General Chat

Len I have only just seen this thread. I lived in St Ives, Cornwall for a good many years. I was at one time involved with the Sailing Club and I have photographs taken at one of the Regattas - three dolphins playing with the Yachts, racing alongside them, swooping underneath and then leaping up in the air as if to say 'Boo!'. It was an absolute joy to behold. For reasons I wont go into, I find Xmas an extremely difficult time. I woke up early one Xmas morning, feeling suicidal, and took the dog down to Carbis Bay Beach. As we rounded the corner, my breath practically stopped in my throat - there were 20 or 30 porpoises, about 20 yards from the shore, putting on the most spectacular show, for me and the dog! Even the dog was impressed and for once in her life, sat quietly and watched. It went on for about 40 minutes, then they suddenly turned and swam off. It was one of my 'top ten' truly amazing experiences. I cannot put into words how uplifted, and humble, it made me feel. I am convinced they were sent to me!!! We still have the occasional dolphin, or school of porpoises in St Ives Bay. However, it seems that they are not keen on the chips/burgers/beachballs/shoes etc that some IDIOT holidaymakers try to feed them with, and have gone off somewhere a bit more sensible. Olde Crone

Jackie Do you need a self-sufficient lodger? I can do chores. len

Hi Jackie I was surprised to see my thread pop up again. Thank you for rescussitating it. As there had been no comment or feedback of late, I thought it had gone to that place in the sky where dead threads go. Despite attacks by humans the whale family, dolphins in particular, seem to recognise us another intelligent species and, oddly, seem quite well disposed towards us. Just as well to bring in your fishing tackle. They can weigh well over a tonne and have phenomenal strength. They could tow a team of horses into the sea. Did you read, recently. of the Lithuanian Aquarium and their painting dolphins? Staff there decided to put dolphin paintings on sale after they had read of paintings by a chimp called Congo going for £14,000 at an auction organised by Bonhams in London. Paintings by elephants have previously been sold by other leading auction houses. The artists - a mother a daughter pair of bottlenose dolphins, called Gabi and Premija, have enjoyed painting for years, holding the brush in their teeth as a trainer stands in the shallows holding palette and canvas. The dolphins, aged 13 and 7, choose the colours and apparently stop painting when they are satisfied with the outcome. Len

Hi Len I live near the Indian Ocean and often spot Dolphins just off shore. They are the most social creatures and I never tire of watching them. We have an area near Shark Bay in the North of Western Australia also where they live in the wild but they come into shore every day and the Rangers feed them. The public are allowed to be in the water around them but Rangers Monitor them all the time so they are not hurt. They are wonderful creatures. We go fishing a lot and see Dolphins close by. I always bring my fishing rod in when I see one. I am always afraid I will snag one. Regards Jackie

How many species are there Quote: There are many different kinds of dolphins, around thirty or forty species of dolphins, including some species we would commonly call whales, such as orcas and pilot whales. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) are one of the most wide-ranging species. They live along tropical and temperate coasts all around the world. Other species of dolphins live in cold waters, such as the Atlantic white-sided dolphin that can be seen from the Gulf of St.Lawrence to the North Sea, and the hourglass dolphin that lives in the waters of the Antarctic. Len

Ruby I have tried googling this question and all I have come up with is 'Many, including fresh and salt-water varieties' In reference books they are described as small, sharp-toothed whales somewhere between orcas and porpoises but so far I have been unable to find a list. len

So how many species of dolphins do scientists know of now?

