only about ten minutes of the actual killing, for it is really about " . . . the larger picture of the threat our entire world faces due to human impacts." I urge you to rent "The Cove," which is a fascinating, poignant portrait of how thousands of dollars worth of video and audio equipment are transported and covertly planted, in order to record an occurrence that the Japanese government has insisted does not occur. Ironically, the mission is led by the man who starred in "Flipper" years ago, a show which introduced the world to dolphins, sadly to their detriment. He regrets his role in the exploitation of this beautiful mammal, and has consequently dedicated his life to saving them from the type of emotional and physical torment they are subjected to in Taji and other locales, and in captivity, as well.
For more information about how you can help to stop the annual slaughter, visit http://www.takepart.com/thecove.
Thanks for reading.
Pam
[...] opening to the movie The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, we’re told that humans are the third most intelligent species on earth – a little way behind dolphins. (Above dolphins are mice, who turn out to be the physical [...]
[...] See also Dolphins & People: The Smartest of Us All? [...]