tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23084503195082281872024-03-13T14:24:12.519+10:00The Dolphin Embassy TimesC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-47927557286341418562014-08-22T14:49:00.002+10:002014-10-31T00:14:54.581+10:00Geographies of the Liminal Dolphin: toward an understanding of the contested spaces of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3UBcE6qUv4/U_bQWTmqEII/AAAAAAAAAbQ/xxyr7XFZ4Yw/s1600/DAT%2Bat%2BCDTC%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-C3UBcE6qUv4/U_bQWTmqEII/AAAAAAAAAbQ/xxyr7XFZ4Yw/s1600/DAT%2Bat%2BCDTC%2B1.jpg" height="226" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A patient, a therapist, and a dolphin<br />
Dolphin-Assisted Therapy at the Curacao Dolphin Therapy Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We are delighted to announce the publication of the
research project we have been doing for the past five years. It is the basis for the Doctor of Philosophy granted to me, the first PhD ever conferred for social science research on Dolphin-Assisted Therapy. Its title is: <br />
<br />
<b>“Geographies of the Liminal Dolphin: toward an understanding of the contested
spaces of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy”.</b> <br />
<br />
It has been published on the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia's Research
Bank website, with a permanent link.<br />
<br />
It can be downloaded here:<br />
<a href="http://research.usc.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/usc:13419">http://research.usc.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/usc:13419</a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Abstract:
This research explored Dolphin-Assisted Therapies that have benefitted persons
with disabilities and their families, yet have been widely contested in
academic and popular media. The research found that knowledge and ethical
judgments about the therapies vary according to the distance from which they
are produced and that these therapies highlight mutualism between species,
requiring a hybrid understanding of ethics. It produced the first social
science study of the many types of therapy in the field using Geographic
analysis of its discourse and a case study of a clinic in Curacao based on
observations and interviews with families and therapists.</span></b><br />
<br />
For those who are not deeply interested in academic thesis development, and
who want to read the parts about dolphins, therapy, and the research we did and
our conclusions, <b><i>we recommend reading Chapter One, then read Chapters Five thru
Nine</i></b>.<br />
<br />
~~~~~ <br />
<br />
We have had significant challenges in the development of this research. The
first was constructing a definition of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT). Our research has developed an understanding of DAT's many
varieties, highlighting 13 different types.<br />
<br />
The next challenge was to assemble a history of DAT. No truly
comprehensive history of DAT existed. We visited and
interviewed key persons in its history, did extensive research in original
documents and were able to construct a history that should serve to make clear
the key moments, ideas, and persons who have played important roles.<br />
<br />
Every published paper on DAT that we could locate was analysed, including
papers in Spanish, Greek, Russian, Finnish, German, and English.
Some were doctoral theses, some were journal articles, some were
seemingly academic but published in non-peer-reviewed sources. We analysed
the research of academics who oppose DAT and discovered significant flaws. We did not find opposition based on open-minded and
balanced research, but found influential papers written with strongly
preconceived biases. Analysis of the 'gray literature' in the DAT discourse, that is, texts that are in the public domain that draw upon science but have not been peer-reviewed, also found a lack of rigorous scientific standards. There we found clear statements
made by academics demonstrating bias. What became clear is that studies that conclude that DAT has no validity do provide incentive to do better research. Critical analysis has pointed
out various flaws and ways the research can be improved.<br />
<br />
Research supportive of DAT was analysed. In doing so,
a definition of DAT was developed that includes its many varieties. Some notions
of what DAT is were found to not be based on evidence that was
available to scientific analysis. While this poses problems for academic
understanding it does bring some people to try DAT, drawn by the hopeful descriptions of non-scientific supporters. Some supportive research
was well done, revealing significant positive outcomes for many families. <br />
<br />
What was especially important to discover was the lack of field research by
those who oppose DAT. We found no significant published
research critical of DAT that was based on interviews, visits
to facilities, or analysis of medical records. Instead, we found a
prevailing concern with the complex ethics of human-nonhuman relations as the
primary driver of opposition to this field of therapies. There were few
attempts to challenge the actual therapy itself, and these were found to have
been done by academics without credentials or documented training for such
analysis.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AKBmndCk9f8/U_bP6Z2wogI/AAAAAAAAAbI/5X-pB8g_PKI/s1600/DAT%2BAgencies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-AKBmndCk9f8/U_bP6Z2wogI/AAAAAAAAAbI/5X-pB8g_PKI/s1600/DAT%2BAgencies.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Agencies of DAT:<br />
The overlapping and distinct areas of influence in Dophin-Assisted Therapy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
A significant finding in our research was the benefit to dolphins from being
involved in DAT. For those dolphins who live in human care and found to be at ease in human presence and who demonstrate a willingness and
enthusiasm for working alongside trainers and therapists, a life apart from
the ocean and in daily contact with humans seems to provide
important enrichment and social interaction. Therapists refer to the dolphins
with whom they work in therapy sessions as their ‘colleagues’, a unique
description for a non-human animal.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Em0kGODKVKE/U_bRWmLoZxI/AAAAAAAAAbc/S1w3u_TLvCU/s1600/DAT%2Bflow%2Bchart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Em0kGODKVKE/U_bRWmLoZxI/AAAAAAAAAbc/S1w3u_TLvCU/s1600/DAT%2Bflow%2Bchart.jpg" height="317" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DAT flow chart:<br />
Key factors and their relations to DAT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Among the other findings were that DAT is holistic, reaching far beyond the
interactions in the spaces of dolphin enclosure. Families experienced DAT
from the first determination to utilise it. Its effects are felt when their lives<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>become focused on travel, fundraising,
family adjustments, and community involvement. Several of the interviewed
families described how their local community rallied in support of them, doing
fundraising events and becoming much more engaged and supportive of them. DAT
also reaches into the lives of providers, the therapists and dolphin trainers, causing global movement, relationship
changes, career advancement, and improved lives for the therapists and
trainers.<br />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
As we searched for concepts that support our findings we found the work of
an early Geographer, <b>Peter Kropotkin</b>, who published a book in 1902 on his
research that demonstrated cooperation as a significant part of relationships
in nature. Kropotkin developed this theory to counter the notion put forward by Darwin and Huxley that
competition was the fundamental basis of all relationships in nature. Calling it ‘<b>Mutual
Aid</b>’, Kropotkin’s book still influences many areas of biology. Referred to as
‘mutualism’, the concept has now taken on the meaning of relationships that go
beyond symbiosis into mutual benefit<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>based on cooperation. This describes the interspecies work going on in
DAT and we used mutualism as an important concept to describe its cross-border
work.<br />
<br />
Other important work by <b>Donna Haraway, Vicki Hearne, Bruno Latour, Nigel Thrift, William S. Lynn, J. Claude Evans</b>, and <b>Michel Foucault</b> were influential in our work. Among those whose work on DAT has been of special importance to our research are <b>David Cole, Dr. Steve Birch, Dr. David Nathanson, Marco Kuereschner, and Kirsten Kuhnert</b>.<br />
<br />
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the Curacao Dolphin Therapy Center for their wonderful support of our research, and especially to the families who were willing to be interviewed, and the dedicated therapists and trainers who took time to share so much with us.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OtdgYyocb-4/U_bSBpIlLkI/AAAAAAAAAbk/iDEvyPHtLsw/s1600/CuracaoDolphinAquarium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OtdgYyocb-4/U_bSBpIlLkI/AAAAAAAAAbk/iDEvyPHtLsw/s1600/CuracaoDolphinAquarium.jpg" height="307" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Curacao Sea Aquarium (center), the Dolphin Academy (bottom right pools) and the Curacao Dolphin Therapy Center (top right pools)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This is the first research ever published on the social dimensions of DAT, the
spaces it creates, and the affective realities in which it exists. As a
contribution to the body of literature on DAT, it will serve as a milestone. We
are very pleased to make it available to anyone who cares to study it.<br />
<br />
Warm regards,<br />
Dr. C. Scott Taylor, BSocSc (Hons); PhD<br />
Amanda Hain<br />
Ambassadors<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-82383597953262084592013-12-13T17:50:00.000+10:002014-10-18T00:39:53.665+10:00A Revised Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans<style>
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In 2010 a small group of self-selected scientists and activists gathered
in Helsinki, Finland to discuss the rights of cetaceans under international
law. Their purpose was to formulate a declaration of rights and to garner
international support for such a declaration. The conference, entitled
"<i>Cetacean Rights: Fostering Moral and Legal Change</i>", produced a
declaration signed by the 11 members of the 'Helsinki Group'.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
While this declaration is well intended, certain elements in it
do not represent the well-being of some cetaceans, especially those <b>'who have nowhere
else to go'</b>. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Because the <b>Dolphin Embassy</b> project and the <b>Cetacean Studies
Institute</b> have done extensive research on this expanding population around the
world, and have come to recognise the very real importance of protecting their
needs against short-sighted, albeit well-meaning, efforts by activist
organisations, a revision of the Helsinki Declaration has been
undertaken.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The revised declaration is presented here. Comments are
welcome, and the revised declaration is open for further revision.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To see the original Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans, as
produced by the Helsinki Group, you can see their site<span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="http://www.cetaceanrights.org/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans:
Whales, Dolphins</span></span><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 150%;">, and Porpoises<br />
</span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br />
</span><span class="textexposedshow">Based on the principle of the equal
treatment of all persons;</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Recognizing that scientific research gives us
deeper insights into the complexities of cetacean minds, societies and
cultures;</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">Recognizing
that increased human interaction with cetaceans has produced deeper insights
into their biological, social, and psychological requirements;</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Recognizing that cetaceans have participated in mutually beneficial relationships with humans and have demonstrated adaptive capacity such that they manifest fully complex lives in built environments;</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Noting that the progressive development of
international law manifests an entitlement to life and well-being for cetaceans;</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">We affirm that all cetaceans as persons have the
right to life, liberty and well-being.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br />
<span class="textexposedshow">We conclude that:</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">1. Every individual cetacean has the right to life, safety, clean water, and a sonic environment that does no harm.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">2. </span><span class="uficommentbody">No cetacean shall be taken into captivity or be removed
from their natural environment unless not doing so would endanger their
survival. Any cetacean taken into human care shall be returned to their natural
environment when feasible, determined on both biological and compassionate
grounds. If not feasible it shall be provided an enriching environment that includes socialization with
other cetaceans and with humans. Cetaceans in human care shall have the right to bear offspring, recognising this as an important part of their social and biological nature. Any cetacean
born in a human-managed environment has special status with a life-long responsibility
for their care by humans.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">3. No
cetacean shall </span><span class="uficommentbody">be subject to cruel treatment.</span><span class="textexposedshow"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">4. All
cetaceans not in human care have the right to freedom of movement and residence within their
natural environment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">5. No
cetacean is the property of any State, corporation, human group or individual,
but may become a ward of such entities if necessary to protect and safeguard
their life and well-being. Cetaceans who </span><span class="textexposedshow"><span class="textexposedshow">have come into human care,</span> by natural circumstances or circumstances that are irreversible, shall be provided all due care for the duration of their natural lives.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">6.
