Mark Holder always wished he could talk to dolphins. And now, in a way,
he does.
Holder is a dolphin researcher. More precisely, he is a behavioral neuroscientist.
That's someone who studies the relationship between the brain and behavior.
Holder researches what dolphins know about language.
In his work, Holder talks to two dolphins named Phoenix and Akeakami. He
talks to them in a special kind of sign language.
"The most fascinating thing we did was to create a sign that looks like
a shrug of the shoulders. It tells the dolphin to do something creative,"
he says.
"When I give Phoenix the 'do something creative sign,' she goes out and
flips over. If I repeat the sign, Phoenix must swim out and do a different,
completely novel action."
This experiment proved something important about dolphin communication.
The dolphins understood the command, and then acted on it. This showed that
dolphins can understand originality, or creativity, on command.
To find out more, Holder added a twist to his command.
He gave the sign for "do something creative" along with the sign for "do
something together." This instructed Phoenix and Akeakami to do something
creative together.
"Within one and a half seconds, the two dolphins swam in a beautiful synchronous
manner, leapt out of the water together and spun around," he recalls.
When the command was repeated, the dolphins did something different, yet
still in harmony. Holder marveled at the synchronicity of their movements
and wondered how they did it.
Obviously, Phoenix and Akeakami had communicated with each other. But they
didn't take the time for a long conversation, since they acted on the command
in less than two seconds.
The dolphins simply didn't have time to ask, "What do you want to do?"
"Uh, gee, I don't know. What do you want to do?"
"Let's jump out of the water!"
"And let's throw in a twist and a spin."
Using an underwater microphone called a hydrophone, scientists can hear
dolphin vocalizations. We know that dolphins make different sounds for different
behaviors. Dolphins also make sounds before they complete any action.
Scientists still wonder if one dolphin tells the other what to do. They
can't tell from the hydrophone, since it doesn't indicate which dolphin is
making the sounds.
"It would be interesting to know if one dolphin is instructing the other
on what to do -- the implication being that dolphins live in a stratified
society," he says.
Holder has his own guesses about this. He does think dolphins live in a
stratified society, but he can't prove it. That's because researchers don't
yet have the technology to find out which dolphin was making the sounds.
Scientists know there are many more questions to ask about dolphins. And
it seems each experiment produces more questions than answers.
For example, we may be able to "talk" to dolphins now, but we still can't
understand what they're telling us.
Language is not the only thing we humans don't understand about dolphins.
Scientists are conducting research into many aspects of dolphin behavior.
Denise Herzing works as a dolphin researcher with the Wild Dolphin Project
in Florida.
The most rewarding part of her job is when she can make sense out of a
dolphin behavior that has baffled scientists for years.
For instance, when do female dolphins have their first calf? Where do they
stay during that time? How do the calves learn to communicate?
To some, these questions may not seem interesting or important.
Herzing says the research is important, no matter what. That's because
it helps create an understanding of the relationship between humans and the
natural environment in which we live.
If this career sounds like just the thing for you, just remember it's not
all fun and games -- no matter how much the dolphins like to play.
Herzing splits her work time into field research and lab work. During the
five warmest months, she is out at sea. She wakes up before dawn and prepares
her equipment for five to six hours of dolphin watching.
Evenings are spent reviewing the day's videos and audio tapes, which are
recorded throughout the observation period.
The rest of the year is spent attending professional conferences, writing
about her research and reading up on the findings of her colleagues.
Herzing has some advice to those who plan to pursue this work. "Be serious,
be broad, work hard, work long, have passion and enjoy it," she says.
Others agree. Kathy Heise has studied dolphins as part of her PhD studies
in marine biology.
"I confess I am happiest when I am on the ocean in a small boat! Even when
there are no dolphins to be found, watching seabirds feeding... brings many
interesting questions to mind. I am never bored!"
Having this kind of passion for the work is important, especially when
times are tough and jobs are hard to find.
"I think it is very heartbreaking for many young people to start on their
bachelor of science in marine biology only to realize that there are few jobs
in the field, and even fewer in marine mammal-related areas," she says.
Despite this, there is still plenty to learn about dolphins.
"As we learn more about dolphins, there are some interesting questions
that we will be able to answer using new technologies.... As
our knowledge of the social structure of these animals improves, we will be
able to answer questions regarding [the] relatedness of animals within a school,"
she says.
As a scientist, it's important to take a broad view of your subject. Dolphin
researchers must be aware of the big picture -- in this case, the world's
oceans.
"I really enjoy observing dolphins a lot, but they are only one part of
the marine food web," she says. "I think it is important that we learn more
about how creatures interact with each other, and how changes in one species
population can impact other species."