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The Arguments for Dolphin Sentience
So far we have clear and UNIQUE evidence of:
> Inventive thought process (the mud ring feeding). This has never been observed in Dolphins before the recorded South Florida pod started doing it. Perhaps they never needed to use their abilities before to this extent, as food supplies were more plentiful in the past (the number of fish in these waters really has dropped off dramatically in recent years, as several friends of mine who are professional fishermen here will testify to).
Also, this can be termed "communicated behavior", as other Females in other nearby pods have "learned" from the first female to do it... Apparently without even being there to see how it worked in person... Which suggests all kinds of other things regarding their ability to communicate fairly complex new concepts to others... Possibly meaning an actual entire Language based on the sonar click sounds, as many researchers have claimed.
> Altruistic behavior towards Humans... They help people in need, with no "free food" as a prize involved at all in any of these incidents. They don't even have any prior relationship with the humans.. They just act to save these strangers. Ancient tales of Dolphins helping shipwrecked sailors abound in History, as well as the above verified modern news reports.
> Cognitive Reasoning; as evidenced by the naming of individuals within wild pod groups. The use of individual names expressed by the unique sonar click noises, is very powerful evidence of Dolphins' sentience... It means that they discriminate between individuals to form "friendships" and other personal relationships in a societal way. Land animals will use sound calls to say in a general way: "Danger!" or "Food over here!".. But never to call to an individual by name. This is the use of "Proper Noun" over "Pronoun"
> Not linked yet here, because it is well known already, is the strong individuality of Dolphins.. They each have a very distinct "personality". We can say this is true of dogs as well, but what some don't realize is, some Dolphins are not "friendly" at all, and some have been witnessed to attack others and even kill them for no apparent reason (in acts that would be termed "murder" if a human behaved this way). These attacks or killings are not "wars" fought with other pods over "territories", either (which is apparently almost unknown with Dolphins). This is unique in the "animal kingdom"... as only Humans were thought to kill each other for "no good reason" (.. a "good reason" meaning such as overpopulation / local food supply problems, or mating rituals/pressures). These "Dolphin murders" have puzzled scientists: Yet even this unsavory aspect is actually another proof of "sentience"... You have to be able to "think" to hate enough to want to kill another individual specifically (or to reason that the death will cause you gain somehow). Yet these acts are rare, so it is apparently aberrant behavior. One thought is "mental illness": the more complex the brain, the more dramatic behavioral changes from chemical imbalances will be.
There is sometimes also "grumpy" and "anti-social" behavior, especially when the Dolphin is in captivity (and credible reports of depression leading to suicide in captivity as well). But the above "murders" were observed in the wild, and captive behavior has been found to be very misleading regarding Dolphins... They appear to adapt to the new captive situation to a point where they act quite different than in the wild. But so far, it has been seen that they ALWAYS want their freedom (unless perhaps they were originally born in captivity)... "Flipper" as a "willing captive" is a myth: If let loose they won't come back (lol perhaps a VERY telling point for their intelligence! )
The capture of wild Dolphins for aquatic shows and "swimming with dolphins" parks has been known to be so frightening and traumatic to them, that many have died from heart attacks or simply extreme agitation or fear.
> Sexual activity. Dolphins (and other cetaceans) are the only creatures besides Humans known to regularly have sex outside of "mating seasons" / "heat" periods. They appear to enjoy sex simply for the pleasure of it and not purely for procreational reasons. Dolphins are a very sexual lot... "Playful" activity abounds in their daily life (especially with younger ones).... People who are easily offended by sexual behavior should not study them too closely Some of them are much more aggressive sexually than others; pointing to their strong "individual personality traits" again. They are not usually monogamous; although very strong "friendship" bonds between members of pods can be formed, and the groups will often stay together intact for many years (but not always, membership can be fluid as well with some pods).
So far we have clear and UNIQUE evidence of:
> Inventive thought process (the mud ring feeding). This has never been observed in Dolphins before the recorded South Florida pod started doing it. Perhaps they never needed to use their abilities before to this extent, as food supplies were more plentiful in the past (the number of fish in these waters really has dropped off dramatically in recent years, as several friends of mine who are professional fishermen here will testify to).
Also, this can be termed "communicated behavior", as other Females in other nearby pods have "learned" from the first female to do it... Apparently without even being there to see how it worked in person... Which suggests all kinds of other things regarding their ability to communicate fairly complex new concepts to others... Possibly meaning an actual entire Language based on the sonar click sounds, as many researchers have claimed.
> Altruistic behavior towards Humans... They help people in need, with no "free food" as a prize involved at all in any of these incidents. They don't even have any prior relationship with the humans.. They just act to save these strangers. Ancient tales of Dolphins helping shipwrecked sailors abound in History, as well as the above verified modern news reports.
> Cognitive Reasoning; as evidenced by the naming of individuals within wild pod groups. The use of individual names expressed by the unique sonar click noises, is very powerful evidence of Dolphins' sentience... It means that they discriminate between individuals to form "friendships" and other personal relationships in a societal way. Land animals will use sound calls to say in a general way: "Danger!" or "Food over here!".. But never to call to an individual by name. This is the use of "Proper Noun" over "Pronoun"
> Not linked yet here, because it is well known already, is the strong individuality of Dolphins.. They each have a very distinct "personality". We can say this is true of dogs as well, but what some don't realize is, some Dolphins are not "friendly" at all, and some have been witnessed to attack others and even kill them for no apparent reason (in acts that would be termed "murder" if a human behaved this way). These attacks or killings are not "wars" fought with other pods over "territories", either (which is apparently almost unknown with Dolphins). This is unique in the "animal kingdom"... as only Humans were thought to kill each other for "no good reason" (.. a "good reason" meaning such as overpopulation / local food supply problems, or mating rituals/pressures). These "Dolphin murders" have puzzled scientists: Yet even this unsavory aspect is actually another proof of "sentience"... You have to be able to "think" to hate enough to want to kill another individual specifically (or to reason that the death will cause you gain somehow). Yet these acts are rare, so it is apparently aberrant behavior. One thought is "mental illness": the more complex the brain, the more dramatic behavioral changes from chemical imbalances will be.
There is sometimes also "grumpy" and "anti-social" behavior, especially when the Dolphin is in captivity (and credible reports of depression leading to suicide in captivity as well). But the above "murders" were observed in the wild, and captive behavior has been found to be very misleading regarding Dolphins... They appear to adapt to the new captive situation to a point where they act quite different than in the wild. But so far, it has been seen that they ALWAYS want their freedom (unless perhaps they were originally born in captivity)... "Flipper" as a "willing captive" is a myth: If let loose they won't come back (lol perhaps a VERY telling point for their intelligence!
) The capture of wild Dolphins for aquatic shows and "swimming with dolphins" parks has been known to be so frightening and traumatic to them, that many have died from heart attacks or simply extreme agitation or fear.
> Sexual activity. Dolphins (and other cetaceans) are the only creatures besides Humans known to regularly have sex outside of "mating seasons" / "heat" periods. They appear to enjoy sex simply for the pleasure of it and not purely for procreational reasons. Dolphins are a very sexual lot... "Playful" activity abounds in their daily life (especially with younger ones).... People who are easily offended by sexual behavior should not study them too closely
Some of them are much more aggressive sexually than others; pointing to their strong "individual personality traits" again. They are not usually monogamous; although very strong "friendship" bonds between members of pods can be formed, and the groups will often stay together intact for many years (but not always, membership can be fluid as well with some pods).
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