Cetaceans have the right to the protection of their natural environment.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">7.
Cetaceans have the right, </span><span class="textexposedshow"><span class="textexposedshow">equal to protections provided for human cultures,</span> to not be subject to the disruption of their cultures.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">8. The
rights, freedoms, and norms set forth in this Declaration shall be protected
under international and domestic law as well as an international framework
under the administration of the United Nations in which these rights, freedoms,
and norms can be fully realized.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">9. No
State, corporation, human group or individual shall engage in any activity that
undermines these rights, freedoms and norms.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">10.
Nothing in this Declaration shall prevent a State from enacting stricter provisions
for the protection of cetacean rights as long as the well-being of cetaceans is
foremost in such provisions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">Originally agreed and signed,
22nd May 2010, Helsinki, Finland</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span class="textexposedshow">Revised
by the <b>Cetacean Studies Institute</b>, Dec. 2013-Oct. 2014, Queensland, Australia</span></div>
<span class="textexposedshow"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span>
C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-34525011175342049672013-09-28T16:19:00.002+10:002013-10-19T13:27:01.102+10:00On 'captivity'<style>
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XWOxZBOg-xo/UkZx6a9Qn8I/AAAAAAAAAZ0/zPxTDdadnm0/s1600/Zip+at+rest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XWOxZBOg-xo/UkZx6a9Qn8I/AAAAAAAAAZ0/zPxTDdadnm0/s640/Zip+at+rest.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A dolphin born among humans, living a meaningful life, touching and playing with humans every day in a marine animal rehabilitation facility</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Recently, several persons in online postings about human-dolphin
interactions described me as "pro-captivity".</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">This is not correct. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">If you want a label for me, say I am:<br /> 'pro-understanding the challenging
situation we have with dolphins who live among humans'.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">My work is dedicated to <b>understanding this situation</b> and to <b>bettering the
conditions under which they live</b>. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">I oppose capturing dolphins for any reason other than to help them survive.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">I seek the best possible care for dolphins wherever they may be. That includes those living among humans. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">To respond to the inaccuracy, I will address the topic in some detail. It is a complex topic, and deserves no less.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">To begin, a definition of ‘captivity’ will help clarify the discussion.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Dictionaries make a distinction between humans
and animals, in regard to 'captivity', as if there is a difference. I don't think there is: humans
are animals too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Dictionaries state that a human who has been <u>captured</u> is a captive, or ‘in
captivity’. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">They also say that any non-human animal who is <u>confined</u> is a captive, or ‘in
captivity’. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Using one word to refer to two different conditions is one way the concept of 'captivity' has become a confused issue. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">At what point in a relationship between a human and another animal is there
'captivity'? Are our cats captives? When is an animal unequivocally a 'captive'?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">I find the word to be vague, ill-defined, and less than helpful in
understanding the complexities of our relations with other animals. I don't
accept ‘captivity’ as being an appropriate description for all circumstances in
which a non-human animal is in a constructed environment...in fact I find it
nearly useless.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Nevertheless, I have dedicated much of my life to understanding 'captivity'
in all its complexities.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">It is not a simple, single condition.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Horses in paddocks are confined so they cannot wander. Dogs on leashes are
'confined' to movements dictated by the person on the other end of the leash.
Are these 'in captivity'? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">I think that they are at liberty to express innate
capacities, with various restrictions on their movements, created by caring
humans who seek their safety and wellbeing and that of others.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vyDwPR7DA8g/UkZyNSdp-oI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/kOoD8_m1YLQ/s1600/Lionel+and+buck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vyDwPR7DA8g/UkZyNSdp-oI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/kOoD8_m1YLQ/s640/Lionel+and+buck.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">An elderly visitor to the dolphins, making contact, sharing a moment</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Now to the topic of dolphins. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">The ‘captivity’ of dolphins is a reality.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">What I mean by saying that 'captivity is a reality' is this: the enclosure and confinement of dolphins exists and
must be dealt with.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">It is not going away in the foreseeable future.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Dolphins have crossed the boundary lines into human-made spaces, and will
remain within them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">There is no 'going back'.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Approximately 80% of the dolphins living in dolphinariums in the developed world were either born there, or have been living among humans for over 20 years, and not 'releaseable'.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Whether we describe this as being the result of mistakes in the past, the product of legitimate curiosities and desire for scientific understandings, an outcome of economic opportunism for profit, or a part of a larger
scenario in a spiritual context beyond our understanding, is open for interpretation.</span></span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Just as other species have joined humans in a relationship of
companion-hood, so dolphins have joined us in our constructed world. They live among us.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">I accept the situation as it is. This does not mean I like all aspects of
it, or am 'pro-captivity'.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">I accept it but do not condone it in all circumstances.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">I work hard at understanding it, having done so for over 30 years.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">I also work to make the confinement of
non-human animals of all kinds to be part of the humane responses humans enact toward the
living world, and not an addition to the suffering experienced by other
animals. Rescues, best-practice care, release when possible, long-term committments to care, companionship, and compassion for all animals...everywhere. That is my position.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">A brief synopsis of the various ethical positions regarding human/non-human
relations may help to make more clear my understandings and position:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">The position of 'Animal Liberation' is an extremist position, one that
ignores many things. It justifies extreme actions, including the killing of
dolphins "who would be better off dead than living in a pool", to
quote an Animal Liberation dolphin murderer from here in Australia.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">The "Empty Cages" promoted by Dr Tom Regan, Dr Thomas White, Dr Lori Marino, and many others are fantasies that are not based on
animal welfare, but an abstract notion of 'The Natural World', a world in which
humans and other animals live separate lives, apart from each other, leaving each
other 'alone'.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">The position of 'Animal Rights' has its own problems, inherent in its
constructions. Rights and responsibilities are part of the same idea in the
legal sense. Having one requires the other. Responsibilities cannot be required of a non-human...an
impossible notion, to require specific actions of non-humans. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">The other way of
understanding 'rights' is to conceive of them as 'natural rights', and not
legal rights. However, 'natural rights' are impossible to clearly define in a world in
which all living things are part of a biosystem in which each depends on
consuming others.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">This leaves 'Animal Welfare' as the last of the three major pillars of human ethical
theories about how to be in right relations with other animals. Some would
argue that no amount of improvement of conditions for animals is enough, that
all non-humans should be out from under all human care. This anti-welfare
position denies human compassion, the innate response we have toward suffering.
Walk on by when we come across a dolphin struggling in the surf? No, never. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Animal Welfare pays close attention to the needs of individuals. Animal Rights
and Animal Liberation pay attention to species, not individuals as unique sites
of complex histories and adaptations.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Consider this: A dolphin born in a constructed environment is not a
'captive', in my view. It was not captured. It literally and actually has
nowhere else to go.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">A dolphin rescued and rehabilitated who cannot be expected to survive in
the Ocean, and who is given a life-long opportunity to live under human care,
is not a ‘captive’. It also has nowhere else to go.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">There is one more 'ethical pillar', one that is less acknowledged, but important: the Ethic of Care. Developed as part of Feminism, it recognises that caring for the wellbeing of another is not part of the 'calculus of suffering' that Animal Liberationist and Animal Rights campaigners use to determine ethical behaviour. The Ethic of Care is direct in its individualized responses to the needs of others, and does not discriminate against 'otherness' in any form...including non-human animals.</span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sNh03P49IAo/UkZyeVP9oNI/AAAAAAAAAaE/SX62ghTYfIY/s1600/Bella+Beauty+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sNh03P49IAo/UkZyeVP9oNI/AAAAAAAAAaE/SX62ghTYfIY/s400/Bella+Beauty+small.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">A young dolphin, born among humans, full of curiosity, delight, and willingness to accept humans into her space, just as humans have accepted her into theirs. <br />She will have a lifetime of excellent care, no matter how long that may be.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;"> My position is this: We must always consider the actual individual as we
work toward best possible outcomes. This is within the Animal Welfare concept.
I add the concept of Animal Rights to this, partially, in the sense that I
accept that we cannot know with certainty the 'natural rights' of other
animals, but humans can create limits for human actions that enable other
animals to thrive and not suffer under human care, as a natural right. And to this, I add the Ethic of Care, one that supports caring for any creature, just as religious traditions urge, as acts of compassion.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">There are, of course, many details in this hybrid construction of my ethical stance that require more space
and time to discuss than can be undertaken here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Is this "pro-captivity"?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">No, it is not.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">It accepts the reality of what already is, without condoning it, and aims
to continually improve how we treat dolphins who live among us. It accepts that
some circumstances can bring dolphins across the species boundary, into human
care, and that this is the most important part of the issue: how can humans
improve their care of other animals, some of whom have joined humans in
constructed environments?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">Does this meet the demands of some activists who state that “captivity is
captivity and it must be abolished”? No, it does not. Rather, my position
suggests that we need to make clear what we oppose, what we accept, and what we
can, in unity, support.<br />
<br />
Sincerely,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Helvetica;">C. Scott Taylor, Ambassador</span></span></div>
C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-40080438819887283992013-05-27T13:02:00.002+10:002013-05-27T13:18:08.526+10:00It makes us wonder...<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lFQkvai1uaY/UaLIISg8MZI/AAAAAAAAAYM/UDM9LHy9Fjw/s1600/Bellabelly1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lFQkvai1uaY/UaLIISg8MZI/AAAAAAAAAYM/UDM9LHy9Fjw/s320/Bellabelly1.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We recently received
a letter from a movie producer who said he wants to make “the definitive dolphin
movie”, asking us for information about Dolphin-Assisted Therapy, a topic
which we have been studying for over twenty-five years. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ebskjb4U5ik/UaLKRBOND4I/AAAAAAAAAYw/MFMIQt8uSSs/s1600/Delene,+Dana,+2+Dolphins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="432" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ebskjb4U5ik/UaLKRBOND4I/AAAAAAAAAYw/MFMIQt8uSSs/s640/Delene,+Dana,+2+Dolphins.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dolphin-Assisted Therapy with a severely disabled child and two dolphins eager to interact.</td></tr>
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As often happens,
they found us through a search on the internet. And as also often happens, we
gave them the information they were searching for despite their not offering to
compensate us for the expertise, time, and effort we were asked to contribute.
