Showing posts with label dolphin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dolphin. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, June 17, 2011
MATTHEW WILLIAMS: Save the saddest dolphins
The pod was swimming peacefully in the Solomon Islands when nets closed in from behind -- trapping 25 wild dolphins for a luxury resort's latest exhibit. They are now locked in tiny pens, starved of food -- but we can free them.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/saddest_dolphins/?copy
Thursday, February 10, 2011
OLL LEWIS: A higher porpoise at work?
As you might expect from something that covers two thirds of the planet's surface there are a lot of myths and legends about the sea. Some are about lost civilizations swallowed beneath the ocean waves or phantom island and strange superstitions but most of the sea's tales involve the animals that may live there like tales of sea monsters, kraken, giant squid and dolphins. Dolphins are a particular favourite among storytellers because of their supposed human-like traits, intelligence and apparent affinity with man.
Dolphins are considered by many to be of a level of intelligence near to that of man due to them apparently being self-aware, capable of problem-solving, tool use (as much as a dolphin can use a 'tool'), ability to learn and apparently make decisions based on a logical thought process rather than simple reward training or luck. Dolphins also are capable of using and understanding language between members of their own species and to understand certain words in human languages should they be given enough training. However, to date there have been no successful experiments where a dolphin and human have been able to properly converse, even by the use of a Morse-code-like system of clicks to get round the fact that human and dolphin vocal cords are very different. It would seem that dolphins do not appreciate language in the way that a human does and things like sentence structure, verbs, nouns and all manner of other building blocks that have evolved in human communication throughout thousands of years of social interaction are completely alien to dolphins as the many subtleties of dolphin speech must be to humans.
Dolphins are considered by many to be of a level of intelligence near to that of man due to them apparently being self-aware, capable of problem-solving, tool use (as much as a dolphin can use a 'tool'), ability to learn and apparently make decisions based on a logical thought process rather than simple reward training or luck. Dolphins also are capable of using and understanding language between members of their own species and to understand certain words in human languages should they be given enough training. However, to date there have been no successful experiments where a dolphin and human have been able to properly converse, even by the use of a Morse-code-like system of clicks to get round the fact that human and dolphin vocal cords are very different. It would seem that dolphins do not appreciate language in the way that a human does and things like sentence structure, verbs, nouns and all manner of other building blocks that have evolved in human communication throughout thousands of years of social interaction are completely alien to dolphins as the many subtleties of dolphin speech must be to humans.
I once read something online, which was a sort of survival sheet that gave instructions on what to do and how to behave if it turned out aliens existed and you happened to be their first contact with the human race. The idea was that in order not to simply be collected as a sample, killed and plonked in a jar aboard their space ship, you should show some evidence of intelligence and the best way to do this would be to draw a diagram of Pythagoras' theorem as any species capable of interstellar flight would be able to relate that to their own version of mathematics. Sure, the aliens would be unlikely to count in base 10 like us - we only do because we started counting using our fingers and thumbs - but there would likely be some common ground somewhere. With dolphins we wouldn't even have the common ground of mathematics to share; what use is knowing how to calculate the length of a hypotenuse to an aquatic mammal?
Despite all our differences it would seem that dolphins are certainly interested in man at least as some sort of curio. Dolphins who have regular contact with humans often make clicks and chattering noises using their blow holes and moving their jaws up and down in imitation of humans holding a conversation. If you've ever owned a cat or a dog you've probably engaged in similar behaviour (although you might not want to admit it in public) by holding a conversation with them in 'mews' or 'whines' while getting their dinner ready, whatever it is you're saying to the animal probably doesn't make much sense but you do feel good for having made the effort. Dolphins certainly do because they get rewarded by fish most of they time they do it.
Stories about dolphins usually play upon this apparent interest in man and by far the most widely told is that of the dolphin rescue. These stories have been cropping up for thousands of years in mythology, travellers tales and more recently in newspapers and other news media. One of the more recent stories to come to light happened to perhaps the last person you would expect. 82-year-old Dick Van Dyke is best known for playing Dr Sloan in the brilliant Diagnosis Murder and in his younger days, playing the iconic film cockney, Burt, in Mary Poppins but in his youth he was quite the action man. In November of last year (2010) D.V.D. talked to the press about something which had happened in his youth when he was a surfer. He had fallen asleep on his surf board and drifted out to sea.
