Nineteen centuries ago, Pluto, a Greek moralist
and biographer made this statement: "to the
dolphin alone, beyond all other, nature has
granted what the best philosophers seek:
friendship for no advantage". 1 In our own times
Barbara Tufty made the comment "he [Dolphins]
also exhibits a friendly willingness to
cooperate with other earth creatures -- a rare
attribute which another animal, Homo Sapiens,
has not yet learned to do with any
consistency".2 Apparently there is something
quite impressive about Dolphins. Not only now,
when we are learning so much more about them,
but even in the year 62 AD!
Outside of his striking
friendliness, the Dolphin seems to have been
blessed with a well developed sense of humor.
Dolphins have been known to silently maneuver
behind an unsuspecting pelican and snatch its
tail feathers -- usually leaving the bird minus
a few. Other pranks include grabbing
unsuspecting fish by the tail, pulling them
backward a few feet as well as bothering slow
turtles by rolling them over and over. Once a
dolphin was seen placing a piece of squid near a
grouper's rock cranny. When the fish came out,
the dolphin promptly snatched the bait away,
leaving the puzzled fish behind.
In 1965 Anthropologist Gregory Bateson made the
discovery that dolphins live in social groups
dominated by a leader. This tie is so strong
that dolphins kept in total isolation will
suffer ill health and possibly death. It has
also been observed that dolphins frequently
stroke each other with their flippers, hence,
indicating that they require physical contact
much like humans. A dolphin's skin is extremely
delicate and easily injured by rough
surfaces--very similar to human skin.
At Marine Studio Oceanarium,
Bimbo, an 18 foot pilot whale stopped eating and
became aggressive to smaller dolphins in the
tank. The trainers, after a long issue, decided
that maybe his ego needed bolstering. So they
proceeded to drain the tank to the three-foot
level. Bimbo, now stranded, began to whistle
piteously. Soon all the dolphins gathered around
and comforted him with conversation which
consisted of whistles, chirps and the usual
dolphinese sounds. When the tank was again
refilled, Bimbo's manners improved immediately.3
Do dolphins talk? Maybe. The above, the next two
incidents, and the others scattered throughout
this paper will probably lead you to the
conclusion that they at least communicate with
each other.
In 1962 Dr. Dreher and Dr. Evans were aboard the
research vessel Sea Quest, 300 miles south of
San Diego, studying gray whales. They had strung
a number of vertical aluminum poles and
microphones inside Scammon's Lagoon, erecting a
type of barrier. A short time later five Pacific
Bottle-nosed dolphins were spotted about 500
yards from the barrier. After a few minutes of
what was labeled conversation, a scout was sent
from the group. Microphones picked up his sonar
soundings as he closely surveyed the poles. When
he returned to the pod an explosion of whistles,
chirps and Bronx cheer-like noises were recorded
via microphones. After several minutes of
conversation the dolphins proceeded through the
barrier and into the bay.4
A similar occurrence was noted when, in 1962,
several Lockheed Aircraft Corporation scientists
erected a similar barrier across a channel, this
time with stronger microphones. As the dolphins
approached clicking noises were heard --
possibly sonar soundings. They gathered into a
group in nearby shallow water about 400 feet
from the barrier. During this time lots of
clicks and squeaky-door sounds were recorded. A
scout left the group and examined the barrier.
When the dolphin returned he was greeted in the
same manner as before. After about four minutes
of conversation another scout was sent out. Upon
his return he too was greeted with the explosion
of whistles. After about two and a half minutes
the dolphins merrily clicked through the
barrier. Returning into the bay that afternoon,
and the next morning leaving the bay, the pod
did not send a scout when they came to the
barrier.....nor did they even slow down.5
Dr. John C. Lilly, who has provided extensive
research on dolphins, performed the following
two experiments which I consider well worthy of
notice.
Using a mind
probe set in the brain, which when
stimulated with an electrical
current gave the dolphin a rewarding
sensation, Dr. Lilly set up a switch
where Dolphin #6 could reward
himself by pushing a lever. "While I
was assembling it, I noticed that
the dolphin was closely watching
what I was doing. Almost before I
could finish assembling and placing
the rods necessary to push the
switch (which was out of the water
above the animal), the dolphin
started pushing on the rod. By the
time the switch was connected to the
rest of the apparatus he had learned
the proper way to push it."6
There was no
random or apparent accidental
contacts before the dolphin learned
how. The same thing happened with
three different dolphins. They
seemed to anticipate the
purpose of the switch. Probably from
seeing him push it and connecting
the push to the reward. Dr. Lilly
had used this same technique on
monkeys and made the statement that
it usually took a chimp about 100
random tries before he learned to
push the button, and then a few more
to learn how to push the button.
Dr. Lilly was
attempting to make Dolphin #8
whistle a burst of a given pitch,
duration and intensity in order to
obtain a reward. The dolphin quickly
caught on. Every time he whistled
his blowhole would move and a
whistle would be emitted. Then Dr.
Lilly noticed that the dolphin had
added a new rule to the game. He was
raising the pitch of each subsequent
whistle. Suddenly, the blowhole
twitched, but no sound. He had
passed our hearing range. No sound--
no reward. Dolphin #8 emitted two
more supersonic twitches and the
third was hearable. From that time
on he did not go out of Dr. Lilly's
acoustic range. The Dolphin had
determined what his hearing range
was and stayed within it.
Unfortunately the
water temperature dropped too low
and this dolphin was lost shortly
after this session.7
As far as I know this
is the first time that an obvious
experiment has been performed on a human
by another species -- and put into use
afterwards. Dolphin #8 belonged to the
species Tursiops truncatus; or
commonly called a bottle-nosed dolphin.
The brain size of a
bottle-nosed dolphin is comparable to
ours at birth and, during their lifetime
develops well into the upper levels of
the maximum size for modern man -- about
1700 grams. A dolphin's brain size
increases very rapidly during youth and
seems to slow down at nine years of age.
This decrease is less than our slow down
which occurs at our equivalent age of 17
years and afterwards.
As a brain grows in
size and as a child ages, immersed in
many daily language situations, both
brain and language increase in
complexity. The usual human brain
reaches 1400 grams at 10 to 17 years of
age. The levels of complex thinking at
this time increase tremendously over
that of beginning speech.
This picture is copyright by nelsal