How odd it seems to us that some people who claim to know dolphins, who make a
study of them, or do films about them, do not pay attention to some of the
lessons to be learned from our relationships with them. Especially the lessons
about cooperation, that generosity of spirit that ensures strong, healthy, and
continuing bonds of trust and mutual support.</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Cooperation among
“dolphin people” sometimes seems to be as lacking as among any other segment of
the human population. We wonder why.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Additionally, when we made an offer to be available as continuing
consultants on their film project, they rejected it upon this basis: </span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“…</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">unfortunately we've decided not to film any
captive dolphins in the movie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We're
interested in their healing abilities but serveral of the people we've worked
with on the film agreed to work together on the bases of only filming wild
dolphins [sic]</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">”</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">How sad. Our response included these thoughts…</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“It is too bad you
and your cohorts are so restrictive in your thinking. We love our interactions
with free-ranging dolphins, but for therapy, a safe and controlled, and easily
accessible environment is necessary. For that reason, we have paid a lot of
attention to those dolphins living among humans, in constructed environments.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These dolphins
are either rescued or have been born among humans. Those rescued would have
been dead long ago if not rescued, rehabilitated, and promised a lifetime of
care. None of them have been captured, and thus are not "captive".</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HaDK2EoRwW4/UaLIWD6AESI/AAAAAAAAAYU/mp2-FSQznII/s1600/Calamity+deep+in+new+pool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HaDK2EoRwW4/UaLIWD6AESI/AAAAAAAAAYU/mp2-FSQznII/s640/Calamity+deep+in+new+pool.jpg" width="403" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calamity, a rescued dolphin. She was rescued twice, rehabilitated and released once, only to be found again, entangled and badly injured by fishing gear. Unable to survive in the ocean, she has lived among humans for over 20 years.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black;">For people who
love dolphins and want to extend themselves in service to them, the dolphins
who have stranded and become dependent upon humans are the ones they can serve.
Dolphins who live among humans are unique, in that they offer us a direct means
to begin to understand them, to learn from them, to offer our compassion to
another highly developed social species. Note that we say ‘learn from’ and not
‘learn about’. The learning is based on relationships, consistent sharing of
the same space and time, often in physical contact with each other.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We refer here to
the "trainers" and vets and volunteers and others who live with and
care for dolphins as their mission in life. Those who stand along a shore and
view them from afar sometimes think of themselves as loving dolphins so much
that they will not engage with them directly, fearful of disturbing their
freedom. These people do not understand dolphins except as abstractions, the
subjects of the research of others.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Do you, or your
people, see humans who live in facilities for long-term care as less than deserving
of the care we give to other humans? Would you have them turned out onto the
streets when they are able to walk if they continue to have other needs? Would
you be willing to go into a long-term care facility and euthanise the patients?
This is the position of those who see the dolphins under human care, after
being rescued, as captive and unworthy of their loving attentions. In England,
this is the law, to euthanise any dolphin who might survive only if it is cared
for by humans. This law was brought into force by those that made
‘dolphinariums’ illegal. There is no place for them to live if they survive the
beach but cannot go back to the ocean. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have discussed
these issues many times over the years with the likes of Ric O'Barry and
others, who see all dolphins under human care as unworthy of this kind of love and care, who
should be force-fed contraceptives to prevent their having offspring, and this
kept up until they die. This, of course, ignores the continuing movement into
human care around the world of dolphins whose plight calls upon human
compassion to care for them. They will always be arriving on the shore, in need of human compassion. The goal of preventing procreation also ignores the social needs of the dolphins,
to bear and care for their offspring.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2G_z4cEY9_s/UaLJZo_e5sI/AAAAAAAAAYk/H-HIAjVwxCc/s1600/Perfect+Bella+4x6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2G_z4cEY9_s/UaLJZo_e5sI/AAAAAAAAAYk/H-HIAjVwxCc/s400/Perfect+Bella+4x6.jpg" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of Calamity's offspring, young Bella.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If you want to do
a film that includes the whole story of our deep connection to dolphins, how
can you ignore those whose sea-born freedom, their destiny, has been given into
the hands of humans?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Will you also
ignore the stranding organisations who pour tens of thousands of human hours
and untold hundreds of thousands of dollars into caring for dolphins, some of
whom will have to be given care for whatever lifetime they succeed in having?
Have they created "captured" dolphins?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What are the
spiritual implications of the life of a dolphin born among humans? It does not
belong in the sea, and it does great service as a bridge between lives. It
experiences an extraordinary life, learning, playing, sharing, singing it's
musical language with other dolphins and among among humans. Is its life
without meaning, or ‘inauthentic’ in some way? </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o7UN0PwApz0/UaLLu4mrJ_I/AAAAAAAAAZI/KOcdIaIABT0/s1600/Lauren+dives+2+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o7UN0PwApz0/UaLLu4mrJ_I/AAAAAAAAAZI/KOcdIaIABT0/s640/Lauren+dives+2+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This young woman was blinded in an auto accident eleven months before this picture was taken. The opportunity to swim with Bella was her 21st birthday gift. For both Bella and this young woman, this moment was a meaningful moment.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We have become
friends (since her birth) with an extraordinary dolphin named Bella. She was
born of a rescued father and a rescued mother. Her life is one of continuing
exploration, delight in discovery, playful games, close physical contact with
humans, and she serves as an excellent Ambassador between her species and ours.
Is she to be ignored, force-fed contraceptives, and made to not experience the
joys and lessons of motherhood?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is freedom,
in your view? Is it a condition only of the body or of the body and the spirit? Do you know any ‘free’
people who live in small flats in cities? We bet you do. How about humans who
are trapped and constrained in their lives, who live in remote settings far
from a city? It is a projection of humans that dolphins who live among humans
are not ‘free’. They are at liberty, to experience life as best they can in the
circumstances that destiny has wrought for them. While movement across great
distance is not possible for them, the freedom to live, to learn, to express,
and to experience relationships is no less than anywhere else.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wrAUO5fmqRE/UaLPi7l9clI/AAAAAAAAAZY/vkBCm5pfJm4/s1600/Tenzin+kiss+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wrAUO5fmqRE/UaLPi7l9clI/AAAAAAAAAZY/vkBCm5pfJm4/s400/Tenzin+kiss+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buck meets Tenzin, the Dalai Lama's translator.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One of the dolphins we have come to know, Buck, is 43
years old, and has lived among humans for 42 years. He is well adjusted,
healthy, happy, friendly, and a beautiful example of a dolphin who is totally
trustworthy, calm among people, able to do much to educate and inspire
humans....and he has had unusually caring and non-harsh interactions with
humans since his rescue at age 1. No strict operant conditioning, only a
cooperative and fully interactive "training system" has ever been
used with him.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The lesson here
is that dolphins can, and will, do very well among us if we do not ask of them
what would stress humans just as much. Inappropriate training systems, by
people who have yet to grasp the full nature of the dolphin, has given us the
impression that some dolphins are not able to thrive being among us. This is really
a non-issue, based on limited understanding. It is a human issue, not a dolphin
one.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am saddened to
think that you may take your opportunity to do "the definitive film on
dolphins" and not be willing to look at the whole picture. If you do as
you suggest, you will do no more than all the others who have done the same,
ignoring the very important story of the deeper, closer, more personal and
intimate relationships where we care for those whose destiny has brought them
to live among us.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If Dolphin-Assisted
Therapy is interesting to you, you will not be able to tell the whole story
without filming dolphins under human care, where humans and dolphins benefit by
working and playing together.”</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CO1BKc6TsXI/UaLK0D7SSjI/AAAAAAAAAY4/CAfQ8l8LbHk/s1600/Squirt+Kat+and+Deena+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CO1BKc6TsXI/UaLK0D7SSjI/AAAAAAAAAY4/CAfQ8l8LbHk/s640/Squirt+Kat+and+Deena+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A profoundly autistic child who had never looked a human in the eye, nor spoken a word. After two weeks of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy, we witnessed her speaking, looking with interest into the eyes of others...a changed life.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> We have to wonder, sometimes, how deeply the thoughts of those who 'love dolphins' have gone. Caring for them, in all of the many circumstances they find themselves in, requires a many-faceted response.<br /><br />Thoughtfully,<br />The Ambassadors</span></div>
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C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-26001946175033287352012-10-29T16:21:00.001+10:002013-04-04T00:31:29.654+10:00Research at the Curacao Dolphin Therapy Center<style>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uQAEFQK2Klw/UI4esFe-U4I/AAAAAAAAAT4/6rWju4ZpMhg/s1600/CuracaoDolphinAquarium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uQAEFQK2Klw/UI4esFe-U4I/AAAAAAAAAT4/6rWju4ZpMhg/s640/CuracaoDolphinAquarium.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lagoons in the upper right, surrounded by walls, are where the CDTC conducts its therapy program. With wave-washed enclosures, fish freely swimming among the dolphins, and dolphins who only do therapy, added to an excellent application of widely-accepted therapeutic techniques, the CDTC stands out as one of the best in the world.</td></tr>
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<b>My Research at the Curacao Dolphin
Therapy Center</b></div>
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I arrived on Curacao in late June
of 2011 to begin two weeks of research. It was a wonderful experience, and has
added immeasurably to my efforts to bring clarity to the understanding of
Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT).</div>
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As a long-time researcher on the
topic of DAT (I delivered the keynote address at the <b>2<sup>nd</sup> International
Symposium on Dolphin Assisted Therapy and Research</b>, in Cancun, 1996), I have
paid close attention to the developments of this important form of therapy.
