I just received some wonderful news from Dr. Lori Marino of Emory University about a panel discussion on the intelligence and self-awareness of dolphins and whales (cetaceans) and the legal and ethical implications of the latest scientific knowledge for these amazing beings. The discussion that drew a very large crowd was held at the annual meeting of the American Assocation for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Vancouver, B. C., Canada. This is one of the most important and largest science meetings in the world.
Dr. Marino's report can be read here (for more information on ZOE see also) and some highlights include:
"We've gone from seeing the dolphin or whale brain as being giant amorphous blob that doesn't carry a lot of intelligence and complexity to being an enormous brain with a complexity that rivals our own," she [Marino] said. "It's different in the way it's put together, but in terms of the level of complexity it is very similar to the human brain."
"The similarities between cetaceans and humans are such that they, as we, have an individual sense of self," he [Dr. Thomas White, an ethics expert at Loyola Marymount University in California] explained. "Dolphins are non human persons. A person needs to be an individual. If individuals count, then the deliberate killing of individuals of this sort is ethically the equivalent of deliberately killing a human being. The science has shown that individuality, consciousness, self awareness is no longer a unique human property."
"A member of a group of orcas, or killer whales, in Patagonia had a damaged jaw and could not eat properly. The elderly whale was fed and kept alive by her companions.
Dolphins taking part in an experiment had to press one of two levers to distinguish between sounds, some of which were very similar. By pressing a third lever, they were able to tell the researchers they wanted to "pass" on a particular test because it was too hard. 'It's exactly what we do when we're on the TV quiz show Jeopardy,' Dr. Marino said. 'The dolphins are accessing their own minds and thinking their own thoughts, and deciding whether or not to make a ‘bet' on their knowledge.'"
"At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, a number of captive dolphins were rewarded with fish in return for tidying up their tank. One of them, Kelly, ripped up a large paper bag, hid away the pieces, and presented them one at a time to get multiple rewards. She also taught the tactic to her calf, who passed it on to other youngsters in the pod.
In Iceland, killer whales and fishermen are known to work together. The whales show the fishermen where to lay their nets, and in return they get to feed on part of the catch. Then they lead the fleet to the next fishing ground."
Three excellent books that summarize much of what we know about the cognitive and emotional lives of cetaceans are In Defense of Dolphins, The Dolphin in the Mirror, and Whales and Dolphins: Cognition, Culture, Conservation, and Human Perceptions. Numerous scientific papers can be found here and here.
Last year, a Declaration of Cetacean Rights was drawn up at a meeting in Helsinki, Finland, sponsored by the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS). Many thanks to the AAAS and all of the people who are tirelessly and selflessly working on this wonderful project. Cetaceans and many other animals in captivity and in the wild surely need to be treated far more humanely and ethically than they currently are.
The teaser image is of Fungi, a bottlenose dolphin who likes to visit with humans off the coast of Ireland. She is an example of how we can learn from cetaceans in the wild, rather than in captivity. It also gives these individuals an opportunity to learn from us and pass that knowledge on to their own kind, which is, by definition, not possible in captivity.
For a discussion of this in The Economist please click here.
