[ DOLPHINS ]

The nasal echo location system of a dolphin is of such a wavelength that it can see through the bodies of other animals and people. Skin, muscle and fat are almost transparent to dolphins, so they "see" a thin outline of the body, but the bones, teeth, and gas-filled cavities are clearly apparent. The latter include the sinuses, lungs, bronchi, intestines, etc. Although their echos carry information about the physical condition of another dolphin, a person, or another animal at which they are looking, we do not know, at present, whether dolphins know the significance of what they "see" inside their bodies, or ours. However they do receive the physical evidence of cancers, tumors, strokes, heart attacks, and even emotional states.
-George Barnes as quoted in Mad About Physics

DOLPHINS AND PEOPLE

In 1963 two scientists peered over the edge of a tank at the Communication Research Institute on St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. Elvar the dolphin, spotting at least one friendly face swam over and presented his belly at the surface. The animal was inviting the scientists to tickle him. One scientist obliged and scratched him several times, but on each occasion the dolphin rested a little deeper in the water. At last, the dolphin was to deep to reach and the scientist gave up, removing his hand from the tank. Instantly, the dolphin swam to the surface, raised itself until it stood on its tail and, towering over the two men enunciated the word "more". Had he understood the word "more" or had he simply mimicked a sound that triggered the desired response? Either way, it was a momentous occasion for astronomer Carl Sagan and pioneering dolphin researcher John Lilly.

Forty years ago Old Charley, a dolphin that herded herring under the old quay at Monkey Mia, Western Australia, making it easier for fisherman to catch them. The fisherman threw him tidbits and he returned time and time again at precisely 7:15 every day. Other dolphins followed his example, and in 1964 a teenage girl on holiday with her family encouraged the dolphins, including an elderly female called Old Speckled Belly, to take fish directly from her hand. Today dolphins still arrive at the beach - Crooked Fin and her daughter Puck, Snubnose, Holey Fin and several others - and people from all over the world, including scientists studying the social behavior of dolphins, can feed and touch these habituated wild dolphins.

As the diver entered the water, a dolphin suddenly appeared, postured, whistled and then made off. Minutes later it reappeared repeated its dance and dived below. The diver followed, only to be confronted by a large shark that was headed straight for him with its mouth agape. His camera housing protected him from injury, but as the shark prepared for a second attack, two dolphins appeared, putting themselves between the diver and the attacker. When the dolphins headed to the surface to breathe, the diver was alone, and the shark began to tighten the circle. Suddenly a dolphin appeared, then more, until six dolphins began to usher the shark away, their tail slaps accompanied by a cacophony of clicks and whistles. The diver swam for the surface. French wildlife film-maker Bertrand Loyer was the diver and the event was captured on film. Dolphins really do help save people in times of distress.

DOLPHINS AS HUMANS

Sex and violence are rife in the dolphins world in Shark Bay, Western Australia, gangs of male bottlenose dolphin will kidnap a female from her group and keep her prisoner for a month. Courtship is minimal. The victim is bumped, bitten and herded at will while the gang tries to mate with her. If a larger rival gang appears, the males will enlist the help of grangs with which they have secondary alliances. These alliances can be long-lived, members of a of a raiding gang may stick together for up to 12 years and coalitions with other gangs may last three years. These alliances and secondary alliances are unique to Shark Bay dolphins.

Touch is taken to an extreme by bottlenose dolphins. They seem to use sex as humans use a handshake. Sexual play includes "rostrum rides", during which one dolphin will place its beak in the genital slit of its partner and push the dolphin forward while emitting sonar clicks that excite the other dolphins.

In Virginia, nine baby dolphins were found washed ashore with their skulls smashed. The likely explanation was that rouge male dolphins killed the babies of bottlenose females sired by other males in order to bring the females quickly into oestrus.

DOLPHINS BBS MICHAEL BRIGHT

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