When I began my PhD research in 2010, as a Geographer studying how animals and
humans share the world, my thesis topic was easy to choose: it focuses on how
DAT is understood. My research aims to contribute to what often are contested
ideas about what it is, how it is done, how it ought to be done, and whether it
ought to be done at all. Critics of DAT have made exaggerated and
unsubstantiated claims, while some DAT programs have also made claims with no
basis in fact. Research into DAT has been kept to a minimum, as the critics
marshal ‘experts’ to produce unbalanced reviews of any
research done. Facilities for DAT have been driven from places where they are
close to large populations of potential patients, by fierce animal
protectionist campaigns, while dolphin facilities continue to be established
where few regulations over their performance exists. It is to the debates over
the realities of DAT that my research aims to contribute, by closely examining
the various positions that support and oppose DAT.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
My research project is located in
the social sciences. It does not evaluate the effectiveness of DAT, nor does it
critically engage with the many different styles of DAT. It does aim to develop
a way of understanding the differences in DAT programs, and to understand the
many ways that DAT impacts the social experience of the people involved. To
this end, I negotiated with the <b>Curacao Dolphin Therapy Center</b> (CDTC) for a two-week visit, to interview the
therapists, the trainers, and the families who had brought their children for
therapy. My research seeks to understand how DAT affects the lives of those
involved, so my interview questions were about the life experiences, the
challenges faced, the best and worst parts of the experience of being involved
in DAT.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
As I was searching for a place to
do my research, I found an unexpected resistance among programs I had expected to be
supportive. In Florida, several programs that had indicated a willingness to
cooperate with my research chose to deny me access. When I approached CDTC,
Marco, the Head Therapist and onsite manager was very receptive, encouraging me to make clear to him just what I
needed, but with an enthusiasm for my work that was heartwarming. I did not
know that he was familiar with a book I had written about the relations between
dolphins and humans, and DAT. I was unaware that he used part of my book when
teaching his staff! We managed to arrange
for a visit that coincided with the end of one series of sessions and the
beginning of a new series, so that I might access as many families as possible.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
In the end, I managed to conduct
interviews with 13 families, 4 trainers, and 8 therapists, an exceptional
number of excellent interviews.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Marco was a wonderful host for my
work. He arranged for translation when I needed it; he helped me find good (and
quiet) accommodations; he enthusiastically promoted my request for interviews
to the families and staff; and he went out of his way to help me have a very
successful research experience.</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g04oJwHs6tc/UI4e9LWG50I/AAAAAAAAAUA/Z_Xo82tfVic/s1600/Trainer%252C+patient%252C+therapist%252C+dolphin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g04oJwHs6tc/UI4e9LWG50I/AAAAAAAAAUA/Z_Xo82tfVic/s400/Trainer%252C+patient%252C+therapist%252C+dolphin.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A typical session, with an intern (on the left, just out of sight) and a trainer on the floating platform, a patient supported by a therapist, and one of the wonderful dolphins at CDTC.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
I came away from Curacao feeling
that I had found, by good fortune, the most advanced DAT program anywhere. The
standards to which it works, the quality of the staff and its training, the way
in which the therapy is delivered (with one-hour sessions in the water, as a
special factor), the physical environment, and the very excellent care of the dolphins
(Rudolf is a key asset to the program with his wealth of experience), make CDTC
stand out as the best facility I have ever seen. I now recommend it to any one
who requests my opinion, which is not infrequently!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Thank you Marco, Ms Kirsten Kuhnert (whom
I interviewed in Florida prior to my visit to Curacao), and the staff of the
CDTC, for a rewarding experience. My thanks to the families also, who took time
away from their powerful experiences to talk with an Australian researcher.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Sincerely,</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
C. Scott Taylor, BSocSc (Hon)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Exec. Dir. Cetacean Studies
Institute</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
Queensland, Australia</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
PhD candidate, University of the
Sunshine Coast</div>
C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-90041194288048389912012-04-30T19:56:00.002+10:002013-04-04T00:30:11.565+10:00Sites of encounter with dolphins: are they Embassies?<h4 style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: large;">Do dolphins make choices?</span> </span></h4>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Should humans honour the choices they make, if they do? </span></h4>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5M6-NQGZxMo/T56Z154CF7I/AAAAAAAAATs/hCIM717HoGA/s1600/Reaching+out+bubbles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5M6-NQGZxMo/T56Z154CF7I/AAAAAAAAATs/hCIM717HoGA/s400/Reaching+out+bubbles.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The border, the meeting, the choice: whose choice is honoured?</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In the language of academia, choices intentionally made are sometimes defined as an expression of 'agency'. In this article I discuss dolphin agency and how humans respond to it, and announce the publication of a scholarly article that includes a suggested way to understand and respond to interspecies encounter opportunities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">In locations around the world, from ancient times to the present, dolphins, for their own reasons, have sought out human contact. Some do so today in cooperative fishing ventures, where dolphins herd fish toward places where human fishermen stand, waiting with nets. Fish are caught in the nets, gathered up, and some let go for the dolphins to feed on. In the estuary at the mouth of the river Plata, in South America, this has been going on as long as anyone remembers. The Imragen people along the west coast of Northern Africa do the same along an ocean beach, aided by dolphins who drive fish to shore. Australian aboriginal tribes tell of many sites where dolphins drove fish inshore to be caught by humans: on Bribie Island; just north of Coffs Harbour; and at Amity Point on Stradbroke Island, among others. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">And then there are the places where dolphins come for another reason: to communicate and to play. Some of these situations last only a few days or weeks, with local people enjoying a brief series of encounters. Some get more well known, lasting weeks, or months. And some, like Fungie, a dolphin who lives just outside Dingle harbour in Ireland, stay for decades--since 1984. Fungie has been visiting the harbour there for nearly 30 years now. He has been known to have a female friend for several seasons who leaves him behind, to live alone again. His antics with divers and swimmers are legendary, having inspired films, books, healers, mystics, and activists. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k6ldmRJVbmY/T55Fv1cmTfI/AAAAAAAAATU/mGt7C0PVxJo/s1600/6+Kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k6ldmRJVbmY/T55Fv1cmTfI/AAAAAAAAATU/mGt7C0PVxJo/s400/6+Kiss.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Fungie and Kim Kindersley (filmmaker)</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Another site where dolphins have interacted with humans for decades in Kealakekua Bay, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Here Spinner Dolphins have come daily for rest, socialising, and human interaction. Numerous scientific studies have been done at K Bay, beginning with those of Dr Ken Norris, who published two books about his research there and elsewhere (<b>The Porpoise Watcher</b>, 1974; <b>Dolphin Days</b>, 1991). A well-known dolphin interaction advocate and swim-experience leader (Joan Ocean) has lived aside K Bay for decades, writing books (<b>Dolphin Connection</b>, 1989; <b>Dolphins into the Future</b>, 1997), leading workshops, and producing various films. Terry J Walker, who wrote "<b>How to swim with Dolphins</b>" (1998), has lived in Hawaii most of her life, and began swimming with the K Bay dolphins in the early 90s, and has tirelessly worked to help humans understand and appreciate the dolphins there so that the interaction can continue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kealakekua Bay is the place where I was first drawn into the real-world challenge of dolphin-human interaction as an issue of dolphin choice versus human concerns. Humans, rightly so, have been making an effort there to avoid the problems that have arisen elsewhere, where dolphins have chosen to befriend humans. Research has shown that all-too-often these encounter sites become places of sorrow, where the dolphins suffer for their friendliness (see "<b>Lone Rangers: a report on solitary dolphins and whales including recommendations for their protection</b>", a report for the Marine Connection, by Goodwin and Dodds, 2008). Altho it cannot be said this always happens (see Fungie, the dolphins who visit Monkey Mia, Tangalooma and Tin Can Bay in Australia, and the Atlantic Spotted dolphins living in the waters near Bimini, as examples), there is a sad pattern to be found: the dolphins come, humans interact and all is well, then humans act inappropriately, some official entity passes restrictive rules, some humans get angry, and the dolphin is either driven away, injured, or killed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">No one wants this to happen. Efforts to understand and control these situations, with the aim of protecting the dolphins from harm, have been put in place. However, in some cases, these very rules have led to poor outcomes. Threatening signs posted on beaches, arrests for 'harassing dolphins', and huge fines for innocent interspecies play have ensued at various times.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DmJgcbzIEso/T55fhg_UlMI/AAAAAAAAATg/8eK9XWiosGE/s1600/mmp_sign1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DmJgcbzIEso/T55fhg_UlMI/AAAAAAAAATg/8eK9XWiosGE/s400/mmp_sign1.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A sign commonly found along US shorelines, warning of </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">"civil and criminal penalties" for interacting with marine mammals.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;">One of my interests has become this issue: how to accommodate the very fulfilling, educational, stimulating, and for some, spiritually inspiring, experience of interaction with free-ranging dolphins in ways that are safe for both dolphins and humans. To this end, I conducted a research project under the auspices of the University of the Sunshine Coast toward fulfilling the requirements for my Bachelor's Degree in Geography, under the title "<b>The Dolphin-Human Connection: Embassy or Zoo-without-walls?</b>". I earned a first class Honours degree for this research, which analysed various dolphin-human interaction management schemes. Based on that research, I wrote (with the assistance of Dr Jen Carter) an article for the peer-reviewed journal <b>Geographical Research</b>, which has now been published. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The citation is:<br />Taylor, C. S. & Carter, J. (2013) <b>The agency of dolphins: towards interspecies embassies as sites of engagement with 'significant otherness'</b>. <i>Geographical Research</i>, 51 (1), 1-10.<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geor.2013.51.issue-1/issuetoc" target="_blank">(link to journal)</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Agency of Dolphins article explores the question of choice, the intentional volition of dolphins as they come into contact with humans for their own reasons. It concludes that dolphins do have agency -- and that they make an intentional choice to approach humans-- in these situations, and that this choice deserves to be framed as one of respectful intercultural interaction. If dolphins, and many other animals who are in contact with humans, are often referred to as 'ambassadors' of their species, it seems a simple extension of this common idea to conceive of the sites where this occurs as embassies. An embassy, by common definition, is a place where different cultures come together in a spirit of respect, where cooperation is expected to negotiate ways of communicating that can lead to mutual satisfaction. An embassy implies an 'interspecies etiquette' (first suggested by Cheney and Weston in 1999), which is a considerate stance based on empathy, intended to "</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">create the space within which a response</span>
<span lang="EN-US">can emerge or an exchange coevolve".<br /><br />This article is intended to open a dialog, to open an area of interspecies interaction research and subsequent legislation. It seeks to add another worldview, one that takes into account the choices of dolphins, who seem very willing, for reasons we cannot know, to befriend humans. It is up to humans to figure out how to manage human responses to these wonderful opportunities.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">Serious researchers can request copies of the article. </span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US">C Scott Taylor </span></span></div>
