Exploring the Wonder of Dolphins

Nov. 13, 2015

What’s Behind Their Smile?

Dolphins are athletic and cute; they are even said to smile. Seen by many New Age devotees as spiritual guides and by children and adults alike as excellent swim buddies, dolphins have held a special place in the human imagination as far back as 5,000 years ago in Minoan culture. Clearly, we love dolphins — but do we understand them? What’s behind their smile?

New York Times bestselling author Susan Casey’s latest book, “Voices in the Ocean: A Journey into the Wild and Haunting World of Dolphins,” helps unravel some of the mysteries surrounding these large-brained, ocean mammals. She will share these insights at a National Writers Series event on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7pm at the City Opera House in Traverse City.

“They aren’t just out there chasing fish,” Casey said. “They have a culture, with shared learning and the transmission of ideas and information.”

Perhaps dolphins demonstrate their sophisticated social order best when they work together to lift an ailing pod member to the surface. As air-breathers, like us, an injured dolphin might otherwise drown.

It is well documented that dolphins also rescue humans. For instance, biologist Maddalena Bearzi found it highly uncharacteristic when a pod of dolphins she was observing off the coast of Los Angeles suddenly stopped eating and headed quickly to open sea. She followed in her research ship and the pod led her crew to a suicidal girl floating alone, three miles from shore, near death. The girl was saved.

Just before a giant tsunami wave devastated Phuket, Thailand in December 2004, dolphins guided several boatloads of scuba divers to deeper waters and away from their likely deaths. Around the world, tales of dolphins scaring away sharks threatening surfers and swimmers are also common.

It’s understandable we might assign a human trait such as altruism or empathy to these events, but is this another case of anthropomorphizing animals? Probably. Scientists suggest that these rescues, while dramatic, may simply be dolphins treating humans as they would any member of their pod in danger.

“At times they do not seem to care that we are not members of their species. They simply appoint us honorary dolphins,” Casey wrote.

The author of two previous books on oceans, Casey relies heavily on science, but she is not one to ridicule New Age beliefs. “We use science, that’s our method,” she said. “It’s served us well, but even science gets knocked back on its heels from time to time. We still can’t answer lots of fundamental questions about our existence.”

Above all, Casey makes the case for keeping our minds open to entirely unexpected knowledge, quoting astrophysicist Arthur Eddington: “Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.”

“All of my books are a kind of a plea to not stop questioning. That’s because we find out amazing things constantly,” she said.

Casey also makes the point that human curiosity does not always translate to respect for creatures like dolphins. Clearly, not everyone sees these animals simply for what they are: intelligent, sociable and perfectly adapted to their environment. As she demonstrates, dolphins are often valued primarily for what they can do for humans — entertain us, for example, or provide revenue for theme parks, a practice that often shortens dolphin’s lives.

Casey also documents a much darker side to human interaction with dolphins.

In Japan, roughly 20,000 dolphins each year are trapped and either killed for their meat or sold into captivity at a huge profit. Meanwhile, in the Solomon Islands, dolphins are traditionally used to barter for cigarettes and other goods, a practice that environmentalists like Ric O’Barry are trying to end. Ship propellers and the U.S. Navy’s use of mid- and low-frequency sonar also exact a heavy toll on dolphins worldwide.

Environmental conditions also present another problem. Casey worries that El Nino– related warming of the Pacific Ocean will reduce dolphins’ food sources.

A contributor to O, The Oprah Magazine, Outside and many other publications, Casey, a Toronto native, is the author of “The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean” and “The Devil’s Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America’s Great White Sharks.”

“I love writing about science,” she says.

“But it’s also about what’s lurking just outside of what we know that interests me. I think we’ve only begun to understand the oceans.”

Casey seems to find nature, especially oceans, both inspiring and humbling.

“We’ve decided that human interest trumps everything else,” she says. “But we are part of na ture.

We’re not in charge of it whatsoever. If you look at 50- to 75-foot waves, you can’t think, ‘I’m in charge here.’”

Tickets are availabl eonline at nationalwritersseries.org, or by calling 231-941-8082, visiting the Opera House box office at 106 East Front Street in Traverse City Monday–Friday 10 am–5 pm or at the box office one hour prior to show time.

FACTS ABOUT DOLPHINS

Dolphins were worshipped by many ancient societies. The largest dolphins, orcas, can kill a 5,000-pound great white shark.

Dolphins can also:

• Understand and remember complex and changing human commands

• Swim up to 80 miles per day

• Giggle, count and recognize themselves in a mirror

• Identify another dolphin’s signature whistle after a 20- year absence

• Sleep by resting one side of the brain at a time, keeping one eye open to guard against predators

• Use echolocation, a natural radar, to find food and navigate

• Jump as high as 20 feet out of the water

• Dive as deep as 1,000 feet below the surface

• Heal quickly from physical wounds