“I woke up out of sight of land... and I started paddling with the swells and I started seeing fins swimming around me and I thought, "I'm dead!"”
Luckily for D.V.D. what he thought were circling sharks turned out to be a pod of friendly dolphins happy to lead him back to the beach.
Most stories like this are completely true and this had led some people to assume that dolphins have a special affinity with man. The truth is though that most dolphins will just instinctively push or lead anything that looks like it might be a sick dolphin into shallow water where it will be less likely to drown. They aren't really intelligent enough to know the difference between a swimming human and a wounded dolphin in distress.
Despite all our differences it would seem that dolphins are certainly interested in man at least as some sort of curio. Dolphins who have regular contact with humans often make clicks and chattering noises using their blow holes and moving their jaws up and down in imitation of humans holding a conversation. If you've ever owned a cat or a dog you've probably engaged in similar behaviour (although you might not want to admit it in public) by holding a conversation with them in 'mews' or 'whines' while getting their dinner ready, whatever it is you're saying to the animal probably doesn't make much sense but you do feel good for having made the effort. Dolphins certainly do because they get rewarded by fish most of they time they do it.
Stories about dolphins usually play upon this apparent interest in man and by far the most widely told is that of the dolphin rescue. These stories have been cropping up for thousands of years in mythology, travellers tales and more recently in newspapers and other news media. One of the more recent stories to come to light happened to perhaps the last person you would expect. 82-year-old Dick Van Dyke is best known for playing Dr Sloan in the brilliant Diagnosis Murder and in his younger days, playing the iconic film cockney, Burt, in Mary Poppins but in his youth he was quite the action man. In November of last year (2010) D.V.D. talked to the press about something which had happened in his youth when he was a surfer. He had fallen asleep on his surf board and drifted out to sea.
“I woke up out of sight of land... and I started paddling with the swells and I started seeing fins swimming around me and I thought, "I'm dead!"”
Luckily for D.V.D. what he thought were circling sharks turned out to be a pod of friendly dolphins happy to lead him back to the beach.
Most stories like this are completely true and this had led some people to assume that dolphins have a special affinity with man. The truth is though that most dolphins will just instinctively push or lead anything that looks like it might be a sick dolphin into shallow water where it will be less likely to drown. They aren't really intelligent enough to know the difference between a swimming human and a wounded dolphin in distress.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
RICHARD FREEMAN: MASS MURDER OF DOLPHINS IN JAPAN
As September begins so does the Japanese plot to murder and enslave dolphins. The Ito Fishing Cooperative in Futo has announced it will resume a drive hunt of dolphins this season for the first time since 2005. They plan to take 419 animals, including 59 bottlenose dolphins, for sale to aquariums, for “scientific research,” and for human consumption. In an unbelievable statement they have also said they believe it “important to teach the skills of the drive hunt to the next generation”. This barbarism should be consigned to the history books, not fostered to a new generation.
Using motorised vessels to locate a dolphin pod, the fishermen herd the animals toward shore, trapping them in a large net or shallow bay. Here a number are captured to be sold to aquariums and dolphinariums. The rest are butchered with lances and knifes in a manner akin to the perverse atrocities carried out in the seas around the Faeroe Isles. The meat is sold for human consumption regardless of the fact it is full of PCBs, heavy metals, and other toxins thanks to pollution.
The recent shocking documentary film The Cove and the new Animal Planet series Blood Dolphins has brought this sick behaviour to the public eye despite Japan’s best efforts to hide it from the international community.
In June 2010 a new Prime Minister was elected in Japan. Naoto Kan began his political career as an environmental campaigner and has a background in activism. With all of the negative publicity surrounding the drive fisheries, perhaps he will use his new position to instigate positive change that reflects the views of the majority of the Japanese people, and the world. Brutal and inhumane activities like dolphin drives clearly have no place in modern society.