C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-30667507233962106472010-09-05T21:54:00.004+10:002010-09-05T22:14:51.186+10:00On Saving Whales, on ending their lives<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On Sept. 2nd a stranded dying whale was killed by Australian government officials by placing explosive charges on its head and triggering a powerful implosive blow to its brain. This occurred at Albany, on Australia's southwest coast. The whale was described as being a Humpback, about 9.5 metres long. It had been stranded for approximately two weeks, and was visibly deteriorating. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/TIOEmzFB35I/AAAAAAAAAK4/BSWjZbFjBV8/s1600/Albany+humpback+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/TIOEmzFB35I/AAAAAAAAAK4/BSWjZbFjBV8/s320/Albany+humpback+1.jpg" /></span></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">At first the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) had determined that no euthanasia was possible for the whale for several reasons. It was "too big to be shot" and because of its position, floating in about a metre of water, "</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">was still strong enough to be a safety risk to humans". The whale moved, stranding itself farther up on the sandbar upon which it rested, effectively immobilising it. At that point, the Albany DEC district manager, Mike Shepherd, decided to euthanise the whale.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 18.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Our main priority has always been to treat this animal as humanely as possible while nature took its course," Mr Shepherd said.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"In the last 24 hours the whale moved a couple of metres from its original stranding position, which was enough to stabilise the whale so that we could carry out the preparations for a controlled implosion to the whale’s cranium."</span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"We know from experience that predominantly only sick, injured or malnourished humpbacks come inshore, so when they strand they are usually winding down,'' Mr Shepherd said.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/TIOEyNsJeWI/AAAAAAAAALA/aqW80DUjpk0/s1600/Albany+humpback+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/TIOEyNsJeWI/AAAAAAAAALA/aqW80DUjpk0/s320/Albany+humpback+2.jpg" /></span></a></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">The implosion method has been approved by the International Whaling Commission as a humane method to be used on whales larger than 7 metres and death is instantaneous.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">As a contrast, a juvenile Humpback whale, approximately 7 metres long, was rescued off the coast of southern Queensland, on Sept. 4th, after having become entangled in a "shark net". According to Queensland shark control manager Tony Ham from Fisheries Queensland, it took officers less than half an hour to free the whale, which became entangled off Surfers Paradise early on Saturday morning.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/TIOE9vdslVI/AAAAAAAAALI/EfgR3qYj4w0/s1600/Gold+Coast+Humpback.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/TIOE9vdslVI/AAAAAAAAALI/EfgR3qYj4w0/s320/Gold+Coast+Humpback.jpg" /></span></a></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 12.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span> </span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"The Marine Animal Release Team, made up of officers from the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol and Seaworld, did an amazing job to free the animal," Mr Ham said."Approximately 13,000 whales are expected to be migrating along the Queensland coastline this migration season," he said.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">"Juvenile whales such as this are more likely to become entangled than adults as they have less experienced and often travel on their own."</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">It is the first entanglement this whale migration season.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">In 2009 six whales that were entangled in Gold Coast nets were successfully freed.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(To see the specialised tool used to safely cut nets that have entangled whales, and read how these were developed, see: </span></span><a href="http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=279"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.spyderco.com/catalog/details.php?product=279</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">)</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">These incidents, two days apart, highlight the troubled relationship we have with whales (and dolphins). It is with great sympathy that we consider the terrible task faced by the DEC officials in Albany, as they faced the role they took on, bringing such human-centred values to the killing of the stranded whale. It is certain that their concerns were as stated, to "treat the whale humanely", yet we know, the moment when we take an innocent life, especially one not raised to be eaten, or hunted for food out of necessity, is difficult. Many of us reading these words will have had to do something similar when a beloved companion has come to a final, painful part of their life. We call the vet and ask for our friend's life to be ended. It is always hard.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Is the action of the DEC warranted? Would the gradual death of the whale, who was eventually so stranded it could not have been expected to refloat, and whose condition appeared to be deteriorating daily, be acceptable to witness? Was it only the suffering of the whale, assuming it was suffering and not in some state of whale consciousness that was outside our knowing, waiting in some kind of peaceful acceptance, that asked for this decision? Or was it not also the human side, the visions of suffering, the agonising sense that something must be done, something must be done to alleviate our feelings of despair, helplessness, and sadness?</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">On the other side of the continent a young whale wandered into the shark nets, getting caught. A team of humans, would could have risked their lives to disentangle it, were able to accomplish the task in less than 30 minutes. (See footage of the rescue here: </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwcsJLQ5Y2A&feature=player_embedded"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwcsJLQ5Y2A&feature=player_embedded</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">)</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Who asks if this is right to do, putting human life at risk for the sake of a whale? We imagine no one does, no one pauses, raises questions, attempts to put forward the case that the whale should be left to die. Is that because the nets are human in origin, that humans have created the danger for the whale?</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Some people have expressed outrage, in comments left on news sites on the internet, protesting the 'barbaric' treatment of the western whale. While the image evoked by the description of the method used to euthanise the whale is gruesome, after contemplating the issues involved, we find it hard to fault the choice made… in this case, and with the (limited) information we have at hand.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">We do not uniformly accept this type of decision. However, the evidence presented by the media, unless we learn otherwise, does make a compelling case for euthanasia. In the case of the younger whale caught off Surfer's Paradise, we consider the responsibility of humans, for placing the shark nets in the ocean (which we do not agree with, as they do little to protect anyone during the winter months with few swimmers and many very young whales heading south for the first time, and do kill cetaceans, turtles, and other sea life needlessly) makes it imperative that every effort possible must be made to save any creatures caught…including sharks.</span></span></div><div style="font: 12.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">(for some background, see </span></span></span><a href="http://tinyurl.com/3yoch8l"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://tinyurl.com/3yoch8l</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">, and an opposing view: </span></span><a href="http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/10/09/146125_gold-coast-news.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2009/10/09/146125_gold-coast-news.html</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">)</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Something to ponder, these two nearly simultaneous cases.</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Be well,</span></span></div><div style="font: 14.0px Times; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 14.0px 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Scott and Amanda</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Ambassadors</span></span></div>C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-78273116088809383842010-08-29T15:47:00.005+10:002014-10-18T00:10:37.206+10:00Investigation into allegations in "The Cove"<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/THoRY6ZngVI/AAAAAAAAAKw/Uks2cpbZzl8/s1600/Zip+in+beams.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/THoRY6ZngVI/AAAAAAAAAKw/Uks2cpbZzl8/s320/Zip+in+beams.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
We highly recommend looking into this investigation.<br />
<br />
Someone, so far unknown to us, has taken it upon themselves to investigate allegations made in the Oscar-winning documentary "<b>The Cove</b>" about dolphins being sold from the slaughter site to dolphin facilities "all over the world". It struck us, when we watched <b>The Cove</b>, that it was a continuation of the mis-representation of facts that Ric O'Barry has indulged in for many years. These two short videos only begin the deeper investigation into O'Barry's manipulation of facts. <br />
<br />
See them here: <br />
1. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tbwUEQo4Yo%20" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tbwUEQo4Yo </a> <br />
2. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KllJxpznagY" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KllJxpznagY </a><br />
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<br />
You may note that the author of the videos says: <br />
<blockquote>
"Note to all: As the producer of this video, allow me to state quite clearly this work is mine alone and has not been commissioned by or for Sea World, or for any other aquarium for that matter. Their parks were specifically referenced in this video only because they were featured prevalently in <b>The Cove</b>. <br />
<br />
This video is not intended to be "pro" or "anti" captivity, just to keep to facts of a volatile issue - and one that needs to be solved with honesty." </blockquote>
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We look forward to the movement toward more honesty in this issue. We support the move toward a diplomatic solution of the Japanese slaughter, including a much better attitude of respect toward the Japanese people, their culture, and dignity. It is not acceptable to us to characterise Japanese people as dolphin killers as a generalisation and the stated intentions of the producers of <b>The Cove</b> to increase anger toward the Japanese people. This is counter-productive and can only add to the very complex challenges this presents to both Japan and other nations. <br />
<br />
Warm regards, <br />
Scott and Amanda <br />
Dolphin Embassy, AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-73659635622131584872010-04-23T00:00:00.007+10:002011-01-03T00:19:27.451+10:00More direct science against any resumption of whaling<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/S9BeADvGeZI/AAAAAAAAAKc/g6ynkj5VM3Q/s1600/Abusyday.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462969703096285586" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/S9BeADvGeZI/AAAAAAAAAKc/g6ynkj5VM3Q/s320/Abusyday.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 230px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
In September of 2007 I wrote an entry (<a href="http://dolphinembassy.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html">see it here</a>) about the carbon cycle in the Southern Ocean. Entitled "The Oxygen Farmers" it focused on the oxygen production that occurs in the Southern Ocean, and how it is the largest source of oxygen for our planet. Ever since the industrial whaling of the last century, the removal of the whales has added to the reduced efficiency of the Southern Oceans to produce oxygen.<br />
<br />
Now, scientists have shown one more important part of this cycle, and why it is crucial that no commercial, or any other kind of whaling, should be allowed.<br />
<br />
ABC news in Australia released a report today (<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/04/22/2880461.htm">see it here</a>) telling us how Whale Poo is a critically important part of the life cycle in the oceans. As one of the elements in the life cycles in the oceans, the waste products from whale diets feeds algae, which in turn feeds the phytoplankton, which feeds the krill, eaten by the whales. It is the phytoplankton that creates the oxygen we breathe.<br />
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According to Japanese whaling interests, backed up by all other whaling nations, it is claimed that there is no environmental or ecological reason to stop whaling. Their claim is that the effort to end whaling is akin to "dietary imperialism" based entirely on cultural choices of what is OK to eat, and what is not OK to eat. They would have all whaling seen as purely choices of dietary preference, with no ecological consequences. To claim otherwise is only an emotional appeal based on bias, and is ecologically unwise.<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/S9Bc4IxnO4I/AAAAAAAAAKU/DRnU_2K4xcI/s1600/Japanese+say+eat+more+whale.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5462968467498417026" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/S9Bc4IxnO4I/AAAAAAAAAKU/DRnU_2K4xcI/s320/Japanese+say+eat+more+whale.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 186px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" /></a><br />
<br />
Even the Australian ecologist, the highly acclaimed Tim Flannery, suggests that the imbalance in the oceans, the failing fish stocks and the ill health of many part of the world oceans, is due to unbalanced harvesting of living resources. Yes, Tim Flannery is in favour of increased whaling.<br />
<br />
It has been my contention that the oxygen cycle is, obviously, affected by the reduction of whales in the southern Ocean. The reduction of most species has left open the ecological niches they formerly occupied, and these niches have been filling up with the increase in the population of the smallest filter-feeding whale, the Minke. It is the Minke whale that the Japanese have been removing in the hundreds each year, and the ones they must stop killing.<br />
<br />
The arguments mount, stronger and stronger, for a total end to whaling. This is another piece of that argument.<br />
<br />
The AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-21027642409253327732009-12-21T15:48:00.006+10:002009-12-21T16:20:00.227+10:00A year of research completedThe writing of a dissertation is a lengthy, complicated, and challenging process. To be honest, it was also a very satisfying process, enabling me to focus entirely upon issues, arguments, ideas, and whole ways of thinking that one rarely has the opportunity to do with such single-minded focus. The process has opened my eyes to many things, enabling me to enter the world of academia with enthusiasm for the possibilities that lie ahead. To make a contribution to the accumulated knowledge of humanity is a privilege, one I take very seriously.<br /> <br />For this reason, I have welcomed the sometimes intense scrutiny that is brought to bear when assessing academic work. Not many areas of human endeavour comes under such careful examination, each word required to justify its presence, each idea invoked required to be fully explicated, used with exacting accuracy, and with all arguments against it taken into consideration. It is challenging to be required to be entirely up to date on the status of intellectual work. One must first gain a broad understanding of the genesis of ideas, and then track the varying issues and arguments it brings up, analysing as you go, to come to a personal understanding, and position.<br /><br />In producing my dissertation I calculate that I read well over one thousand academic papers. My library of references, built over a year of study, contains approximately 730 titles, and does not include those I read that were not relevant. My dissertation includes 14 pages of references, in both the body of the paper and in one extensive appendix.<br /><br />To have had the support from my wonderful partner, Amanda, and the excellent encouragement and mentoring of my academic advisor, Dr. Jen Carter, and the rest of the faculty at the <b>University of the Sunshine Coast</b>, has been a real delight, one I aim to honour by carrying on the project of study originally proposed.<br /><br />I am happy to report that I have been awarded a bachelors degree, BSocSc (Hon) in the field of Animal Geography. It is an Honours Degree First Class. I have been offered a candidature in the PhD research program, and several scholarships. The coming year will see the beginning stages of an extensive research project into the representations of, and varied understandings of, Dolphin-Assisted Therapy, as my PhD research project.<br /><br />My dissertation, <b>"The Dolphin-Human Connection: Embassy or Zoo-without-walls?"</b>, will be made available to read online soon. Altho it is meant for an academic audience, there are parts of it that should make interesting reading to the more general public.<div><br /></div><div>For the dolphins,</div><div><br /></div><div>Scott Taylor</div><div>Ambassador</div>C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-38531306961591481012009-02-14T22:57:00.010+10:002009-02-22T10:07:36.128+10:00A New Direction<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SZbI8MTjI8I/AAAAAAAAAJ4/XXrKCI1fj8Y/s1600-h/Face+to+face+small.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 288px; height: 216px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SZbI8MTjI8I/AAAAAAAAAJ4/XXrKCI1fj8Y/s320/Face+to+face+small.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302646547696264130" border="0" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Over the years our work has taken many forms. Chapters in our efforts to bring humans and dolphins closer together have spanned areas such as:</span><br /><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> Dolphin-Assisted Therapy research and program development and running a program for three years (</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Dolphin EDventures Wellness Programs</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">)<br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> writing a major book (</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">“Souls in the Sea: Dolphins, Whales, and Human Destiny”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">, published by Frog Ltd., Berkeley, CA, 2003)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> writing and producing a TV series (</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">“The Dolphin People”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> writing screenplays and TV series treatments</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> producing and presenting thousands of lectures around the world</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> leading journeys to dolphin sites (Mexico, Bahamas, Hawaii, Florida, Australia)</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> tirelessly advocating the recognition of the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Cetacean Nation</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> researching, developing, and sharing the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Legend of the Golden Dolphin</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> with many thousands of people</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> exploring the philosophical, psychological, and metaphysical dimensions of the human-dolphin connection</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> exploring the mythological and traditional indigenous people’s wisdom regarding this ancient connection</span></li></ul><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> and many more areas. Our work has spanned 26 years now and continues, as our dedication remains unabated.<br /><br />Our latest efforts to find a location for a re-established </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Dolphin EDventures Wellness Program</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> have, so far, not yielded a suitable location. We remain hopeful a facility with an enlightened management will be found, where we can demonstrate the four-way success that is possible – for the facility, for the guests, for us, and most especially for the dolphins.<br /><br />At present our plans have taken yet another direction, one that we have always known was coming: a return to the Academic world, in pursuit of a Doctorate.<br /><br />We have seen many inroads over the last ten years, advances (if this word can be used here -- smile) against work done by many dedicated people, making the human-dolphin connection stronger and more available, work that we feel has been so important. Science has been accumulating evidence of the dangers of some interactions, for both humans and dolphins. Science has attempted to show how the lives of dolphins can be, and have been, negatively impacted by human contact.<br /><br />While some of what has been published along this line has been well-founded, and proposals to do more to protect dolphins from foolish actions by humans, or dangerous environmental activities, are certainly welcome and necessary, we have seen another kind of reporting that is questionable. Since science is the basis for most governmental decisions regarding the management of the human-dolphin connection, it is science that must be addressed first if we want to be sure that rules, laws and the legislation that creates these are wise and helpful.<br /><br />In our many years of work in the field, we have seen some good come from proper management. The heavy penalties for “cowboy roundups’ of dolphins so that people can see them more easily, or swim with them in the wild, have effectively put a stop to most of this dangerous behaviour. In places where contact occurs that have instituted good education programs for the public, improved safety for both humans and dolphins has been the result.<br /><br />We have also seen some poor management practices. While well-intentioned, they have been unnecessarily intrusive, restricting safe, knowledgeable, and mutually beneficial interactions in some cases. Wild encounters, compassionate interactions during strandings, and even Dolphin-Assisted Therapy have been strongly – negatively -- affected by poorly informed laws based on science that has not been adequate.<br /><br />To this end, we have decided to focus on an area of science that holds promise for bringing more comprehensive and more compassionate understanding into the field. Recent advances in both philosophical and sociological studies have opened up a new field that we feel has exciting promise for our purposes: </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Animal Geography</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Animal Geography</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> studies how humans and animals share space. In our case, we intend to advance our understanding of how the dolphin encounter affects the human family, the role of the choices that dolphins make, and how these can be seen from new viewpoints.<br /><br />We believe that we have found strong theoretical and biological frameworks for establishment of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">person-hood of dolphins</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">, and even further, that there is a very strong argument to be made that dolphins do exercise intelligent and informed choices, and that we must recognise the rights of dolphins to make their own decisions, especially regarding interaction with humans.<br /><br />Our current situation is this: Amanda and Scott have agreed to sustain a healthy, optimistic, and joyful environment for Scott to return to University studies. Exploring possibilities, we have found that the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">University of the Sunshine Coast</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> is willing to allow Scott to undertake a year of Honours study, producing a 25,000 word dissertation by early November of 2009 (working title of the dissertation: </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">“The Dolphin-Human encounter: Embassy or Zoo-without-walls?”</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">). Despite not having a Bachelor’s degree, alternative entry has enabled him to enter the University at a level commensurate with his abilities.<br /><br />Following the Honours year, assuming the dissertation is well-received, Scott will then enter the PhD program, aiming at a </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Doctorate of Philosophy</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">.<br /><br />With a PhD (which we currently intend to be based upon an examination of how Dolphin-Assisted Therapy is understood by the public, by science, by the therapeutic community, and by the patients and their families) we feel we can effectively address the scientific and academic community’s concerns, hopefully redirecting thereby some of the misguided rules, laws, and opinions that have begun to impinge on the human-dolphin connection.<br /><br />Wish us luck, we have a lot of work ahead. University classes start in just over a week…<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Scott and Amanda</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Ambassadors</span>C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-91405257958713567852008-09-19T14:21:00.016+10:002014-10-18T00:19:52.763+10:00The Dolphin Embassy -- Momentum is gathering<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SNMzVi6s5_I/AAAAAAAAAI0/0XOXJW-0ifg/s1600-h/overhead+ET+x.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SNMzVi6s5_I/AAAAAAAAAI0/0XOXJW-0ifg/s320/overhead+ET+x.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247594436060047346" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The Dolphin Embassy</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> has just returned to Australia from our annual overseas journey.<br /><br />Each year since 2005 we have “taken our show on the road”, traveling around the world to do presentations, informing and inspiring audiences to regard all cetaceans as deserving of recognition, recognition of their inherent status as advanced beings with unalienable rights. Each year we experience growth in the acceptance of the ideas we offer.<br /><br />This year our tour was shorter, but it feels that it may have had a strong impact. We spent time in Colorado, Florida, California, and Oregon, and in each place the level of interest delighted us.<br /><br />We did six formal presentations in the US this year –Denver (at the beautiful headquarters of the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Metaphysical Research Society</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">), Sebastopol, Petaluma, San Francisco (at </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Globe Studios and Sound Therapy Center</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">), and Mt Shasta (at the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Flying Lotus</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">) in California, and Portland, Oregon. Supported along the way by our dear friends Barry and Coral of Sebastopol, Fort Schlesinger of Petaluma, and the wonderful energy of Brent Willet, we were able to reach audiences that were primed and ready to hear about the ideas we share.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Background</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br />In the late 1950s, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Dr. John C. Lilly</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> began his famous research on dolphins. His quest led him to the momentous discovery that they are fully sentient, cognizant, reasoning, cultured, and sophisticated beings. It was immediately apparent to Dr. Lilly that something was amiss in our relationship with cetaceans – he had made the same mistakes as everyone else, assuming them to be just another species of animal.<br /><br />Once he made his important breakthrough, it was an easy step to realize that dolphins, whales, and porpoises deserved to have their rights recognized and protected. It is not, as some have misunderstood, the human role to offer them their rights. Instead, it is our duty to acknowledge the rights that they have. As a matter of scientific fact, their history as a highly evolved family of beings is much older than the human (even the Bible, in Genesis, specifically recognizes that they were created on an earlier “Day” then humans, the fifth Day. They were the earliest creatures named in the Old Testament).<br /><br />Dr. Lilly saw, in a sudden insight, that there already exists a vast nation, comprised of all the seas and oceans of our planet. The citizens of this nation, the largest on the planet, are the Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises – the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Cetacean Nation</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">.<br /><br />In 1961, Dr. Lilly published his first reference to this idea. Over the subsequent years he worked with many friends to develop the concept. With </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Michael Bailey</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">, of Greenpeace Hawaii (the only Greenpeace autonomous “cell” that did not become part of the subsequent amalgamated organization we know as Greenpeace International), he worked out a strategic plan for implementing recognition of the Cetacean Nation.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br />Later on, his close friend </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Rebecca Goodman</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> joined John in publicly announcing, again, the intention to bring the Cetacean Nation to reality.