Monday, June 8, 2009

Dolphins



One of my favorite sea creatures is the Dolphin. I had some direct experience with this amazing animal while sailing through the Hawaiian Islands in the late 1970's. A highly intelligent mammal, it is also incredibly social. Dolphins can live up to 40 years in pods, and are often found swimming in synchrony, twisting and turning together in perfect harmony. With those that they are most bonded, they can be found swimming face to face, touching flippers, and stroking one another. Since they breath air, they can actually drown, and have been known to ban together to support and float an injured member, so that the blow hole is above water.

Threats are increasing. Dolphins suffer horrifically through injury, disease, entanglement nets, boats, naval sonar, offshore construction, wind farms, and garbage in the ocean. Various fishing methods are an extreme threat, including drift and gill nets, and anti-predator nets used in farm fishing. In some parts of the world such as Tajii, Japan and the Faroe Islands dolphins are hunted for food in drive hunts and harpooning.

Dolphinariums such as SeaWorld are found all over the world, and pose often terrible conditions for these sweet creatures. Some countries, such as Australia, have made it illegal to import or catch dolphins. We all need to put pressure on our governments to follow their good example. 

Maybe in the future we can visit our dolphin friends in coastal marines, instead of barren concrete tanks, where they can interact with humans at their discretion, no longer having to perform for food. Regulations could be designed to ensure dolphins are not harmed or stressed by humans.

What you can do right now:

Adopt A Dolphin - World Wildlife Fund
Adopt A Dolphin - UK
Dolphin-Free Labels - Buy only foods, such as canned tuna, with this label.
Clean Up Marine Debris - Do you live near the ocean? How about joining or organizing a day?
Recycle - The best way to keep garbage out of the ocean? Recycle!!

Please visit Here, There and Everywhere to read more stories from around the world, as we share our love of the oceans on Oceans Day.





25 comments:

Autumn Rain Eyes said...

Very Interesting Blog! Peace & Hugs Always, Donna Lynn

CrazyCris said...

How did you know to pick the animal that was my magic introduction to the oceanic world?!

I fell in love with these flip-flopping critters when I first saw one in Sea World in Hong Kong when I was 7! And I've never fallen out of love...

I'll agree that there are a lot of problems with dolphinariums, but they do serve one purpose (the same as zoos), and that's to bring people closer to these amazing, intelligent animals! it's much more of an impact to see a live animal than one on TV, and we've all become so blasé with what the boob tube shows us!

Thing is, there is a high enough captive bottlenose dolphin population that their breeding programs should be more than enough to provide dolphins for the different aquaria around the world. What I don't see is any need for there to be more captures. These animals can't be released, they've never learnt how to survive, so we must make the most with what we have. But no more new ones!

And guarantee minimum tank sizes, company, stimulating activities... My heart nearly burst when I saw Keiko in the tiny tank she was kept in in Mexico before they released her! (and the heat! that's an animal that lives in cold waters!)

This blog-a-thon is proving to be quite entertaining! I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am!

Unknown said...

I agree that we should let every animals live in their natural habitat.

Brian Miller said...

love dolphins, when they are not dressing up like sharks, lol. great addition and very practical. Easy things we can do if we really want to . love to sit and watch them they seem to have such fun.

WHY? said...

Dolphins are such peaceful creatures, and so intelligent as you already noted. It's a tragedy what they are going through, as all of the creatures on our planet

Anonymous said...

Great post LOL, and good suggestions, when I eventually get to PEI, I'll look into cleaning the beaches! Thanks!

Alicia @ boylerpf said...

I am totally enamored with the dolphin and once someone sees this beautiful creature in its natural habitat, would understand the gross injustice to those kept in cement tanks. While living in Florida, we had a long electric boat...ran on twelve 12v batteries. It was such a treat to go out into the quiet waters and "play" with the dolphins as they did not find it loud or intrusive such as a loud engine. They would do their magic show in front of us and come right next to the side so that we could interact with them. A truly incredible creature!

luksky said...

Dolphins are beautiful creatures. When we were in Panama City a few years ago, my son and husband were out a ways swimming in the water. The dolphins spotted them and started swimming along beside them..It was amazing!

Lillian Robinson said...

Aren't dolphins everybody's favorite? But, like Cris said, places like Sea World can give a dolphin a good life and let people fall in love with a species they normally would have no contact with. If not for Sea World, what would Cris be doing now?

Sniffles and Smiles said...

Lovely post!!! And dolphins have always been one of my favorites as well!!! Great photo! ~Janine XO

Rose Marie Raccioppi said...

Traveling the seas in cyberspace this day in celebration of World Ocean Day ... continuing my ride across the tides on a dolphin and listening to the wind carrying its song... Thank you for your knowing embrace.

Marlene said...

I love them,have had the oportunity to swim with one and befriend one in Florida..we lived by a canal and they swam by there, one would come up by our pier and stare right into my eye and I rememeber I would literally choke up with emotion when this happened, almost like a silent communication occured, that was without words..they feel warm to
the touch and feel so soft and the eyes...what depth to them..I do not go to any of those aquariums, I hate the idea of people keeping them there..jailed...those beautiful beings

Mental P Mama said...

I love them, too. What a great and informative post....and a great gift idea to give those hard-to-buy for folks...adopt a dolphin in their name!

Leah J. Utas said...

I love dolphins and consider them far superior to humans.

Verily I go. said...

My close encounter with them was while they played in our bow wake (long time ago) and I was thrilled. I'm always watching to see them when we are at the beach

Meeko Fabulous said...

I love dolphins! I've always wanted to go swimming with the dolphins at Sea World, but alas, I'm not a millionaire. LOL So I must settle for the $5 packet of fish to feed them over the side of the tank. :)

Prashansa said...

Great post! I love Dolphins too... Thanks to you as you have introduced me to this "oceanic blog- a- thon" thing.Thanks for visiting my post.

Swetha said...

thanks for posting this...i love dolphins to the core...

and right now i have learnt lots of things about them...

Reya Mellicker said...

What an incredible picture! They are amazing animals and smarter than we are (at least their cortical function is much greater than ours).

They do seem like such a happy species, too. Very cool.

Yunz said...

they are very intelligent animal aren't they...:)

Joseph Pulikotil said...

H:)

Greeting:)

Stunning photo and a lovely write up on dolphins to celebrate the World Oceans Day.

Have a wonderful day:)
Joseph

Erika C. said...

Thanks! Dolphins always remind me of my wonderful friend and soul sister Laura in Boston. Dolphins are her spirit guide and it is amazing how they always seem to pop up in her life.

love,
Erika

susan said...

Once your connection is clear you may enjoy seeing one of my favorite little videos - dolphins playing with bubbles they blow :-)

Michael said...

you are right ,we should do something for our friends in ocean

dragonflydreamer said...

I too love dolphins. When I've been lucky enough to see them jumping out of the ocean while on a trip to the beach I have been thrilled. I went to Sea World once and I did not enjoy seeing the dophins or the whale confined, performing for food. Thanks for the links, I'm off to explore them now. Sorry I missed participating in this celebration.