Make a Difference in Tallahassee For Ocean days

Surfrider Chargin It In Tallahassee!
Clean Oceans Bill Moves Forward This past Wednesday Surfrider stood tall in the pit and pushed the Clean Ocean's Bill through House Council on Environmental Protection. Essentially, Surfrider faced off against former House Speaker Ralph Haben, who is now the lobbyist for Florida's Day Cruise Association.Haben got the call to speak before the Committee first and laid down a tough act to follow. Surfrider stepped up and charged in trying to convince the skeptical panel of 13 legislators. To make matters worse Haben had burned up most of the time available to speak and a computer glitch crashed the presentation we were supposed to make. Amazingly, Surfrider pulled in and nailed a perfect argument. When the votes came in The Clean Ocean's Bill passed 8-5 and took a HUGE step towards final passage into law.


Open Beaches Amendment Coming in Under the Radar This session has been tough on Surfrider's Open Beaches Act but our motto of "Never Say Die, Never Surrender!" has paid off and protection of Beach access is back on the table and looking good.After taking a cruel blow in the opening days of legislative session, the Open Beaches Act essentially fell into what folks would term the loser's bracket in a tournament; still alive but a strike against it. Intense work began on retooling the bill into an amendment and searching for the perfect place to get it back into play.That opportunity came along this week and Surfrider quietly worked "Open Beaches" back into contention with House Council unanimously adding it to a bill that has good prospects of making it into law. This was no easy feat and HUGE props go out to Florida Regional Manager Ericka D'Avanzo who worked many a deal to make it possible.


Time for the Crew to Step Up! First let me say, it's RARE that an environmental group can come into Tallahassee its first year and get 2 pieces of legislation into the second half of legislative session. Most called us crazy to even try!Yet here we are, 3 weeks left in session and both Clean Oceans and Open Beaches have legs to make it the whole way. What they need most is you! As both bills move to the House and Senate Floor, intense lobbying and political action will start to attack these measures.The bottom line will be:"How bad to do you want Open Beaches and Clean Oceans?""Are you willing to give what it takes to make these initiatives a reality?"Be assured that if folks let this opportunity slip away it may never come back. SURFRIDER NEEDS YOU TO COME TO TALLAHASSEE and help push these bills into law. Surfrider is setting everything up from vans to hotels, training, and materials for folks to spend Ocean's Day - April 18th in Tallahassee visiting legislators and promoting Clean Oceans and Open Beaches.
Click here to send an email to our Legislative Coordinator.He'll get you hooked up so you can make a difference.

The Trials of Castaway

The unsuccessful release of a pregnant Atlantic bottlenose dolphin last month has veterinarians and scientists around the country debating whether a drug used by a veterinarian with Mote Marine Laboratory should be banned for marine mammals.Rather than blaming Mote, the scientists hope the case will offer better ways to rehabilitate and release sick dolphins, something that is still rarely successful. In Florida an average of six rescued dolphins are returned to the wild ever year, even though there are 275 strandings a year."Our knowledge is so limited with these animals," said Mote's veterinarian, Charles Manire. "We're trying to learn about these things as we go. We're basically writing the books case by case."The rescue of the 500-pound dolphin, nicknamed Castaway, at first looked destined to be an uplifting tale of human intervention to save the life of a helpless sea animal.The pregnant dolphin was found beached at Castaway Cove near Vero Beach. Mote nursed Castaway to health and was set to release her into the ocean to give birth.But Castaway never made it back to the wild.After having an adverse reaction to a drug that was supposed to revive the sedated mammal as she was returned to the sea, Castaway was once again pulled to safety. Now deaf and unable to survive in the deep ocean, Castaway is being kept in a lagoon at the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo, waiting to give birth.She and her calf may end up at a facility like Sea World or Miami's Seaquarium for the rest of their lives.The case reveals the chasm that still exists in human understanding about dolphins, whose brain size and intelligence is often compared to humans. Manire said Castaway's case is likely to become fodder for academic seminars and scientific journals.The central question will be how the seemingly recovered dolphin suffered profound hearing loss and possibly neurological damage, and whether that occurred during the effort to release her.There is suspicion that the drug Romazicon, designed to reverse the effects of sedatives, could have crippled the dolphin. Because so few dolphins are released and even fewer are sedated before release, there's not enough science on the effects of the drug on marine mammals like dolphins and whales.Manire, Mote's top veterinarian, said Romazicon has been tested in humans and is considered safe, although known side effects are dizziness and vertigo, and can include temporary and even permanent hearing loss.Mote rescue workers last month attempted to release Castaway into the Atlantic Ocean, where she could give birth to her calf. It was essential to get her back to the deep sea, so that the mother could immediately begin teaching the calf to survive in the wild.Castaway was sedated and driven in a holding tank to Vero Beach. She was then given Romazicon to make her alert.But Manire immediately noticed Castaway wasn't swimming and that she acted "stoned." Tests show she is now deaf, but it is nearly impossible to know whether the drug caused her to go deaf, because her hearing was never tested before the attempted release.Hearing is critical to a dolphin's survival, and in this case, to Castaway's ability to teach her calf to survive in the wild, Manire said. Dolphins can't see well and use their hearing to find food through echolocation, a sort of sonar.Dolphins are social and tend to live in communities where communication is used in essential activities like navigating and identifying other animals, including predators.Blair Mase, the stranding coordinator for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's southeast region, said the problems could come from a range of things, including a stroke during transportation or an adverse reaction to the drug.If scientists believe that the Romazicon caused the dolphin to go deaf, they could suspend its use in dolphin populations."We don't know if she had a reaction to the drug," Mase said. "She has limited neurological response. We're doing all we can to diagnose and treat her if we can."But Russ Rector, a former dolphin trainer who established the Dolphin Freedom Foundation, said that Mote and the marine fisheries service shouldn't have approved drugs that haven't been tested in marine mammals.Rector is concerned that the Castaway and her calf will be kept in captivity even though they are deep-sea dolphins and that they will be used to raise funds for organizations like Mote and the Marine Mammal Conservancy. He said even naming the animal violates the way scientists should handle wild dolphins.He also believes that Mote should have brought the dolphin back to Sarasota so that the lab could continue the dolphin's rehabilitation and study.Mase said Castaway is not releasable now, but that if the hearing loss is temporary she could be OK'd for conditional release.If Castaway doesn't take care of her calf and continues to exhibit symptoms of neurological damage, she may be euthanized, Mase said. The calf, which can't be released without its mother, would then be sent to a facility such as Sea World that keeps captive dolphins.

UPDATE:

delphina writes "A pregnant bottlenose dolphin is deaf and cannot be released into the ocean, a marine mammal expert said Friday.The dolphin, Castaway stranded off Vero Beach in November, but was deemed healthy enough for release Jan. 30, after convalescing at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. But instead of swimming offshore, she returned to the beach three times and was transported to the Keys."We've officially deemed the animal as unreleasable," said Blair Mase, a regional stranding coordinator for National Marine Fisheries Service. "Deafness and other central nervous system issues she has would prohibit her from functioning normally."Dolphins need to hear in order to utilize dolphin sonar. By listening to echoes of sounds they produce, dolphins locate objects and fish for food.Castaway will remain at the Marine Mammal Conservancy in the Florida Keys for at least nine months, before being relocated to a permanent care facility, Mase said.