<br /><br />When I asked John, in 1997, what he hoped his public legacy would be --after a lifetime of inventions, discoveries, and important research – he answered without hesitation “</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">the Cetacean Nation</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">”.<br /><br />Years of discussion and public presentations later (we shared the stage at the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">6th International ICERC Whale and Dolphin Conference</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> in Hervey Bay, Australia, 1997, presenting our ideas about the Cetacean Nation), John surprised me by publicly suggesting that his preferred Ambassador to the United Nations from the Cetacean Nation would be me. (see <i><b>“Gilding the Lilly: The Cetacean Nation”</b></i>, video by SoundPhotosynthesis).<br /></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SNMtEwGoYiI/AAAAAAAAAIs/VmwzdJNV0Ug/s1600-h/Dr+Lilly+%26+ST.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SNMtEwGoYiI/AAAAAAAAAIs/VmwzdJNV0Ug/s320/Dr+Lilly+%26+ST.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247587550472200738" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Dr. John C. Lilly and Scott Taylor, Hervey Bay, Australia, 1997</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br />John had this to say:<br /><i>“Mr. Taylor is a key person in what I call the Cetacean Nation, a global network of like-minded individuals attempting to bridge the communication gap between humans and cetaceans. His work contributes a wider understanding of humanity, cetacea, and the environment on the edge of the twenty-first century. Scott’s continued efforts as educator and catalyst bridge not only the interspecies communication barrier, but the barriers between people.”</i><br /><br />Sadly, we were not able to accomplish the global recognition of the Cetacean Nation before Dr. Lilly died (Sept. 30, 2001). Our dedication to this goal is unabated, however.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The Dolphin Embassy -- Australia</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br />We established </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The Dolphin Embassy</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> as a registered non-profit organization in Australia in October of 2004. Its mission is to educate and inspire humans toward a proper regard for the rights of all cetaceans. To this end we have taken multi-media presentations on the road, traveling around the world, visiting India, Belgium, the Bahamas, Mexico, Fiji, and many states in America (Florida, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, New Mexico. Arizona, California).<br /><br />We recognize the quixotic nature of this endeavor. It is easily seen as a harmless joke, a prank that we might pull to engage people, pulling them via humour into thinking, if only for a moment, about the rights of Cetaceans. We also see this as we see many aspects of the dolphin story – the closer you look, and become involved, the deeper it gets.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">An Aside – and a bit of history</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Doug Michels</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> was a visionary artist, architect, and man of many talents. In 1974, he and some friends established “The Dolphin Embassy” as an art project under the aegis of the famous Ant Farm, in Houston Texas. A 501 (c) 3 non-profit was organized to support the idea. In 1978, after a disastrous fire destroyed the studios of the Ant Farm, the project was abandoned. In 1977, Michels went as far as traveling to Australia to meet some dolphins, to explain his intentions, to offer to speak on their behalf.<br /></span><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SNMrgpFJyEI/AAAAAAAAAIc/vslm64UAdR4/s1600-h/Doug-Michels%26dolphin.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SNMrgpFJyEI/AAAAAAAAAIc/vslm64UAdR4/s320/Doug-Michels%26dolphin.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247585830600034370" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Doug Michels, Gold Coast, Australia, 1977</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Some years later, Michels drew plans for an orbiting space station (</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Project Blue Star</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">) that included a central glass globe full of water, in which dolphins could live. His idea was that dolphins could be the best weightless teachers we could find, alien intelligence that could help us understand the mysteries of outer space. (it was not explained how the dolphins would access air, or how the water would be taken up to the station).<br /></span><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SNMsbxH18OI/AAAAAAAAAIk/t1P139D8vrU/s1600-h/globeship.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SNMsbxH18OI/AAAAAAAAAIk/t1P139D8vrU/s320/globeship.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247586846371082466" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Project Blue Star</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br />In an sad bit of synchronicity, Doug Michels was in Australia, working on a film about the friendly Orca of Eden Bay in 2004 when he slipped and fell off a cliff and died. He died on the same day that we formally established </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The Dolphin Embassy</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> in Australia. We did not know that he was in Australia at the time…<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">The Current Status of the Dolphin Embassy</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br />Over the years we have met many people with parts to offer. Some have led us to important aspects of the process of becoming able to work at the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">United Nations</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> (thanks, Marsha, for that!) Some have engaged in lengthy discussions via email, aiming to sharpen our approach. And some have been very supportive in helping gather audiences to hear our ideas (thanks especially for this, Brent!). We are always on the lookout for well-prepared people in the fields of international law, diplomacy, intercultural communications, and NGO experience to discuss this idea.<br /><br />Studying the application form from the UN for recognition of a </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Non-Governmental Organisation</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> (NGO), we discovered that one does not have to be human to be represented! How delightful…<br /><br />Addressing the inevitable challenges we can assume we will face when we arrive at the United Nations, from those who do not accept that we can truthfully represent the dolphins – we can hear them now: “When have you, or anyone, ever had a meaningful conversation with a dolphin? What right do you have to represent them?” – we have carefully developed a four-point agenda. We feel that no one can realistically assert that dolphins, whales, and porpoises would NOT want these four rights to be recognized:<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Four-part agenda of the Cetacean Nation at the UN</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Safe</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Universal protection from intentional harm.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">This will require diplomacy, as some cultures still believe cetaceans are food<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Clean</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Clean water in which to live.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">All water, everywhere, flows to the Oceans.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">We must stop pollution and clean the waters of the world.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Quiet</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">No sonic pollution of the oceans.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Commercial and Military uses of sound in the oceans must be reduced to harmless levels.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Peace</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">An end to war.</span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Humans must stop killing each other-- as a prerequisite to peace for all.<br /><br />If you feel that you have skills or resources to offer to this effort, please contact us. We have many details developed in our strategic plan, requiring support from a large team of dedicated people.<br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Would you like to join us in taking the voice of the dolphins to the United Nations?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br />Join us for discussion of these ideas at: http://</span><a href="http://groups.google.com/group/dolphinembassy"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">groups.google.com/group/dolphinembassy</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><br />C. Scott Taylor, PhD<br />Ambassador</span>C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-32187623350709346142008-05-26T20:57:00.010+10:002014-10-18T00:25:40.653+10:00A contribution to the science of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SDq_mweGaUI/AAAAAAAAAF0/35GoWRHbJxU/s1600-h/ST+among+friends.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SDq_mweGaUI/AAAAAAAAAF0/35GoWRHbJxU/s320/ST+among+friends.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204682991947114818" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
A<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"> few days ago we were finally able to send off a packet in the mail that we had long hoped to send. After a year and a half of work, we finished our latest research paper and submitted it to a respected, peer-reviewed journal in England. We look forward to seeing it published.<br /><br />Entitled: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">Swimming with dolphins:measuring mood change and the durability of change</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;">, it is a carefully done study of the mood state of our guests before and after swimming with dolphins. We also look at how the emotional response to our wellness program and the dolphin experience has affected their lives over time.<br /><br />Each guest filled out a simple form three times. Once before any dolphin contact, once after the second dolphin swim, and at a date later on. We have our guests fill out the same questionnaire used pre-swim and post-swim at a later date to see how the mood state that they have from the dolphin experience has lasted. Each guest is assigned a random number that determines when their final, third questionnaire is sent to them, so that we can see how their mood state is at 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 weeks post-swim.<br /><br />By using a well-recognised psychological "testing instrument" (the Positive And Negative Affect Survey, PANAS-X), we have been able to take advantage of many years of research into moods and their changes. Using statistical analysis, we have been able to look closely at many aspects of mood change, energy levels, positive and negative feelings...and the results are very interesting.<br /><br />Until the paper is published, we are not able to share our findings. We can say that we have finally found a way to substantiate what many people have experienced, which is to say that dolphins have a wonderful effect on our emotions, and the effect does last. The amazing parts are in the details. Stay tuned...<br /><br />There has been little research done over the years into how Dolphin-Assisted Therapy works and what effects one can expect.<br />We are proud to have begun making a contribution to this neglected field.<br /><br />DAT is a health-promoting and successful form of therapy when done in a careful and realistic way. There are many forms of DAT, from clinical-style programs with multiple sessions, to programs such as ours, that allow each person to seek their own well-being in a supportive environment among dolphins. The field of DAT is getting closer to becoming a fully defined style of therapy, and we are delighted to be adding to the strength of it.<br /><br />We have had so many guests who have had life-changing moments during their dolphin encounters, we know there is something to this, something that enables change. We call it a movement toward Wellness.</span><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SDt4zAeGaVI/AAAAAAAAAF8/4Artvg5PWO4/s1600-h/RebeccaBuck+Hug+web.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SDt4zAeGaVI/AAAAAAAAAF8/4Artvg5PWO4/s320/RebeccaBuck+Hug+web.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204886612051650898" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana;"><br />Following on from our recent project, we have been gathering data from our latest swim season to do a more in-depth research project, using the same instrument, and adding gender and age to the mix of factors. Our first paper was based on surveys of 53 people, with 37 returning the final questionnaire. Our next paper will be based on around 100 people, and we are anticipating at least 75 returning the final questionnaire. This will be a much larger sample, further strengthening our research.<br /><br />DAT deserves to be solidly supported by research. Research should be done well, so that the "ineffable" experience we have when around dolphins can be understood. Toward this goal, we have made some progress.<br /><br />We are very proud to be working on these research projects with our <b>Research Fellow</b> at the Cetacean Studies Institute, psychologist <b>Hunter Handley</b>. His good humour, steady hand, and excellent analysis has made this project come to life. Of course, we can not overlook the data gathering and processing and mailing work done by Amanda and me. Many thanks must also go to our guests who have been gracious enough to participate.<br /><br />Scott and Amanda<br />Ambassadors</span>C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-11426330073276065702008-05-26T20:20:00.005+10:002010-08-29T13:56:15.916+10:00A fantastic season, a fond (temporary) farewell<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SDqXNQeGaTI/AAAAAAAAAFs/2Y6nWFHPXdQ/s1600-h/Amanda+Bella+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SDqXNQeGaTI/AAAAAAAAAFs/2Y6nWFHPXdQ/s320/Amanda+Bella+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204638573395339570" /></a><br /><br />We just finished Dolphin EDventures Wellness Program for 2007-08. What a wonderful season we had...so many fine folks came to join us in the water with the Coffs Harbour Four, swimming, playing, sharing time with a wonderful group of friendly ambassador dolphins.