Are we animals, or something else?

POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Monday, June 3, 2024 14:47
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NIKI2

Tuesday, March 23, 2010 8:11 PM

How neat! They do respond to higher-pitched voices rather than lower-pitched ones. And most whales and dolphins find us endlessly fascinating in one way or another. That was quite an experience, and you're right and so is the trainer; somehow you connected with her. Can't explain any of it, of course, but I'd love to have seen it! There's such a feeling of "touching" one another with them, even when no physical touching is involved.

The night shifts were tough. There would be three or four of us because nobody could stay in the water long (we were all volunteers from Marine Mammal Center, so didn't have wetsuits, etc.). The water was only four or so feet deep, and we just walked around with them, supporting them. The warmth of their bodies, movement of muscles, inhaling and exhaling...you could never forget it.

The reason we weren't supposed to let the dolphins pull us around is 'cuz it can damage the dorsal--I HATE seeing them do it in shows. Although they say the reason killer whales' dorsals bend over is because they're not out in the wild with ocean currents, what they don't tell you is that some of it is also caused by pulling the humans around in shows. That's why I got in trouble.

We had to swim with this guy because he was a Pacific Whiteside--they are very social and don't do well in captivity, so we needed to keep someone in the pool all the time because they were delicate and lost without their pod. But we were just supposed to swim around, "be there" in essence. They never let me swim with another; nobody but myself to blame, but we sure had fun!

There's nothing like being in the water with them, OR talking to them like you did. Sea World has a big area where you can touch them if they let you--we got to go down there after hours via a Marine Mammal Conference, and it was a real experience. Without a ton of tourists ringing the pool making noise, they were much more likely to come over and interact. I always felt badly about that pool, tho' big it was only five or six feet deep and had several bottlenosed in it, seemed like such a confined space...

Dolphins and whales should be wild, end of story. You just can't make them happy in enclosed spaces after being in the vast oceans...they and seals get intellectual exercise working with humans, which helps, but it's not the same and it's wrong.

It's not the same with other species; big cats for example sleep most of the time and seem quite content to have their food provided (IF they have a decent outdoor enclosure), and it's the same with many other species--IF the zoo is a modern one that attempts to create a natural setting.

But dolphins and whales NEED intellectual stimulation, and their lives in the wild are easy; food is plentiful, predators are few and, in a pod, easily deterred, so they have so much time to just enjoy themselves and challenge themselves mentally, it's a whole different thing.

It's one of the maqin reasons I can never deny that we are just one species among many, it's just too damned obvious they think, laugh, figure out puzzles, communicate, interact with other species, and so on. Have you seen the bubble-blowing activities of dolphins in captivity? I feel sorry for them, having to create games on their own, yet in awe of their abilities and how they've figured out they can "play" with the bubble ring. Saddens and impresses me at the same time.

As to doing what you dreamed of...yes, it was unforgettable, but at the same time we were no more than 35% or so successful (even more than seals, sick or injured dolphins don't usually beach themselves until they are VERY weak)...we didn't save the Pacific Whiteside, or the Pilot Whale, and that tears you apart.


"I'm just right. Kinda like the sun rising in the east and the world being round...its not a need its just the way it is." The Delusional "Hero", 3/1/10