UPDATE:

After spending more than a month acclimating herself to a Keys rehabilitation facility, Castaway — the pregnant dolphin that stranded in Vero Beach's Castaway Cove last year — likely will give birth and stay there for at least another six months, marine mammal experts said Monday.A conference call between volunteers at the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo and federal officials last week resulted in a decision to never release the deaf, bottlenose dolphin — or her unborn calf — back into the wild, conservancy president Robert Lingenfelser said. Castaway, who experts tried to release unsuccessfully off Fort Pierce in January, and her calf eventually will end up in a public display facility for the rest of their lives. But it may be too close to full-term in her pregnancy to move her safely, he said."It'd be really foolish to transport her at this point," Lingenfelser said. "We all agree she's non-releasable."Although it is unclear whether a natural trauma or a negative reaction to drugs caused Castaway's deafness, experts said her lack of senses and inability to echolocate will make it impossible for her to survive in the wild and possibly take care of her calf properly.So, volunteers with the conservancy are building a 180-square-foot birthing pen in 8 feet of water in the Florida Bay that will allow them to assist with the delivery, which is expected in the next 40 to 60 days.Lingenfelser said there likely will be a video camera installed so the birth can be watched on the Internet."The calf looks healthy," he said. "If Castaway, because of her neurological deficits, doesn't take care of the calf, we'll have to."The mother and baby will likely remain at the conservancy for up to nine months.Federal officials have about a month to determine where they will be sent afterward. Lingenfelser said he's officially recommended Dolphins Plus, a licensed public display facility also in Key Largo that has helped with the rehabilitation.Meanwhile, Lingenfelser said he's begun a fundraising campaign for the volunteer- only nonprofit facility to care for Castaway and her calf, which could cost up to $200,000."We're preparing," he said. "This is going to get expensive."WANT TO HELP?The Marine Mammal Conservancy is raising money to care for Castaway and her calf.To donate or learn more, call (954) 242-4741 or log on to www.marinemammalconservancy.com.

UPDATE:

The failed release really represented four attempts. The two drugs given to this dolphin were unnecessary for the few-hours trip across the state; the dolphin survived the initial stranding, rescue and transport to Mote with no drugs.The National Marine Fisheries Service requires dolphins to be drug-free for at least 14 days before release. Drugging any animal on the day of release makes no sense; these animals need a clear mind to survive in the wild! The resulting injury to this dolphin seems to be proof of that.After the four release failures, Mote's Dr. Charles Manire decided to send the dolphin to the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Key Largo instead of taking it back to Sarasota.Mote has a staff veterinarian and several rehabilitation experts; MMC has none, and is begging for money and volunteers with fliers at supermarkets and on roadside poles.Mote has no room now to take Castaway back because it rescued another dolphin and its pools are full. Yet Mote built a large, state-of-the art medical pool designed just for rehabbing dolphins. This pool is now closed to stranded dolphins because the laboratory has become a public-display facility. This pool was built with donors' money to rehabilitate dolphins -- not to have two on permanent display!Mote would seem to have violated the release document it filed with Marine Fisheries, asking for permission to release No. 303, because it dumped its problem on Key Largo.Mote needs to take 303 back and find out why a healthy pregnant dolphin that Marine Fisheries certified ready for release was found to be a neurologically damaged, deaf, unreleasable mess in five hours!Russ RectorThe writer founded the Dolphin Freedom Foundation in Fort Lauderdale.

Wyland To do his last Whaling Wall In the US

Marine life artist Wyland, who has painted 94 huge murals around the world to promote ocean conservation, is finishing up what he says is his final U.S. wall painting in the Florida Keys.The mural is a panoramic 7,500-square-foot representation of the living coral reef that rests off the Keys. It wraps around a four-story, foursided building in the median of the Overseas Highway that bisects Key Largo."It's the gateway to the Florida Keys," said Wyland, whose name is legally one word. "The idea is to welcome people with a depiction of the sun, taking them above and below the surface to see the tremendous abundance of marine life and color."Wyland has spent more than 20 years diving in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. He credits the Keys reef, the only contiguous coral expanse in North America, for inspiring his work.The completed mural is to feature islands, manatees, manta rays, coral and indigenous fish. It will also feature bottlenose dolphins, in honor of a stranded pregnant dolphin and her unborn calf being treated at a Key Largo marine mammal rehabilitation center.Wyland's murals are designed to motivate environmental awareness and stewardship, particularly in children."Once nature grabs you, it doesn't let go, and it grabbed me early," said Wyland, who began the Key Largo wall Feb. 1.Wyland, who began painting the murals dubbed "Whaling Walls" in 1981, plans to continue his series internationally until he has completed 100 murals. He says the Keys mural will be the last one he paints in the United States. He intends to paint his last mural, projected to be more than two miles long, in Beijing before the 2008 summer Olympics.

Dolphin Love Love

It is the time of my life where the beach maybe only fifteen minutes from me, and the drive is delicious, but I have not had the time to be anywhere near it.

I miss myself. I miss what the dolphins/ocean give me, the replenishing, the renewing, the revibration of my soular being. Buddha does that for me also..

I am going to try and make it to the beach.... I know it is calling my name and beckoning...

The dolphins are being very patient with me right now.. I wish I was able to be that patient with myself and others.. That is what the beach brings to me....

Self knowledge of peace. bliss and sereniiittty....

Resting within my soul..

I love to do my dolphin divination card readings daily and sit with blue obsidian in the palm of my hand... Then I am wisked of to busyland... For now.

I have been over anxious latley due to my lack of time at the beach.... Getting those horrible anxiety attacks in my heart.... Needing to slooooow down, and rest, revive.. My sleeping has also been off. I tried so hard to get the Spa together so quickly that it nearly drove me nuttie! And I drove my husband nuttie too......

I do see the River ever day though..... Since the Spa is only a block away... :)

I am going to sit with the Dolphin Energy today and just be!