A new species of dolphin has been discovered in the waters of Australia. Named snubfin dolphins they were believed to be members of the rare Irrawaddy species but DNA tests confirm them to be a new species, the first to be discovered in 30 years. len

Mis-named killer whales, orcas live in stable, family groups called pods each with its own dialect of distinct, pulsed calls. In the entire study period since 1973 no orca has entered or left a pod except by birth or death. Females live to around 100 years and males to around 50. Like the long-lived elephant, each pod is based around a dominant female - a matriarch with her her sons, her daughters and their progeny. Even mature bulls stay all their lives with their mothers and often 'baby-sit' juveniles. The birthrate is low, about one calf every 10 years. When orca pods meet, a strange ritual takes place called 'intermingling. While this leads to mating it must also have other important social functions. The pods form two tight lines and approach head-on. At close range (10 - 12 metres) they hover motionless on the surface. Then the groups submerge and intermingle, moving slowly in tight, milling clumps many touching, rolling and brushing each other. Pairs and trios spy-hop (swim vertically with their eyes above water) but activity is splashless and relaxed and may continue for over three hours. Towards the end momentum increases with noisy leapings that merge into a session of pure play. 30% of the time , during intermingling, the whales are silent - which is most remarkable for such vocal animals. Although they prey on other species of whale, penquins,sea-birds and seals their attitude to humans appears to be benign and researchers and camermen may swim with them, or paddle canoes or kayaks among them, in safety. len

The fin whale is a sleek, fast giant. Exceeded only by the blue whale in size, it grows to about 22 metres (71½ ft) and can maintain about 20mph for long periods. Reputed to show little interest in boats, this is clearly changing in areas where it is protected, demonstrating that it is intelligent enough to know where it will not be hunted. Kenneth Bondy and two friends were fishing in the Sea of Cortez, just over 400 miles south of Mexicali. Sixteen metres (52ft) from their orange inflatable, a large fin whale blew. They hauled in their lines. Two minutes later it blew again, three metres away. With the third blow it was heading straight for them. Gracefully, it glided beneath their hull, pausing with a slight roll to view the boat from below. They estimated its length between 55 and 65 feet. Then the whale beagan spy-hopping close by, rising vertically until the eye was just out of the water and the tip of its rostrum about 7 feet above. These postures were held for several seconds, with slight movements of the body and flukes to maintain position. The contact lasted over 40 minutes with the whale showing every two to three minutes. It was visible to the men for the entire period, circling below them and manoeuvring between surfacings. 'We were spellbound by this amazing encounter and the obvious communication with this enormous, gentle creature'. The encounter ended when another boat motored over, thinking they were in trouble. The whale surfaced ten metres away and left. len

During Donald's six-year coastal odyssey, he suffered a number of mishaps: a gun-shot wound to the head, a gash from an outboard propellor, two days entanglement with a buoy rope round his tail and explosive charges detonated within his home range. Donald was last sighted at Falmouth just prior to one of the worst storms on record. An overall picture of his behaviour shows a development - from person to person and from place to place. With new acquaintances, his games were often brief. With familiar divers he played for long periods and resented being ignored. Dictionaries define intelligence as 'the capacity to meet situations especially if new or unforseen by a rapid and effective adjustment of behaviour' or 'alert, quick of mind, having intellect, endowed with the faculty of reason, communicative' Regardless of academic arguments, to people who meet them in the sea there can be no question as to the advanced capabilities of dolphins. So many divers' anecdotes reflect this acceptance of their high degree of understanding. Tom Treloar was diving off a reef in Prussia Cove at the Southern tip of Cornwall. Visibility was poor and he got separated from his companion Bill Weddle. He decided to circle the reef to locate Bill. Suddenly he felt uneasy. Looking about him he saw a large shape glide by on the edge of his vision - bluish grey and as big as a bus. He fought back panic and continued the search. Then he had the urge to look back. A metre away was Donald. Surprise and joy took the place of fear. Donald had a friendy mien and passed slowly and gently within feet of Tom, who followed only to lose him. Donald returned, nodding his head like a friendly dog. Tom stretched out his hand and touched the beak, He examined the scars on his body, a bullet hole and a propellor gash. They swam side by side , Donald eying him, as Tom thought, in a protective manner. Then, with a flick of his powerful tail, he sped out of sight and there in front of Tom was the anchor chain. Donald had brought him back to the boat. A trail of bubbles appeared, moving towards the anchor chain. The dolphin had led Bill back too. For many divers, encounters with Donald became the greatest day of their undersea lives. When Les Koditu surfaced from a dive near Falmouth, he'd lost his scuba tank boot. Those on the dive boat were playing with the dolphin but his friend Malcolm Muster offered to search for the boot, 'Forget it' said Les, let's play with the dolphin. As though he had heard the conversation, the dolphin disappeared below the surface and after a few minutes returned with the lost tank boot around his beak. He practically dropped it in Malcolm's hand as if to say 'Lets get on with the game'. That's all on Donald. Len