Tell him what you think here:
https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4681&s_src=enewsletter&sub_src=090110takeaction&JServSessionIdr004=dgyghno242.app304a
Using motorised vessels to locate a dolphin pod, the fishermen herd the animals toward shore, trapping them in a large net or shallow bay. Here a number are captured to be sold to aquariums and dolphinariums. The rest are butchered with lances and knifes in a manner akin to the perverse atrocities carried out in the seas around the Faeroe Isles. The meat is sold for human consumption regardless of the fact it is full of PCBs, heavy metals, and other toxins thanks to pollution.
The recent shocking documentary film The Cove and the new Animal Planet series Blood Dolphins has brought this sick behaviour to the public eye despite Japan’s best efforts to hide it from the international community.
In June 2010 a new Prime Minister was elected in Japan. Naoto Kan began his political career as an environmental campaigner and has a background in activism. With all of the negative publicity surrounding the drive fisheries, perhaps he will use his new position to instigate positive change that reflects the views of the majority of the Japanese people, and the world. Brutal and inhumane activities like dolphin drives clearly have no place in modern society.
Tell him what you think here:
https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=4681&s_src=enewsletter&sub_src=090110takeaction&JServSessionIdr004=dgyghno242.app304a
Friday, May 28, 2010
RICHARD FREEMAN: Spineless protests against anti dolphin slaughter film
A shocking documentary film called The Cove, about the slaughter of dolphins in Japan is fighting to be screened in that country. A US naval base has, in an exceptionally cowardly move, cancelled a screening after protests by nationalists. Every single Japanese person should be made to watch this film and shown what their government allows to go on.
http://www.aolnews.com/earth-day/article/protests-mount-in-japan-against-dolphin-slaughter-movie-the-cove/19450157
http://www.aolnews.com/earth-day/article/protests-mount-in-japan-against-dolphin-slaughter-movie-the-cove/19450157
Sunday, May 09, 2010
RICHARD FREEMAN: 'Flipper committed suicide'
Most of our older readers will remember the 1960s kids show Flipper. It features the adventures of a friendly dolphin. Much like a watery Lassie, Flipper would rescue children and thwart baddies to the delight of viewers.Now her trainer reveals what a miserable existence she had in captivity and how it ultimately led to her death. Ric O’Barry, a former dolphin trainer now activist against keeping the creatures in captivity, is convinced she committed suicide.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/dailydish/detail?entry_id=62024
Thursday, March 05, 2009
More on the Pink Dolphin...
More details have emerged about the pink dolphin story that I posted this morning. Thanks to Gavin and others for the information...
Charter boat captain Erik Rue, 42, photographed the animal, which is actually an albino, when he began studying it after the mammal first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA. Capt Rue originally saw the dolphin, which also has reddish eyes, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side....
Read on: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4927224/Pink-dolphin-appears-in-US-lake.html
Charter boat captain Erik Rue, 42, photographed the animal, which is actually an albino, when he began studying it after the mammal first surfaced in Lake Calcasieu, an inland saltwater estuary, north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern USA. Capt Rue originally saw the dolphin, which also has reddish eyes, swimming with a pod of four other dolphins, with one appearing to be its mother which never left its side....
Read on: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4927224/Pink-dolphin-appears-in-US-lake.html
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
BY THE WAY, WHICH ONE'S PINK?
http://www.tmz.com/2009/03/03/albino-dolphin-tickled-pink/The Internet is a wonderful thing, but ultimately completely frustrating. This picture of "the world's only pink bottlenosed dolphin" which is supposed to be living in a "lake in Louisiana" was splashed across the Internet last night with no further information.
There are, of course, pink dolphins in the South China Sea and the Amazon, but they don't look anything like this. However I am not saying that the picture ain't genuine, merely that I don't know anything about its provenance. However, on a vaguely related topic, if you ever felt despair at the calibre of some of the people who inhabit "teh internets" read the comments at the bottom of the original posting, especially the incomprehensible one about Mr Darcy and female sex aids. It will make whatever faith you still have in humanity drop even lower.
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