Blissings

Shanti

Dolphin Therapy Fights Off Depression

Dolphin therapy fights depression Swimming with dolphins appears to help alleviate mild to moderate depression, researchers have found.
A University of Leicester team tested the effect of regular swimming sessions with dolphins on 15 depressed people in a study carried out in Honduras.
They found that symptoms improved more among this group than among another 15 who swam in the same area - but did not interact with dolphins.
The study is published in the British Medical Journal.
Animals, and especially mammals, can favourably change our social dynamic Dr Iain Ryrie
All the volunteers who took part in the trial stopped taking antidepressant drugs or undergoing psychotherapy at least four weeks beforehand.
Regular sessions
Half the volunteers swam and snorkelled around dolphins for one hour a day over a two-week period.
The others took part in the same activities, but without dolphins around.
We are part of the natural world, and interacting with it can have a beneficial effect on us Professor Michael Reveley
Two weeks later, both groups showed improved mental health, but especially so among patients who had been swimming with the dolphins.
The researchers say dolphins' aesthetic value, and the emotions raised by the interaction may have healing properties. Some have speculated that the ultrasound emitted by dolphins as part of their echolocation system may have a beneficial effect.
The Leicester team believe that using animals in this way could be a productive way to treat depression and other psychiatric illnesses.
Researcher Professor Michael Reveley said: "Dolphins are highly intelligent animals who are capable of complex interactions, and regard humans positively.
"Some people who are depressed may have issues with other humans, and might respond more positively to other types of interaction.
"We need to remember that we are part of the natural world, and interacting with it can have a beneficial effect on us."
Dolphin therapy is already used to help children undergoing rehabilitation for a range of conditions.
Shared brain system
Dr Iain Ryrie, research programme director at the Mental Health Foundation, said that humans and dolphins shared a limbic brain system that plays a key role in regulating many of the body's physiological and emotional processes.
He said: "Emotional contact is a biological need for mammals, stimulating their limbic systems, ensuring the suckling response and providing gentle encouragement toward ever more maturity.
"As humans we are hard-wired to need touch and to be connected to others, something that differentiates us from reptiles say, who don't have a limbic communication system and who are not suckled.
"So it's possible for humans to make loving relationships with many different mammals because of this biological/social similarity."
Dr Ryrie said research had shown the symptoms of depression could be ameliorated by pet assisted therapy.
The technique had also been shown to aid young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and older people with dementia.
"Animals, and especially mammals, can favourably change our social dynamic, which is typically one of withdrawal and increasing isolation among people with depression.
"Swimming with and caring for dolphins as a group activity in a vacation context is very likely therefore to alleviate depression."
However, he said researchers would probably do better to focus their efforts on animal interactions that were more readily available closer to home.
Story from BBC NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/4465998.stmPublished: 2005/11/25 00:18:35 GMT© BBC MMVII

Bottlenose Dolphins in New Zealand Displays Unique Rituals for Mating

Species of bottlenose dolphins in New Zealand displays unique sexual rituals.

They may be the gentlemen of the sea.A small group of male bottlenose dolphins in waters off the southern tip of New Zealand has been found to take a unique, more egalitarian approach to wooing prospective mates. David Lusseau, a socio-ecologist at Dalhousie University in Halifax, discovered after two years of studying the population that the male dolphins allowed the females to choose their sexual partners, unlike many other dolphin species that coerce them into sex."There's a greater choice for females to actually select their mates and the males have to compete by sticking close to these females," he said Tuesday, a day before his findings were published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE."It opens new avenues of thinking about the full extent of the benefits of having complex social relationships in males."Lusseau tracked the population of about 65 dolphins in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand, from 1999 to 2001, spending more than 600 hours watching them and trying to qualify their sexual practices and social networks.By observing them from a boat and underwater with cameras, he identified all 65 dolphins and could monitor their behaviour as they began their mating rituals.He found that like other bottlenose dolphins, these ones fought amongst themselves to win over female partners, but unlike similar dolphins in Florida and Australia, they refrained from forcing the females to have sex.The discovery led to a broader understanding of the mammalian species that is thought to have highly sophisticated social relationships similar to humans.Lusseau said this population differed greatly from other groupings because they formed alliances with other males but with no immediate, short-term benefit. For example, male dolphins usually form coalitions with other dolphins because they need help in overpowering a sexual partner or fending off male rivals.But in this case, there is no upfront benefit because they are not using other males to coerce females into sex."The underlying implication is that there is some benefit to forming a group," he said. "The long-term benefit might be the maintenance of a group of males and having that social cohesion."Lusseau, who has worked with dolphins since 1991, said the research indicates the animals might seek a sort of companionship for the sake of belonging to a group that can be relied on for a variety of tasks."What we see is the formation of these bands and the maintenance of that social cohesion but without that short-term benefits," he said. "And from what we know of the social interactions in males, this should not be and flies in the face of 20 years of sociobiology."The scientist said it's not clear why the bottlenose dolphins differ in their sexual practices or why they form tight social networks, but he speculates there could be something in their environment that has resulted in these behavioural traits.Source: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Science/2007/04/03/3914157-cp.html

Florida Ocean's Day April 18th in Tallahassee

Florida Ocean's Day April 18th in Tallahassee

Click Here to Get More Info

What's so Important Surfrider in is on the edge of something BIG this year in Florida. We have legislation moving forward to forever protect beach access as well as restrict casino ships from dumping their sewage offhsore. It's been an incredible fight to reach this point and we need your help to tip the balance.How Can I Help?When a legislator gets a visit in Tallahassee from a constituent, that has tremendous power. We need Surfrider members and friends to come to the State Capitol, visit legislators, attend events and raise awareness on how truly important these issues are. So, we're asking you to ditch work for a day and rather than catch a killer surf session, help insure that you'll have 'Clean Oceans' and 'Open Beaches' for many killer sessions in the future.So How Does This Work?The National Wildlife Federation is partnering with Surfrider and has agreed to supply a van and gas for any chapter that pulls 12 people together and can provide a driver with a clean record. Vans will leave early the 18th, when folks arrive in Tallahassee they will be given training and materials to meet with their legislators as well as attend the many events that will be going on. Later that afternoon, the vans will head back so folks can make work the following day.(Special arrangements for folks in far South Florida, rooms provided.)What's Ocean's Day?Ocean's Day is an annual event at our State Capitol where hundreds of ocean, coastal and marine related organizations come together. The entire plaza in front of the Capitol will be filled with booths, trailers, demo stations, everything marine and ocean oriented. Ocean's Day provides a perfect opportunity for Surfrider members to inform legislators that they want 'Open Beaches' and 'Clean Oceans'.

Click here to send an email for more information.

Be sure to include what Chapter you're from and a phone number!

Practice Global Compassion for Animals

Practice Global Compassion!>>
Give 4 Minutes Of Your Love at 4pm, on April 4>>
Join Other Like-Minded Souls Around the World at 4pm (your time)>
for this Prayer/Meditation for Animals>>
444 Animals is dedicating the 2007 campaign to conservationist>
Steve Irwin who died Sept. 4 at age 44.
Steve's passion for> animals will live on in our hearts.>>> ------------ --------- --------- ------
--- ---> JOIN US AT 4:44 WITH THIS BRIEF PRAYER> ------------ --------- --------- --------- --->> We are united in spirit> sending peace, love and protection to all animals on our planet.>> To those with special needs, who may not be well,> we visualize and affirm their healing transformation now.>> For the animals getting ready to transition into the next leg> of their journey,we see them doing so blissfully and gently.>> We send love and light to those lost and missing pets> and imagine them happily reuniting with their families and friends.>> We envision all of our shelters emptied> as surrendered animals now live in nurturing, life-long homes.>> We call in extra blessings and support for all humane organizations> and the souls throughout the world working on behalf of our> animals' highest and best interests.>> We enjoy seeing our wildlife thrive> living in healthy, balanced ecosystems.>> We are open and receptive to all good;> and we welcome any miracles with a grateful heart.>> The Animals and I thank you for your participation!> Marla Steele

Dolphin Dying of A Broken Heart....

