Dolphin

New research suggests that dolphins are second only to humans in smarts. – MRI scans indicate that these marine mammals are self-aware. – Researchers think dolphins are especially vulnerable to suffering and trauma. When human measures for intelligence are applied to other species, dolphins come in Just behind humans in brainpower, according to new research. Dolphins demonstrate skills and awareness previously thought to be present only in humans.New MRI scans show that dolphin brains are four to five times larger for their body size when compared to another nimal of similar size, according to Lori Marino, a senior lecturer in neuroscience and behavioral biology at Emory University, and one of the world's leading dolphin experts. Humans also possess an impressive brain-to-body ratio. â€Å"If we use relative brain size as a metric of ‘intelligence' then one would have to conclude that dolphins are second in intelligence to modern humans,† said Marino, who p erformed several MRI scans on dolphin brains.Marino will be presenting her findings at next month's American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting. â€Å"Size isn't verything,† she admitted, but she says at least two other lines of evidence support her claims about dolphin intelligence. First, various features of the dolphin neocortex the part of the brain involved in higher-order thinking and processing of emotional information are â€Å"particularly expanded† in dolphins. Second, behavioral studies conducted by Marino and other experts demonstrate that dolphins exhibit human- like skills.These include mirror self-recognition, cultural learning, comprehension of symbol-based communication systems, and an understanding of abstract concepts. The Navy's Marine Mammal Program began in 1960 with two goals. First, the Navvy wanted to study the underwater sonar capabilities of dolphins and beluga whales to learn how to design more efficient methods of detecting objects underwater, and to improve the speed of their boats and submarines by researching how dolphins are able to swim so fast and dive so deep.In addition to this research component, the Navvy also trained dolphins, beluga whales, sea lions and other marine mammals to perform various underwater tasks, including delivering equipment to divers nderwater, locating and retrieving lost objects, guarding boats and submarines, and doing underwater surveillance using a camera held in their mouths. Dolphins were used for some of these tasks in the Vietnam War and in the Persian Gulf. The Marine Mammal Program was originally classified, and was at its peak during the Cold War.The Soviet Union's military was conducting similar research and training programs in the race to dominate the underwater front. At one point during the 1980's, the U. S. program had over 100 dolphins, as well as numerous sea lions and beluga whales, and an operating budget ot $8 million dollars. By the ‘s, howeve r, the Cold W was over, and the Navvy's Marine Mammal project was downsized. In 1992, the program became declassified. Many of the dolphins were retired, and controversy arose over whether or not it would be feasible to return unnecessary dolphins to the wild. pecific Tasks Navvy marine mammals are trained to perform many underwater duties, including Bottlenose dolphins detect and mark of underwater mines. The animal locates a mine and then deposits a weighted buoy line near the mine in order to mark it. California sea lions attach grabber devices to underwater objects for etrieval. This system is used extensively in training exercises with divers for Explosive Ordnance Disposal units. Practice mines are placed on the sea floor; those not found by the divers during the exercise are retrieved by the sea lions. Bottlenose dolphins are used to detect and defend against enemy swimmers.This procedure was used in both the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf to protect Navvy anchored vessels from enemy swimmers seeking to plant explosives. The dolphins would swim slowly, patrolling the area with their sonar, and alert armed trainer guards if they located a swimmer. They are also trained to â€Å"tag† the enemy swimmer with a marker so that Navvy personnel can apprehend him. During the Vietnam War, rumors circulated about a â€Å"swimmer nullification program† in which dolphins were also being trained to shoot at enemy swimmers with a device similar to the tagging device.The Navvy denies that any such program existed or that any dolphin has ever been trained to attacka human. 1960's naw begins use of marine mammals 1965 sea lab II In 1965, the Marine Mammal Program began its first military project: Sea Lab II. Working in the waters off La Jolla, California, a bottlenose dolphin named Tuffy ompleted the first successful open ocean military exercise. He repeatedly dove 200 feet to the Sea Lab II installation, carrying mail and tools to naw personnel. He was a lso trained to guide lost divers to safety. 965-75 dolphins used in Vietnam The Navvy sent five dolphins to Cam Ranh Bay to perform underwater surveillance and guard military boats from enemy swimmers. Although during this era rumors circulated about a â€Å"swimmer nullification program† through which dolphins were trained to attack and kill enemy swimmer, the Navvy denies such a program ever existed. 1975 ntroduction of sea lions and beluga whales With the success of the dolphin program, the Navvy began working with sea lions, training them to recover military hardware or weaponry fired and dropped in the ocean.The sea lions could dive and recover objects at depths of up to 650 feet. The Navvy also began exploring the use of beluga whales, which, like dolphins, use sonar to navigate. Beluga whales could operate at much colder temperatures and deeper depths than either dolphins or sea lions. naw builds up collection of dolphins The Marine Mammal Program reached its heyday in the 1980's, with an expanded udget and increased number of dolphins.In 1986, Congress partially repealed the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act by letting the Navvy collect wild dolphins from for â€Å"national defense purposes. † The Navvy planned to use the dolphins to expand its mine disposal units and to stock a breeding program. 