A second aspect of Donald's behaviour did not become apparent to Dobbs until he had seen their film several times. At the beginning of the film, Donald is playing with Maura Mitchell. He then hangs his tail over her head and brings it down dramatically as the camera crew move in for a close-up. That was in part 1. 'I remember filming the beginning of part 2 very clearly, we introduced Donald to a ball.' At first he did not know what to do with it. Then he invented a game in which he flicked it high in the air and jumped over it. 'When I went to join in. he charged straight at me and, for one terrifying moment, I thought he was going to ram me. But he stopped just short' Dobbs got the message clearly - Donald was playing with the ball and didn't want any interference. His next gesture was to hang his tail over the ball for some time. In doing that he was expressing to the crew that it was his ball and he did not want them to interfere with his game. Likewise, when the camera crew moved into film Maura, he signalled to them that he did not want them to interfere. When they ignored his signal and moved in closer against his wishes, he beat the inflatable with his tail and nearly tipped the cameraman and director into the sea. One summer evening at Dale Haven, in Wales, a fleet of sailing dinghies was becalmed. A dolphin surfaced beside a boat and the skipper relieved his boredom by chatting to it. He was familiar with Donald's exploits and told the Dolphin how pointless it was - a yacht race and no wind. The dolphin vanished. When his dinghy began to move, the yachtsman concentrated on his rig, intent on getting every tactical advantage from the least zephyr. Then he found he really had no control of the boat. It slowed and he heard the huff of a dolphin alongside. When he began to surge forward again, he realised the dolphin was assisting him. Eventually he won the race and a great debate followed as to whether the rules of the yacht club allowed for dolphin power. Matters worsened when it was revealed that another boat had actually been pulled backwards While Donald was on the Cornish coast, he drew increasing attention to himself by towing yachts. At this stage Dr Nicholas Webb took up the association with Donald. For three months Webb followed the dolphin's travels around the coast of Cornwall, swimming with him and studying his behaviour. The most intensive period was a fortnight in August, at the height of the holiday period when Donald took up residence in Coverack Cove. Over a 9-day period, Donald towed every vessel that anchored in the cove including 3 schooners of five, six and seven tons. The largest schooner had a 35lb anchor and chain. Donald picked it up and towed the vessel 100 metres in a semi-circle. A small cabin cruiser was towed 500 metres into the centre of the cove and eventually returned close to its original position. When three family sailing cruisers dropped anchor one evening, Donald towed all three. The first gave up and left the bay, the second, after being towed, tried to pick up a permanent mooring buoy but Donald kept pushing the float just out of reach of the crew.. Such teasing was a common practice during his travels Len