A friend of mine sent me this, since she knows I love Dolphins.. Oh so sad.. And to think we are arrogant enough to think that we are the only species capable of being sensitive and caring and to think with our heart, not our head..
Dolphin 'dying of broken heart' after keeper is stabbed to death
By Peter Popham in Rome
Published: 20 February 2007
A rare grampus dolphin, rescued 18 months ago after it swam into an Italian port, seems to be dying of a broken heart after the woman who reared it like her own child was murdered.
Tamara Monti, 37, the creature's keeper, was stabbed to death two weeks ago by the man who lived in the flat above her. Police found an unemployed man, Alessandro Doto, 35, standing in the street outside the block where they lived, frozen like a dummy with a blood-spattered knife in his hand. He told them Ms Monti's two dogs barked all day and it drove him mad.
The issue had been simmering between them for months. Ms Monti and her partner had found a new place to live with their cat and dogs and were due to move the next day.
Ms Monti was from the Lake Como region, hundreds of miles north-west of Riccione, a resort on the Adriatic coast just south of Rimini, but Riccione had taken her to its heart. The town was in mourning on hearing of her death. But no one missed her like Mary G.
The grampus dolphin was a calf in June 2005 when she and her mother blundered into the port of Ancona, south of Riccione, and ran aground. They were rescued and brought to hospital, but Mary G's mother died three days later. After two months the dolphin had recovered sufficiently to be brought to Oltremare Park in Riccione, a seaside theme park, where she was given a pool of sea water and the constant attendance of experts. They bottle-fed her a mixture of herring, vitamins and mineral salts, rocked her like a baby and gave her swimming lessons. But only one of the keepers talked to her as if she were her own child, and that was Ms Monti.
As Mary G grew, she became the park's big attraction. Her fame spread through Italy, via websites, television programmes and blogs. Visitors flocked to Riccione to see her.
"We wanted to return her to the open sea," said Sauro Pari, head of the organisation that runs the park, "but international experts advised against it. They told us she would not survive."
Instead the grampus dolphin with the comical rounded forehead and cartoon-like grin, and her surrogate mother, remained together - for life, or so it appeared.
But now Mary G is dying. The word began to spread within days of Ms Monti's murder, through the blogs and websites devoted to her. One message read: "Since Tamara's death, Mary is unwell. Let's help her." She would either refuse her diet of milk and squid, or eat it then spew it out.
Mary G's weight plummeted from 210kg to 160kg in a couple of weeks. As happened 18 months ago, she is being attended by specialist vets, but has so far failed to respond to treatment.
At the theme park, dolphin experts are going out of their way to deny any firm connection between the keeper's murder and the dolphin's sickness. They say there is a simple explanation for her rejection of food: an intestinal parasite which she could have acquired at any time.
"From a strictly scientific point of view we absolutely cannot assert that the two facts are connected," Mr Pari said. "But there is no doubt that her grief for the death of Tamara is great. We are very worried about what will become of her."

Knitting for Dolphins :) Ahhhh

The other day (well a bit ago) someone emailed me a website I may be interested in, and I was called Knitting for Dolphins..

It is pretty kewl site about getting the word out that us Humans aren't so kind.. The Navy wants to put Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins (from my neck of the woods) into the chilly cold Puget Sound area.. I know that I would be freezing there, since I live in Florida.. Well the same goes for Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins, they live in warm sub tropical to tropical waters.. Give me a break. It may seem ironic or ludicris to even think of knitting sweaters for dolphins, but it is crazy to think that taking dolphins out of their natural habitat (weather, warm waters, etc) is like normal.
Ludicrous dolphin plan shows we are scared silly
Seattle Post Intelligencer Sunday, February 18, 2007 By Brenda Peterson, Guest Columnist
When news of the U.S. Navy's anti-terrorism plan to deploy Atlantic bottlenose dolphins to patrol the Bangor submarine base made headlines here in the Puget Sound region, I was contacted by concerned citizens called Knitting for Dolphins.com. This group is symbolically knitting sweaters to keep the dolphins from freezing to death in our Puget Sound.
"Is this a joke?" I asked Jan Bailey, wildlife rehabilitator and member of Knitting for Dolphins.
"We think it's more a tragic irony," says Bailey, "and not nearly as ridiculous as the Navy believing they can transport and keep warm-water dolphins humanely alive in our frigid waters."
Adds marine mammal biologist Dr. Toni Frohoff, "When the Navy argues that their dolphins 'do very well' because they do not die, that doesn't mean the dolphins may not be suffering unbearable cruelty."
If it weren't so dangerous for the dolphins, the Navy's project would be laughable. Even the headline --"anti-terrorism dolphins" -- seems silly to those of us who have long studied marine mammals. We fear that such an animal deployment will be fatal for the dolphins and introduce a non-native species into a Puget Sound already facing dead zones, endangered orcas, lethal Navy sonar and insidious pollution. But the article reminded me that as a child I had once called upon dolphins as an anti-terror strategy during the Cold War's endless duck-and-cover drills.
Living close to the ground-zero of Washington, D.C., I first claimed dolphins as my imaginary friends. A benevolent Ichthyosaur I called Iki was my first line of defense against Russian terrorists plotting every moment to drop an atomic bomb on our elementary school. I certainly would not hide under my desk. No, at the end of the world, I'd call for Iki to carry me away from this fiery land and back to the safety of the sea. This was my own civil defense plan; and when I compared it with what our government promised about emergency bus evacuation -- to where? -- or my parents' fervent explanation of a Biblical Rapture when God lifted up righteous people mid-air for eternity, my plan seemed a lot more practical.
Now almost half a century later, terrorism again grips our collective imagination; scientists again have moved the Atomic Clock setting at five minutes to midnight, and the imaginary friends of my childhood are once again called into active duty, not by a child's imagination, but by a military mind so obsessed with self-defense that we terrorize ourselves -- and other species.
If the Navy bottlenose dolphins being drafted for Puget Sound defense are like those I met years ago in Sugarloaf Key, we will need more than knitted sweaters to assuage our guilt. During my three decades of studying dolphins around the world, I have never seen such bedraggled, broken, and bewildered dolphins as those the Navy sent for "rehabilitation" to the Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary.
One particular dolphin, Luther, was captured by the Navy, conscripted into such unnatural services as wearing harnesses to carry bombs, using his sophisticated sonar to detect underwater military targets and identifying "enemy" swimmers. Luther's gray face was etched in long scars, as if he'd been slashed in sword fights or duels. Though his natural smile promised playfulness, Luther's manner was skittish, as if his spirit had been shattered or he suffered from battle fatigue. Whenever a human came near, he hung back in fear.
Along with two other bottlenose, Buck and Jack, Luther had been released from military duty after tireless crusading by Dr. Naomi Rose of the Humane Society of the United States; she persuaded the Navy that these dolphins did not belong in military research. The Navy had already discovered that dolphins made very bad soldiers: They preferred to play with, rather than attack, designated enemies. Luther's real-life story has been told in such popular novels and films as Day of the Dolphin, but few people know the plight of the Navy dolphins after their usefulness is over. Like so many other captive dolphins, these "soldier boys," cannot be easily retired or returned to the wild. They must be retrained to fish for themselves; they have lost the close-knit protection of their family pod and may not survive the rigors of the open ocean.
Yet I watched diligent ex-aquarium and ex-military trainers at Sugarloaf Dolphin Sanctuary try to restore these Navy dolphins to health. Luther's battered face and haunted eyes told me that he was now an in-between creature, caught between captivity and the open sea that beckoned brightly just beyond his saltwater lagoon. At any moment, Luther could leap free, but he and the other Navy dolphins were not psychologically or physically ready to return.
"Prisoners of our wars, that's how I think of these guys," one of the rehab volunteers told me as we watched Luther watching us -- as if we humans were the real terrorists.
Dolphins have nothing to do with terror. They are antidotes not to terrorists, but to terror itself. While they are distractible and way too playful as soldiers; they are remarkable teachers. Models of strong family bonds, language skills, and altruism, dolphin intelligence rivals humans and other primates in their capacity for self-awareness. Recently researchers discovered that many cetacean brains possess the same spindle cells as humans; these cells produce feelings of love and attachment. It may seem like a no-brainer to say that dolphins, long beloved by humans, are also capable of expressing devotion one to another. The ethical question here is whether we humans have the moral right to impose our own aggression and terrorism on an equally intelligent species?
Dolphins are not domesticated beasts, like horses, to carry the burden of our warfare. Before drafting dolphins as soldiers, perhaps we should understand how wild dolphins deal with violence among themselves. If a young dolphin is too aggressive, his mother or auntie will forcibly butt him to teach him proper pod boundaries. If the aggression continues, the elders will evoke the most dreaded experience -- they will hold down the young calf to suggest drowning. Death by drowning is always a risk for a dolphin, since they take every breath consciously and will stop breathing if knocked out. Breathless reprimand is usually enough to stop youthful aggression.
But should the violence continue, the pod will shut out that individual. Utterly dejected, the exiled dolphin may finally die of loneliness or abandonment. The dolphins' intense need for affection, for a highly complex social life, is the survival tool that has determined his species' evolution.
Humans, by contrast, have often elevated the most aggressive individual, someone who favors strategic thinking, goal-rather-than-social communication, and violence as first response to any threat. We have increased our brain size in response to stress and survival of the fittest. But are we, like dolphins, now capable of a more conscious evolution? Can we learn from dolphins, if we can stop ourselves from killing and enslaving them?
In this time when terrorism can take us backwards into a primitive intelligence riveted on fight or flight, might we suggest to the military mind that we are not yet frightened out of our wits, or our evolution? Might we say a resounding no to drafting warm-natured dolphins into our chilly waters? We can tell the military what any child knows -- that dolphins teach us more about knitting together enlightened survival and life than terror ever will.
Brenda Peterson is the author of "BUILD ME AN ARK: A Life with Animals" and co- editor with Toni Frohoff of "BETWEEN SPECIES: Celebrating the Dolphin-Human Bond" (Sierra Club.)

About Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin

I'm a member of Ocean Conservancy and just wanted to share info on bottlenose dolphins since that is what I was referring to...
Bottlenose Dolphins Scientific name: Tursiops truncatus
From the Ocean Conservancy Site


Dolphins were thought by ancient Greeks and Romans to bring mariners good luck, and appeared frequently in their legends. In fact, the Greeks honored them on more than 40 coins.
Thanks to their graceful beauty, intelligence, acrobatics and playful nature, bottlenose dolphins have fascinated people since ancient times. Streamlined and smooth, their bodies reach varying lengths from 6 to 12 feet, dependent upon geographic location. Females can live for more than 50 years, while males typically live for about 40 years.
Bottlenose dolphins produce several sounds, including whistles, clicksused for echolocation, and squawks. Their "signature whistles" areindividually distinct and are probably used to communicate the dolphin'sidentity, location, and emotional state.
Habitat & Diet
Found primarily in the temperate and tropical oceans of the world,bottlenose dolphins tend to be coastal dwellers, but they can adapt to avariety of marine and estuarine habitats.
They feed mostly on bottom-dwelling fish and squid. Adult males feedfarthest from shore, while adolescents and females with their calvestypically feed nearer the shore.
Social Organization
Social interaction is an important part of life for bottlenose dolphins,as it is for their cousins, the great whales. Dolphins typically formgroups of from two to 15 individuals. The structure of these socialgroups varies widely with regard to sex, age, familial relationships,and affiliation histories. Smaller groups tend to frequent near-shorewaters, whereas larger groups form in offshore waters.
Reproduction
After a gestation period of about one year, females give birth to livecalves, which they may nurse for up to two years. The interval betweenbirths is usually from three to six years.
Females reach sexual and physical maturity between five and 13 years ofage, long before their male counterparts. Males reach sexual maturity atbetween nine and 14 years, but they are not fully physically matureuntil their late teens. Most breeding males are at least 20 years old.
Threats to Bottlenose Dolphins
While fishing for dolphins still occurs in some parts of the world, suchas Peru, Sri Lanka, and Japan, most countries have outlawed thepractice. Nonetheless, dolphins are stilled killed incidentally in otherfisheries-including tuna, sardines, and anchovetas.
Some bottlenose dolphin populations have declined as a result ofpollution and habitat alteration. Dolphins are known to accumulatecontaminants in their tissues, which may affect dolphins' ability toreproduce and contribute to higher infant mortality. Because manydolphin populations frequent near-shore areas, they are particularlyvulnerable to entanglement in fishing gear and boat collisions.

Do You Ever Dream about Dolphins?

Do You Ever Dream about Dolphins?
DO YOU EVER DREAM ABOUT DOLPHINS?

HAVE YOU EVER HAD THE DESIRE TO BE NEAR A DOLPHIN?
DOLPHINS ARE THE MOST GENTLE, LOVING CREATURES ON OUR PLANET. DOLPHINS OFTEN BEGIN TO COMMUNICATE WITH HUMANS THROUGH THE WORLD OF DREAMS.
TELEPATHIC BY NATURE, DOLPHINS CAN SENSE THE DESIRE OF HUMANS TO CONNECT WITH THEM...EVEN BEFORE WE HUMANS ARE AWARE.
DOLPHINS OPEN THEIR HEARTS TO HUMANS WITH AN INCREDIBLE SENSE OF JOY AND CURIOSITY.
THEY ARE GRACEFUL, LOVING AND GENTLE BEINGS WHO LOVE TO FROLIC AND PLAY
IN THEIR HAVEN... THE OCEAN
A PAIR OF DOLPHINS AT PLAY
DOLPHINS TRAVEL IN PODS, OFTEN REACHING 80 PER POD OR MORE. THEY REMAIN FRIENDS FOR LIFE.
WHEN HUMANS ENCOUNTER DOLPHINS IT IS THE MOST INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE. WHEN SWIMMING AMONGST A POD OF DOLPHINS, OFTEN ONE DOLPHIN IN PARTICULAR WILL SINGLE OUT A HUMAN SWIMMER. THE CONNECTION IS FREQUENTLY MADE THROUGH EYE CONTACT.
A CONNECTION, WHICH WILL LAST A LIFETIME. FOR ONCE YOU HAVE LOOKED INTO THE EYE OF A DOLPHIN YOUR LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME!
WHAT DOLPHIN HEALING MEANS?
TO HEAL IS "TO RESTORE TO HEALTH" AND "TO REPAIR BY NATURAL PROCESSES." (COLLINS DICTIONARY 1995) IT COULD BY SUGGESTED THAT THE CONCEPTS OF HEALTH AND HEALING ARE 'ALIEN' TO OUR WESTERNIZED, BIOMEDICAL MODEL OF HEALTH. ALTHOUGH "EVERY PHYSICIAN KNOWS THAT HEALING IS AN ESSENTIAL ASPECT OF ALL MEDICINE, THE PHENOMENON IS CONSIDERED TO BE OUTSIDE OF
SCIENTIFIC FRAMEWORK" (CAPRA 1983) "IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, THE
BIOMEDICAL WORLD IS BEGINNING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HEALTH IS NOT MERELY THE ABSENCE OF DISEASE. DRUGS AND SURGERY MAY HELP TO ALLEVIATE THE SYMPTOMS OF A DISEASE, BUT DO THEY ACTUALLY ALLEVIATE THE CAUSE OF A DISEASE?" (J.BLANT 1997)
IT CAN BE ARGUED THAT IN RECENT YEARS WE HAVE DELEGATED OUR HEALING TO WESTERN DOCTORS AND HAVE LOST CONTACT WITH NATURE. DR. D. EISENBERG 1986 POINTED OUT: "THE ART OF HEALING IS THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD. THE SCIENCE OF HEALING IS STILL IN THE PROCESS OF BEING BORN."
LOOKING AT THIS CONTEXT, IS THE IDEA THAT DOLPHINS POSSES HEALING QUALITIES AS EXTRAORDINARY AS IT MAY HAVE APPEARED? REAL HEALING CAN ONLY COME FROM WITHIN OURSELVES THUS WE CANNOT EXPECT DOLPHINS TO ALONE HEAL US - "RATHER THEY ARE AN INSPIRATION THAT HELPS US TO EXPLORE OUR OWN SELF-HEALING POTENTIAL" (COCHRANE/CALLEN 1992)
IN OTHER WORDS RETURNING TO THE EARLIER DEFINITIONS OF 'HEALING' AND 'THERAPY', DOLPHINS CAN BE A SOURCE OF THERAPY THAT ENCOURAGES THE HEALING PROCESS TO RAISE SELF EMPOWERMENT AND CONSCIOUSNESS.