1986-88 dolphins in the Persian gulf The naw sent six dolphins to the Persian Gulf, where they patrolled the harbor in Bahrain to protect US flagships from enemy swimmers and mines, and escorted Kuwaiti oil tankers through potentially dangerous waters. One of the dolphins, â€Å"Skippy,† died ofa bacterial infection. ssile guarding project in Bangor abandoned In the late 1980's the Navvy began a project through which dolphins would act as guards at the Bangor Washington Trident Missile Base. Animal activists opposed the project, and filed suit against the Navvy under the National Environmental Protection Act claiming that the Navvy must do an environmental evaluation to determine whether deployment in the cold northern waters off Bangor would harm dolphins originally captured in the Gulf of Mexico. A Judge ruled that such a study must be completed before the project could continue.The Navvy abandoned the project. By 1994, the Navvy policy on moving dolphins to environments with radically different water temperatures changed; a spokesperson said that in general, the Navvy would only move dolphins between environments with a 20 degree difference in temperature, except in emergency situations. 1990S downsizing, declassification, retirement With the end of the Cold War, the Navvy's budget for the marine mammal program was drastically reduced, and all but one of its training centers were closed down.Of the 103 dolphins remaining in the program, the Navvy decided it needed only 70 to maintain its downsized operations. Much of the project was declassified, although certain details remain protected. This raised the question of what to do with the remaining dolphins. In the 1992 Defense Appropriations Act, Congress alloted a half million dollars to the Navvy to â€Å"to develop training procedures which will allow mammals which are no longer required for this project to be released into their natural habitat. The Navvy held two conferences of researchers and experts and determined that a reintroduction program would not be cost effective. In an attempt to downsize its dolphin troops, the Navvy offered to give its surplus trained dolphins o marine parks However, interest in the tree dolphins was low because many marine parks by this time had developed successful in-house breeding programs. The Navvy only got only four requests, but pledged to care for the unclaimed dolphins until their deaths.Later in 1994, the Navvy agreed to send three dolphins to Sugarloaf sanctuary, near Key West in Florida, a rehabilitation facility run by Ric O'Barry. O'Barry planned to reeducate the dolphins so they could be safe ly released into the wild, once the necessary federal permits were granted. 1996 illegal release of Luther and Buck Two of the dolphins being held at the Sugarloaf Sanctuary, Luther and Buck, were being prepared for life in the wild while awaiting federal permits for their release. In May, before the permits had been issued, O'Barry released the dolphins into the Gulf of Mexico.He believed that the dolphins were ready for release and that the bureaucratric requirements for a permit were designed to prevent the release of the Navvy dolphins. He thought that to wait any longer before letting them go would jeopardize their chances of successful adaptation to the wild. read O'Barry's defense f his actions, and criticism of the release from Naomi Rose The dolphins were recaptured less than two weeks later and returned to the Navvy. All three of these dolphins are now back with the Navvy. One of them is still in Florida; the other two are back in San Diego in the Navvy facility there. 997 Ukrainian dolphins trained by the Soviet Navvy for military operations are now being used for therapy with autistic and emotionally disturbed children. Mahalia Jackson Mrs. Harvey English 093 (1 :OO) October 29, 2013 Dolphins Dolphins are very interesting creatures. There are many things about a dolphin you may not know about. They do many ditterent things witn humans, and they do many different things in their everyday lives. There are many peculiar amazing creatures in the ocean, but none of them compares to the dolphins.In the beginning of time about 50 million years ago research shows that dolphins were once a land animal. They looked like a wolf, as this animal they hunted in the shallow waters, and eventually they learned how to adapt between land and water. Research says, â€Å"That their forelegs became flippers, the hind legs disappeared and the fluke evolved, and their fur disappeared and the nostrils moved to the top of their head. This how they breathe today. Even thou gh they surface ever few minutes in the water, they can stay under water up to 15 minutes.Now in order to navigate they use echolocation to find their way around the ocean or the sea. In order to find food the uses clicks to send out to return off of an object in the water researchers say, â€Å"It's just like an echo. † This is how they find their food, dolphins. And other threatening animals or rocks. Just like humans have a family; well, dolphins have families that they live in. The families are usually or mostly lead by a female dolphin. Just like in a society of humans the females primarily are the head of the house hold or family.Every dolphin in the family help each other out, sometimes several families might come together to make a school of dolphins. Jackson 2 Dolphins are very intelligent, they are the second-smartest animal in the world. Research shows that dolphins shows skills and awareness that for many years they thought only humans had. They gave them MIR scan s, and they found out that a dolphin's brain is four to five times larger than their own bodies when it is compared to another animals of a similar size. Dolphins has been in the U. S. Navvy for more than forty years.The Navvy's Marine Mammal Program began in 1960 and they had two reasons for this program. It was that the Navvy wanted to study the underwater sonar capabilities of dolphins, and to learn how to design more sufficient methods for detecting objects underwater, and to also improve the speed of their boats and submarines by researching how dolphins are able to swim so fast and dive so deep into the water. Dolphins Just didn't Join the Navvy or became a part of it they had to be trained to do the Jobs they were going to be assigned to do. In order to help the Navvy in upcoming wars to come.They was trained to deliver equipment to divers underwater, locating and retrieving lost objects that the Navvy thought was important, guarding boats and submarines, and doing underwater surveillance using a camera to hold in their mouths. Researchers says, â€Å"The dolphins were trained to attack and kill the enemy in the Vietnam War. † Lastly, Dolphins are many things on this Earth. They are intelligent, they are used in the U. S. Navvy. In order to help them discover enemies and to protect the ships. They are descendants of wolves and that they ave hair it's Just on the top of their head.Female dolphins are the head of the family, and several families might come and Join them. All together Dolphins are amazing creatures, they can be your friend and protect you to the end.