One day in Port St Mary, Isle of Man, quite spontaneously Donald took Horace Dobbs' thirteen-year old son, Ashley, for a ride around the harbour depositing the delighted youngster in front of his father. While making the film 'Ride a Wild Dolphin' in Cornwall, Dobbs was towed behind a boat on an aquaplane. Donald appeared as soon as the tow started. By this time, writes Dobbs, I was beginning to understand how Donald thought and I could read his signals. Thus when I went off at an amazing speed on the aquaplane I was not surprised to see Donald cruising easily alongside me. However, after a short time Donald made it clear to me that he wanted to play with the aquaplane. At first, he gently butted me with his head, then he tried putting his head between my arms, forcing me off. I knew exactly what he wanted but decided that I would not concede to his wish. So Donald started to nip my elbow with his front teeth. Eventually he bit so hard I had to let go. Having got me off, he then tried to grab the aquaplane in his teeth, and get a tow himself. but the board was made of rigid, slippery plastic and he couldn't grip it. Even so, he spent quite a time behind the boat trying to hang on to the aquaplane, while I climbed into another boat nursing my arm. When I rolled back the sleeve of my wetsuit I had a neat row of bleeding wounds inflicted by Donald's conical teeth. An interesting aspect of this behavious is that both the dolphin and I were fully aware that he could have annihilated me in a trice by ramming me with his beak - in the same way he might have disposed of a shark. Yet he chose to gradually increase his pressure on me until I acceded to his wishes. This, I suggest, indicates a great deal of sensitivity on the part of the dolphin in his deire to communicate. In later months, Donald would tow another swimmer after the boat until level with the aquaplane, even while the boat followed a zig-zag course. There's more len

from the Daily Telegraph 20/7/05: Dolphins 'at risk' from trawling ban. Government measures to protect Dolphins by banning 'pair trawling' for sea bass within 12 miles of the coast are more likely to increase deaths as fishermen would move to deeper waters where there are more dolphins, a High Court judge was told yesterday. Lawyers for Greenpeace said the ban by Ben Bradshaw, the fisheries minister, was taken without regard to expert opinion. Len

thank goodness len,i thought i was the only one with 'one finger' on this site. but your telling it so well,that ime getting restless :o) bryan.

I am a one-finger typist and it wears down. Have to let it grow a bit before I can continue. There's more len

yes,i agree with that roxanne, len,come on tell us more...its really good reading! bryan.

Hi, Its funny you should post this fact today, we went to seaworld yesterday and was told this at Shamu's show. Debs x

Very interesting Len, I hope that you have more Donald chapters for us? Deb

Donald often towed swimmers short distances while they held his dorsal fin. Towards some individuals, and certain dinghies, he displayed possessiveness bordering on aggression but such episodes occurred only at peak holiday seasons when Donald was crowded by more people and boat traffic than he normmally experienced. Outboard propellors held a fascination for him and he found he could make them cavitate (be in an air pocket) by exhaling breathe beneath the blades so that the expanding air bubbles altered their pitch (high-revving the engine) to the boatman's consternation. The rattle of anchor chains had equal fascination for Donald and he showed interest in pulsed sounds and the whine of camera motors. He seemed to use his lower jaw as a sensor for exploring new objects and would gently mouth swimmer's arms and legs. But the aspects of Donald's behaviour most relevant to the study were his attempts to communicate with people he met along the way. The rich vein of anecdotes he left in his wake show the resourcefulness with which this solitary dolphin used body lanquage and the touch channels available to him, as well as the degree of empathy he displayed towards humans. Apart from a few weeks during his initial sojourn in the Isle of man, when Donald was accompanied by a smaller bottlenose and avoided people and boats, for 6 years of his life this adult male dolphin was dependent on another species for the social interaction which is so important to his kind. Horace Dobbs' books 'Follow a wild dolphin' and 'Save the dolphins' serve to flesh out the excellent academic papers written by Lockyer and Webb. On one occasion, Dobbs lost his brand-new underwater camera. Searching in the murk he felt a playful nudge - Donald. Desperate to recover his expensive possession and most reluctant to play, he ignored repeated nudges. Eventually the diver was induced to follow the dolphin until, standing on its head, flexing its great body like an arrow, it pointed to the lost camera. When Dobbs tried to photograph Maura Mitchell, Donald's special Isle of Man friend, sitting on the seabed with Donald, Maura placed a hefty rock in her lap to hold her in position. The dolphin became so agitated at this that twice he nudged the rock off her. When Maura swam around and sensitively demonstrated she was in no danger of being trapped, Donald accepted the situation with tranquility and the photo-shoot went ahead. On another occasion, Donald rescued a diver in distress, supporting him gently on the surface, helping to tow him to the boat and remaining alongside until he had recovered. Len