More More More Dolphin Amazing Facts

Dolphins are large brained, air breathing mammals which nurse their young. They are not fish.
All whales and dolphins belong to the order "cetacea". They are thus, all cousins in a sense. The whales are divided into two classes - toothed whales and baleen whales. Toothed whales include the sperm whale, killer whale and the dolphins (which are small toothed whales). Baleen whales filter their food out of the water. Examples include humpbacks and blue whales.
DOLPHIN INTELLIGENCE
The largest brain in the world belongs to the sperm whale. Weighing some 9,000 grams, it is six to seven times larger than the human brain. The second largest brain in the world is the killer whale (or orca) at 6,000 grams. Elephants have extremely large brains as well. The next largest brain among the cetaceans is the bottlenosed dolphin at 1,500 grams, followed by human brains at approximately 1,200 grams.
The cerebellum in a cetacean brain has more convolutions than in other mammals. According to researchers, this indicates an unusually high level of intelligence.
The brain surface area of a bottlenose dolphin is more than 1,400 square centimeters larger than a human being’s.
Strong connections between the sensorial and motive areas of a dolphin’s brain to the body indicate that it is very much sensitive to pain and stress.
DOLPHIN TOOL USE
While many believe that primates are the only species who use tools for activities, dolphins studied in the wild have been seen using sea sponges (bottom-dwelling filter-feeding invertebrates that resemble plants) to protect their snouts from getting scratched as they scavenge for food on the ocean floor.
Dependent calves are also provided with sponges from their mothers, as research in the wild has seen infant dolphins wearing tiny sponges on their snouts while swimming close to their mothers. Top
DOLPHIN COMMUNICATION
Dolphins utilize “signature whistles” to identify themselves to others. They use other dolphins’ signature whistles as a manner of calling their names.
Dolphins can also mimic movements, of both humans and other animals.
It is interesting to contemplate what dolphins and whales do with such large brains. Part of what they do is to maintain intricate and sophisticated communication amongst themselves. They are successful against predators like sharks because they organize and cooperate.
The human brain has large areas devoted to high cortical functions - the ability to compute the future, to remember events in the past and put them in context, a sense of aesthetics and ethics. Dolphin brains have these same areas of development so we can surmise that they have the same capabilities we have. But there are interesting differences between humans and dolphins. We live on land and they in the sea. We have hands to manipulate our environment. Dolphins are better adapted to their environment and have less need to alter their world. Human beings receive the major of information about our world through sight, dolphins through sound. They use their biological sonar to pierce the often murky, dark ocean to "see" what is happening.
Why stress kills dolphins:
Stressful situations can cause the catecholamine (adrenal gland secretions) to inflict irreparable damage to the circulatory (heart) system of dolphins. This can explain why dolphins, even after escape from tuna nets and drive fisheries still die later when they return home.
DOLPHIN SONAR
It has been suggested by several noted scientists that dolphins may be able to create acoustical holographic images from the interlacing of their sonic output. It is well known that dolphins can see inside the bodies of their fellow dolphins, and other animals in the water. This is because dolphin sonar evolved to pass through water and does not reflect until it hits something like bone or air sacs. Since animal bodies are more than 50% water, their sonar enables them to literally "see" inside other animals.
It is possible that dolphins can read the emotion of other dolphins and "see" through the bodies of other animals due to their "x-ray" vision. Top
DOLPHIN SENSES
Sight
Dolphins have the ability to focus their eyesight due to the curvy characteristic of their lens, thus they are able to see both in and out of water.
Hearing
Dolphins have little more than a small hole for hearing, as having larger ears would severely affect the creature’s ability to swim. Rather, studies show that sounds are obtained through thin mandibular bones, and then are transferred to the inner ear through the fatty material that surrounds the eardrum.
A dolphin has 2-3 times as many cells in the ear than that of a human, suggesting a superb ability to distinguish tones as well as high-frequency sound waves.
Echolocation (Sonar abilities)
The sounds emitted by a dolphin for echolocation have, in general, a very high frequency, at times over 200,000 cycles per second.
During normal swimming activities, dolphins use low-frequency sounds, but when the dolphin locates something interesting, high-frequency sounds can retrieve more detailed feedback.
Dolphin Communication/Vocalizations
Dolphins are able to identify each other using their own individual “signature whistles.”
Bottlenose dolphins have the ability to create booms exceeding 230 decibels, mainly as a hunting weapon to stun fish.
Certainly dolphins have the ability to think and reason, remember their pasts and plan their futures.
What do you imagine dolphins might think about human beings? Put yourself in the place of the dolphins. What would they see of human activities in the ocean? What opinions would they have about us? If you read other pages on this website you will see stories about encounters between humans and dolphins. Top
BIOLOGY
The Skin
The entire surface of a dolphin’s skin is covered by microfolds which direct the water flow and minimize turbulence as it swims.
On average, a dolphin’s skin is 0.08 – 0.16 inches thick, which is 10-20 times thicker than that of a land mammal.
Pressure change is especially sensitive on a dolphin’s skin around the blowhole, allowing the creature to open and close the hole while emerging to the surface and diving.
A layer of fat that surrounds the body beneath the skin is often thick, which aids in avoiding the dispersion of heat, while making the body more rounded, and balancing its weight. This makes it much easier for the dolphin to float.
The Fins
The fins on a dolphin serve as not only swimming aids, but heat exchangers, as the fins do not contain a fatty layer, but are supplied with an abundant amount of blood vessels.
The tail fins of a dolphin are the largest factor in high-speed swimming; the especially thin portion of the body close to the tail fin allows the animal to propel itself more efficiently.
The Heart
Depending on the animal’s activity, its heart beat rhythms vary. On the surface, beats range from 70 – 100 per minute, while as they are underwater they range from 30 – 40 beats a minute.
Breathing
Bottlenose and common dolphins usually breath two to three times a minute, but after a long period of time under water, need to take 15 – 16 breaths a minute.
The overall time needed to take a breath is only 0.3 seconds.
Eating
Dolphins generally feed on fish and squid, but are able to adapt to an environment and consume what is available, even pelagic prey.
The teeth of a dolphin are not used for chewing, but rather to grasp and immobilize its prey.
Courting and Reproduction
The stages of dolphin courtship, as in Atlantic spotted dolphins, includes gentle nibbling in a type of dance, and they rub bodies and snouts.
Dolphins generally mate abdomen-to-abdomen for a very short time.
When a calf is born, it must surface to breath instantly; its mother guides it to the surface in her wake, allowing the newborn dolphin little effort to take its first breath of life.
Calves are born tail-first. Top
DOLPHIN SPECIES
The Bottlenose dolphin
The bottlenose dolphin is the most popular dolphin amongst aquariums and the most commonly captured. At birth, these dolphins casually range from 2.8 feet to 4 feet in length, and can live upwards of 30 years. Bottlenose dolphins can swim at 30 miles per hour, and can dive as deep as 1,960 feet. Dive lengths can reach 8 minutes. Bottlenose dolphins are mainly a coastal species of dolphin. Females reach sexual maturity three years before the males do (10 years usually for the females, and 13 for the males). Mating season for these dolphins is spring and autumn on the Florida coast, and summer on the European coast. They can grow up to 13.1 feet (4 meters) and weigh up to 1420 pounds. When feeding, sometimes multiple dolphin groups team up to make hunting fish easier. When prey is in the open sea, the dolphins surround it in a carousel; the dolphins swim counterclockwise, forming two parallel lines or, at times, two fronts moving toward each other. As soon as the objective meal is concentrated enough, the dolphins take turns diving into the mass of fish to eat their fill.
The Killer Whale: Orca
The Orca is the largest species of dolphin. Pod sizes of these animals can range from just two members to 50. The basic centerpiece for an orca pod is a female and her calf. If the calf is a female, she will remain with her mother until she dies. If the calf is male, he remains a part of the pod, but is not a member of a family. Orca do not dive any more than 330 feet at maximum while they hunt, but while not hunting, a killer whale can dive 3282 feet and hold its breath for 20 minutes. Their diet is primarily fish. They can reach 27.9 feet in length, and can weigh 11.1 tons. Females usually weight much less than males. Life span for these large dolphins is 35 to 50 years. Orca can swim as fast as 34.2 miles an hour. Orca are common in all oceans. Their mating season is spring and early summer.
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
The Atlantic spotted dolphin lives solely in the Atlantic Ocean, and prefers coastal regions. Younger spotted dolphins do not yet have the white spots the adults do, as they are acquired through time. The spotted dolphin, due to its dark-shaded back can camouflage onto the ocean floor when seen from above, while from below its white belly can make it blend in with the sun. Atlantic spotted dolphins, along with bottlenose dolphins, have about 300 teeth in the upper and lower jaw combined. Usually, these dolphins don’t get any longer than 7.5 feet or 315 pounds. At birth, they can be between 2.5 and 3.9 feet long.
Spinner Dolphin
The maximum length of a spinner dolphin is 8.9 feet, and max weight is 170 pounds. Spinner dolphins are known for their acrobatics as they breach. Some believe that these animated leaps are a form of communication and identification, similar to a signature whistle. The spinner dolphin prefers tropical and subtropical waters. They can swim at 12.4 miles per hour. They can live 20 years in the wild. The spinner dolphin is often less than a meter in length at birth.
REFERENCES:
Wurtz, Maurizio, and Nadia Repetto. Dolphins and Whales. Trans. Studio Traduzioni Vecchia, Milan. Vercelli, Italy: White Star, 2003.
Connor, Richard C., and Dawn Micklethwaite Peterson. The Lives of Whales and Dolphins. New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1994.

