A reminder that man is not, by a long way, the only smart species.

Any dog owner will tell you immediately how clever dogs are. Time and time again, so far as I am concerned, one’s estimation of the ‘smartness’ of a dog is underestimated- they are very smart animals.  It applies to many other creatures on this planet.

But this article is about dolphins – bit of a theme at present.  In a post published on the 24th, I wrote about how scientists are revealing the incredible closeness between the DNA of dolphins and humans.

An item appeared on the BBC website on the 22nd October. (If I’m not mistaken, I saw the BBC reference on Naked Capitalism, once again!).  Here was the BBC article:

Wild dolphins in Australia are naturally learning to “walk” on water.

Six dolphins have now been seen mastering the technique – furiously paddling their tail fluke, forcing their body out and across the water.

The dolphins seem to walk on water for fun, as it has no other obvious benefit, say scientists working for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

I pursued the story on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS).

 

 

The main website for the WDCS UK  is here but the specific article that made it to the BBC website is from the international arm of the WDCS, home page here.  From that article, I quote:

WDCS’s Dr Mike Bossley has been observing Adelaide’s Port River dolphins in Australia for the past 24 years and has documented spectacular tail walking in two adult female dolphins, Billie and Wave. But, amazingly, it seems that tail walking is spreading through the Port River dolphin community with four other individuals now having been seen perfecting their walking techniques in recent months.

The spread of tail walking in this way might seem, on the surface (excuse the pun) like a bit of fun, but there is a serious and fascinating cultural aspect linked to these strange goings-on.

Wave’s calf Tallula, Bianca and her calf Hope, and calf Bubbles have all taken up the pastime, and the fun they have had doing so has been recently documented by volunteer WDCS dolphin photographers, Marianna Boorman and Barbara Saberton.

Tail walking is very rare in the wild and in thousands of hours of observation only one other dolphin has ever been observed tail walking in the Port River, and then only once. The Port Adelaide dolphins are now tail walking many times each day.

“Culture in the wider sense of the term, defined as ‘learned behaviour characteristic of a community’, is now frequently on show in the Port River”, says Dr Bossley. “This cultural behaviour is of great significance for conservation.

The article is well worth reading in full – once again the link is here.

 

Google also quickly found this blogsite of Gerhard Ritter, FRSASA, an Australian artist with a great oil painting of Dr Bossley (that’s a pic of the painting above).

Here’s what Gerhard wrote on his blog:

For the last few months I’ve been involved with the Faces of the Port project which paired ten artists with ten subjects to produce a set of portraits for display during the 2009 Port Adelaide Festival. My subject was noted dolphin researcher, Dr. Mike Bossley, and the result of our collaboration is this portrait.
The project was co-ordinated by the Port Adelaide Council and the exhibition of finished works will be on display during the festival at the Port Dock Railway Museum from Saturday 10 October.

I enjoyed the project and was delighted to meet Mike. In a world that’s so preoccupied with profit and self agrandisment it is always a pleasure to find individuals who are motivated by higher ideals.

A lovely painting and a wonderful tribute to the man doing so much to increase our awareness and love for these magical animals.  Now relax and be inspired …

By Paul Handover

• consciousness
• Education
• Environment