Dolphins are large brained, air breathing mammals which nurse their young. They are not fish.
All whales and dolphins belong to the order "cetacea". They are thus, all cousins in a sense. The whales are divided into two classes - toothed whales and baleen whales. Toothed whales include the sperm whale, killer whale and the dolphins (which are small toothed whales). Baleen whales filter their food out of the water. Examples include humpbacks and blue whales.
DOLPHIN INTELLIGENCE
The largest brain in the world belongs to the sperm whale. Weighing some 9,000 grams, it is six to seven times larger than the human brain. The second largest brain in the world is the killer whale (or orca) at 6,000 grams. Elephants have extremely large brains as well. The next largest brain among the cetaceans is the bottlenosed dolphin at 1,500 grams, followed by human brains at approximately 1,200 grams.
The cerebellum in a cetacean brain has more convolutions than in other mammals. According to researchers, this indicates an unusually high level of intelligence.
The brain surface area of a bottlenose dolphin is more than 1,400 square centimeters larger than a human being’s.
Strong connections between the sensorial and motive areas of a dolphin’s brain to the body indicate that it is very much sensitive to pain and stress.
DOLPHIN TOOL USE
While many believe that primates are the only species who use tools for activities, dolphins studied in the wild have been seen using sea sponges (bottom-dwelling filter-feeding invertebrates that resemble plants) to protect their snouts from getting scratched as they scavenge for food on the ocean floor.
Dependent calves are also provided with sponges from their mothers, as research in the wild has seen infant dolphins wearing tiny sponges on their snouts while swimming close to their mothers. Top
DOLPHIN COMMUNICATION
Dolphins utilize “signature whistles” to identify themselves to others. They use other dolphins’ signature whistles as a manner of calling their names.
Dolphins can also mimic movements, of both humans and other animals.
It is interesting to contemplate what dolphins and whales do with such large brains. Part of what they do is to maintain intricate and sophisticated communication amongst themselves. They are successful against predators like sharks because they organize and cooperate.
The human brain has large areas devoted to high cortical functions - the ability to compute the future, to remember events in the past and put them in context, a sense of aesthetics and ethics. Dolphin brains have these same areas of development so we can surmise that they have the same capabilities we have. But there are interesting differences between humans and dolphins. We live on land and they in the sea. We have hands to manipulate our environment. Dolphins are better adapted to their environment and have less need to alter their world. Human beings receive the major of information about our world through sight, dolphins through sound. They use their biological sonar to pierce the often murky, dark ocean to "see" what is happening.
Why stress kills dolphins:
Stressful situations can cause the catecholamine (adrenal gland secretions) to inflict irreparable damage to the circulatory (heart) system of dolphins. This can explain why dolphins, even after escape from tuna nets and drive fisheries still die later when they return home.
DOLPHIN SONAR
It has been suggested by several noted scientists that dolphins may be able to create acoustical holographic images from the interlacing of their sonic output. It is well known that dolphins can see inside the bodies of their fellow dolphins, and other animals in the water. This is because dolphin sonar evolved to pass through water and does not reflect until it hits something like bone or air sacs. Since animal bodies are more than 50% water, their sonar enables them to literally "see" inside other animals.
It is possible that dolphins can read the emotion of other dolphins and "see" through the bodies of other animals due to their "x-ray" vision. Top
DOLPHIN SENSES
Sight
Dolphins have the ability to focus their eyesight due to the curvy characteristic of their lens, thus they are able to see both in and out of water.
Hearing
Dolphins have little more than a small hole for hearing, as having larger ears would severely affect the creature’s ability to swim. Rather, studies show that sounds are obtained through thin mandibular bones, and then are transferred to the inner ear through the fatty material that surrounds the eardrum.
A dolphin has 2-3 times as many cells in the ear than that of a human, suggesting a superb ability to distinguish tones as well as high-frequency sound waves.
Echolocation (Sonar abilities)
The sounds emitted by a dolphin for echolocation have, in general, a very high frequency, at times over 200,000 cycles per second.
During normal swimming activities, dolphins use low-frequency sounds, but when the dolphin locates something interesting, high-frequency sounds can retrieve more detailed feedback.
Dolphin Communication/Vocalizations
Dolphins are able to identify each other using their own individual “signature whistles.”
Bottlenose dolphins have the ability to create booms exceeding 230 decibels, mainly as a hunting weapon to stun fish.
Certainly dolphins have the ability to think and reason, remember their pasts and plan their futures.
What do you imagine dolphins might think about human beings? Put yourself in the place of the dolphins. What would they see of human activities in the ocean? What opinions would they have about us? If you read other pages on this website you will see stories about encounters between humans and dolphins. Top
BIOLOGY
The Skin
The entire surface of a dolphin’s skin is covered by microfolds which direct the water flow and minimize turbulence as it swims.
On average, a dolphin’s skin is 0.08 – 0.16 inches thick, which is 10-20 times thicker than that of a land mammal.
Pressure change is especially sensitive on a dolphin’s skin around the blowhole, allowing the creature to open and close the hole while emerging to the surface and diving.
A layer of fat that surrounds the body beneath the skin is often thick, which aids in avoiding the dispersion of heat, while making the body more rounded, and balancing its weight. This makes it much easier for the dolphin to float.
The Fins
The fins on a dolphin serve as not only swimming aids, but heat exchangers, as the fins do not contain a fatty layer, but are supplied with an abundant amount of blood vessels.
The tail fins of a dolphin are the largest factor in high-speed swimming; the especially thin portion of the body close to the tail fin allows the animal to propel itself more efficiently.
The Heart
Depending on the animal’s activity, its heart beat rhythms vary. On the surface, beats range from 70 – 100 per minute, while as they are underwater they range from 30 – 40 beats a minute.
Breathing
Bottlenose and common dolphins usually breath two to three times a minute, but after a long period of time under water, need to take 15 – 16 breaths a minute.
The overall time needed to take a breath is only 0.3 seconds.
Eating
Dolphins generally feed on fish and squid, but are able to adapt to an environment and consume what is available, even pelagic prey.
The teeth of a dolphin are not used for chewing, but rather to grasp and immobilize its prey.
Courting and Reproduction
The stages of dolphin courtship, as in Atlantic spotted dolphins, includes gentle nibbling in a type of dance, and they rub bodies and snouts.
Dolphins generally mate abdomen-to-abdomen for a very short time.
When a calf is born, it must surface to breath instantly; its mother guides it to the surface in her wake, allowing the newborn dolphin little effort to take its first breath of life.
Calves are born tail-first. Top
DOLPHIN SPECIES
The Bottlenose dolphin
The bottlenose dolphin is the most popular dolphin amongst aquariums and the most commonly captured. At birth, these dolphins casually range from 2.8 feet to 4 feet in length, and can live upwards of 30 years. Bottlenose dolphins can swim at 30 miles per hour, and can dive as deep as 1,960 feet. Dive lengths can reach 8 minutes. Bottlenose dolphins are mainly a coastal species of dolphin. Females reach sexual maturity three years before the males do (10 years usually for the females, and 13 for the males). Mating season for these dolphins is spring and autumn on the Florida coast, and summer on the European coast. They can grow up to 13.1 feet (4 meters) and weigh up to 1420 pounds. When feeding, sometimes multiple dolphin groups team up to make hunting fish easier. When prey is in the open sea, the dolphins surround it in a carousel; the dolphins swim counterclockwise, forming two parallel lines or, at times, two fronts moving toward each other. As soon as the objective meal is concentrated enough, the dolphins take turns diving into the mass of fish to eat their fill.
The Killer Whale: Orca
The Orca is the largest species of dolphin. Pod sizes of these animals can range from just two members to 50. The basic centerpiece for an orca pod is a female and her calf. If the calf is a female, she will remain with her mother until she dies. If the calf is male, he remains a part of the pod, but is not a member of a family. Orca do not dive any more than 330 feet at maximum while they hunt, but while not hunting, a killer whale can dive 3282 feet and hold its breath for 20 minutes. Their diet is primarily fish. They can reach 27.9 feet in length, and can weigh 11.1 tons. Females usually weight much less than males. Life span for these large dolphins is 35 to 50 years. Orca can swim as fast as 34.2 miles an hour. Orca are common in all oceans. Their mating season is spring and early summer.
Atlantic Spotted Dolphin
The Atlantic spotted dolphin lives solely in the Atlantic Ocean, and prefers coastal regions. Younger spotted dolphins do not yet have the white spots the adults do, as they are acquired through time. The spotted dolphin, due to its dark-shaded back can camouflage onto the ocean floor when seen from above, while from below its white belly can make it blend in with the sun. Atlantic spotted dolphins, along with bottlenose dolphins, have about 300 teeth in the upper and lower jaw combined. Usually, these dolphins don’t get any longer than 7.5 feet or 315 pounds. At birth, they can be between 2.5 and 3.9 feet long.
Spinner Dolphin
The maximum length of a spinner dolphin is 8.9 feet, and max weight is 170 pounds. Spinner dolphins are known for their acrobatics as they breach. Some believe that these animated leaps are a form of communication and identification, similar to a signature whistle. The spinner dolphin prefers tropical and subtropical waters. They can swim at 12.4 miles per hour. They can live 20 years in the wild. The spinner dolphin is often less than a meter in length at birth.
REFERENCES:
Wurtz, Maurizio, and Nadia Repetto. Dolphins and Whales. Trans. Studio Traduzioni Vecchia, Milan. Vercelli, Italy: White Star, 2003.
Connor, Richard C., and Dawn Micklethwaite Peterson. The Lives of Whales and Dolphins. New York: Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 1994.

More Amazing Dolphin Facts!

More Amazing Dolphin Facts!
Ok, I dunno, But I think that any being on Earth that looks like they are smiling all the time, I can learn from. Cause I don't smile all the time.. Especially lately... I have so much (I put some much stress) on myself that I have been overwhelmingly in perpetual motion. Which can be a really nice thingy, but for me, it spells Getting Sick! I have and am nursing myself back to health. The allergy/Sinus Thingy is kicking my little behind all the way to my bed and sleep, sleep sleep! Hmm a vacation I didn't even know I needed. I would have rather gone to Bahamas, Bimini, Caribbean to see the Dolphins then this! Hmm note to self, will work on Manifesting a nice Caribbean Vacation Dealo with Hubby and of course the dolphins! :)
I thought I would continue to post info on the Dolphins.. ANything I find that represents Conscious living and being aware!
Namu Amida Butsu!
Taken from the Blue Voice Site