<br /><br />Calamity, the rescued female, whose tail is not strong enough to survive the rigours of ocean life, is pregnant, again. She is due to deliver sometime around the end of November, and we are all very happy about this. How wonderful, to imagine Bella with a new baby brother or sister. <br /><br />However, this means we will be unable to have our normal Wellness Program during the upcoming Australian summer. We have begun the search for another facility where we can do our Wellness Program, and are hoping to have arrangements made in time to begin a program in March of 2009. We will return to Coffs Harbour and the wonderful Pet Porpoise Pool in October of 2009 to resume our work here. Until then, we will be searching, visiting facilities in various parts of the world, and making arrangements.<br /><br />Stay tuned to our blog and our website to see what we are planning. It is exciting, to begin a long-held dream of having more than one facility that allows visitors to have the deeper, quieter, more intimate kind of encounter that we encourage, where both human and dolphin can gain from the time together. We like to dream of many places in the coming years where this is possible, to satisfy the many people who want a more "authentic" time with the dolphins, not having trainers asking the dolphins for specific behaviours.<br /><br />We have found that, working with the wonderful staff at the Pet Porpoise Pool, that it is not only possible, but actually easy to arrange this kind of program. It requires a facility and a training staff that trusts the dolphins, treats them with all due respect, and where there is as little stress as possible upon everyone --dolphins and trainers alike, so that everyone can be at ease. In an environment where everyone is comfortable, the feeling of joy and the fun of life can easily be shared. This is where some of the wellness that so many of our guests have found comes from, the harmonious experience of several species simply enjoying the wonder of life and sharing it. To know that another being, one who is so different, is enjoying you and your companions, and that you are able to share their enjoyment -- well, that is precious.<br /><br />In the present moment, when we are not trying to redo the past, or attempting to live in the future, we are capable of touching the joy that exists in life. Dolphins, because they are so adept at being themselves, at being graceful in the water, so beautifully aware of all that is going on around them, show us a brilliant minded being who is present, attuned, and very aware. As one of our guests once said, "Dolphins know your story, and they don't BUY your story." They see the tensions and issues we carry, but they have no need to interact with that, only the fact that we are there, and capable of aware interaction. It is a refreshing thing to find oneself playing with someone who cares nothing about your past, or what you will do tomorrow, but is only here, only now, at ease.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SDqWogeGaSI/AAAAAAAAAFk/mDTGpugauHU/s1600-h/Mandy+and+the+girls+sm.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/SDqWogeGaSI/AAAAAAAAAFk/mDTGpugauHU/s320/Mandy+and+the+girls+sm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204637942035147042" /></a><br /><br />Our search for another home for our work will take us into a new era, and we are looking forward to it. And enjoying each moment, here and now.<br /><br />Stay tuned.<br /><br />Scott and Amanda<br />The AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-90728131311086406502008-04-02T23:51:00.009+10:002010-09-05T22:14:20.048+10:00Dolphin stranding: Where can we put the dolphins who need to stay with us?Research shows an alarming trend in the euthanasia of stranded dolphins. With the advent of powerful organizations whose purpose is to limit, or make entirely illegal, the display of cetaceans, the opportunity for a dolphin who strands and who requires long term care-- due to circumstances that make it inhumane to return it to the sea -- has nearly disappeared in Australia.<br /><br />All too often, rangers working for government agencies appear at cetacean strandings with hypodermic syringes filled and ready. If a dolphin or small whale is thought unlikely to survive if returned to the water quickly, <span style="font-weight:bold;">or who might require long-term care if rescued</span>, it is killed on the spot.<br /><br />How many have died due to having nowhere to be taken for rehabilitation? Figures are nearly impossible to find, due to governmental efforts to keep this data from the public.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The situation today: recent deaths</span><br /><br />In known cases, officers have arrived on the scene of a stranding with syringes in hand, immediately killing the dolphin, before any realistic assessment of the condition of the dolphin has been done. <br /><br />In Coffs Harbour, in 2006, a Risso’s Dolphin was found, stranded in the estuary. Local dolphin experts were in the process of getting the dolphin onto a stretcher to be carried to the Pet Porpoise Pool, one of only two facilities in Australia licensed to rehabilitate dolphins. Before they could get the dolphin onto a stretcher, a female ranger from the National Parks and Wildlife Service arrived, came down to see the dolphin, identified it as a Risso’s Dolphin (an offshore species rarely seen near land), and proceeded to inject it with a lethal dose of chemicals, killing it immediately.<br /><br />The necropsy carried out the following day showed absolutely no pathology. This stranded dolphin was killed for no reason. It had no identifiable illness, disease, or parasites. Ironically, it was only meters away from one of the only rescue facilities capable of helping that lonely stranded dolphin.<br /><br />If this Risso’s Dolphin had been given a fair go, it could have been helped to recover, and would have been taken to sea and released. If she had not be able to live in the ocean, she could have been given a lifetime of excellent care, living among humans as a sort of Ambassador for her kind.<br /><br />The policy of NPWS is that “the best interests of the stranded cetaceans will be taken into consideration at all times”. While this is the established and published policy, in fact, the local district managers give verbal instructions to rangers to euthanise in nearly every case.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The window of opportunity for a dolphin to become an Ambassador has shut in Australia. How many people among the millions who love dolphins, who surf beside them, watch them from headlands and beaches, and who come to see them at either Sea World or the Pet Porpoise Pool, know that dolphins are being killed regularly by their government?</span><br /><br />In a maddening case on the NSW coast, near the town of Cabarita, July 17th 2006, a very young Humpback Whale was found stranded in shallow water. Rescuers arrived and were ready to help her back into the surf when officials from NPWS decided to have her moved up onto the beach, above the high water mark, so that “assessments could be done”. Stated at the time, the reason was “to get blood samples and to see if her mother could be spotted nearby”.<br /><br />However, instead of allowing for the whale’s own natural ability to find her own mother, or to make her way out into the open ocean where other whales might be found to swim with and protect her, the officials chose to keep her stranded on the beach, far above where she had been. As the tide receded, she became well and truly stranded. She lay on her belly, crushing her own lungs and internal organs. She died a horrible, slow, lingering death before the anguished eyes of the rescuers.<br /><br />The official report stated that this whale had no chance of being able to survive the open sea. In fact, this was an ill-informed opinion, not a verifiable certainty, and her life was ended by lethal injection only after many, many hours of terrible suffering.<br />(See <span style="font-style:italic;">www.surfersforcetaceans.com/sfc.html “Death of a baby whale” story</span> for the sad details)<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R_ORyk48ojI/AAAAAAAAAFc/ov6phUInodk/s1600-h/article18.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R_ORyk48ojI/AAAAAAAAAFc/ov6phUInodk/s320/article18.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184647894115590706" /></a><br />Eye of the Cabarita whale, in agony as she died on the beach.<br />July, 2006<br /><br />Australia has nearly 60,000 kilometres of coastline. There are many thousands of kilometres of beaches where cetaceans can and do strand. With only two facilities -- within 250 kilometres of each other on the east coast -- licensed to hold dolphins or small whales for rehabilitation, where do the dolphins go who might be rescued, helped to regain their health over time, and either be put back in the ocean, or given a lifetime of care?<br /><br />The answer is: there is no legal way for a dolphin to be helped, other than to kill it to put it out of its suffering.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The History of an ongoing tragedy</span><br /><br />In a country that loves the ocean and the beaches, where it is said that 75% of the population lives within 100 k of the ocean, that enjoys a worldwide reputation as ocean lovers, and especially dolphin and whale lovers, how has this come to be?<br /><br />The story as the Cetacean Studies Institute has pieced it together is this:<br />Following the historic Frost Report in 1978, which recommended that all Australian whaling cease immediately, based on a comprehensive study carried out under Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser, the general mood in Australia, especially among environmental organizations and animal welfare advocacy groups, was that all uses and potential abuses of cetaceans, including dolphins, must come under careful scrutiny.<br /><br />Commendably, this was the result of dolphins having played a significant role in the research that led up to the report’s conclusions. Experts from Dr. John Lilly, to Roger Payne, to Karen Pryor, Hec Goodall (of Coffs Harbour and the Pet Porpoise Pool), Dr Bill Dawbin, Dr Peter Singer, and many others testified to the mental, emotional, and social sophistication of dolphins. Using dolphins as the only cetaceans about which much was known, it was projected that whales had many of the same qualities. On this basis, whaling was stopped.<br /><br />The direct result of the campaign against whaling was another campaign, this time to close down the dolphinariums. Activists, empowered by their success in shutting down the whaling industry (although by the time of the Frost Report, only one whaling station continued to exist, as the whales had nearly been driven to extinction), organised to close the places where dolphins were under the care of humans.<br /><br />Of the nine dolphin facilities in Australia at that time, only two now remain. A combination of economics, social pressure, and growing investigative powers being vested in various government agencies, began too have their effect: the facilities bowed to pressure and closed down, one by one.<br /><br />Tragically, many of the dolphins who had been living among humans were now turned out to sea, and were either seen to die, or disappeared quickly, their fates unknown. What does one do with a dolphin if no one is willing to take it? Atlantis, a large marine animal facility in Western Australia, had nine dolphins when they decided to yield to public and government pressures, and close. They offered their dolphins to Underwater World in Perth, who accepted them and began a program to prepare them for a return to, or in some cases a first look at, the sea.<br /><br />The story is well documented. Of the nine, three disappeared, with only one ever being seen again, despite having had a freeze brand upon its dorsal fin. Three others died, killed by sharks as witnessed by observers. The three remaining dolphins simply refused to leave, and returned repeatedly to the boat harbour, begging fish from boaters.<br /><br />The three who were begging food were retaken into human care. In a mysterious incident, and to this day not publicly explained as to who did it, or how it was done, they were all poisoned and died. The community expressed its outrage, tears were shed, local authorities insisted that they would not rest until the culprits were found and punished, and the entire affair was eventually shoved back into the collective memory and ignored.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Pet Porpoise Pool, an outstanding example</span><br /><br />When Hec Goodall and some of his mates decided to build an animal rehabilitation centre in Coffs Harbour in the late 60s, it made sense to build it next to an estuary. Land was purchased, funds were raised, and building commenced. By Boxing Day of 1970, the Pet Porpoise Pool was open. <br /><br />Not long after opening, a call came in, alerting the staff to a stranding event in the nearby Nambucca River. In an oyster lease, on a sandbar, were found four dolphins, badly sunburned, dehydrated, and suffering. Before they could all be rescued, two died. The other two were brought to the PPP and rehabilitation began. Based on Hec's and the Pickering brothers experience at the Jack Evans Porpoise Pool in Tweed Heads, they were able, somehow, to keep the dolphins alive.<br /><br />The older one was a female and it was initially thought that she was the other one’s mother. Quickly they realised she was not – she was not lactating, and showed no maternal interest in the other, much younger rescuee. The young one was judged to be about one year old, and was named Buck, for the Nambucca River where he was found.<br /><br />Both young Buck and the female recovered. However, both were badly damaged, and it had taken over a year to deem them healthy again. The female was not strong enough to go back to sea, and young Buck had, by then, entirely forgotten the ways of the wild. He had lived in very clean, disease-and-parasite-free water, had been fed five times a day, and had grown quite attached to his human family.<br /><br />It was decided, by government officials, veterinarians, and the staff at the Pet Porpoise Pool, to keep both dolphins at the PPP. Thus began the amazing life of Buck. His female friend died of natural causes a few years later, but as of this date, Buck is still with us, at the age of 37, having spent 36 years among humans.<br /><br />Buck is a delightfully friendly dolphin. He genuinely likes people, approaching all who come to the side of his pool, allowing caresses and seeking out those willing to play catch with a ball. He has, in a conservative estimate, befriended nearly a million people in his many years.<br /><br />When Hec Goodall was told that he should begin making plans to close the Pet Porpoise Pool, he thought of Buck. Could he survive in an ocean he had not known since he was an infant? Could he, in good conscience, tell the public that, due to government regulations, he was going to condemn Buck to certain death? No, it was not going to happen.<br /><br />Hec Goodall then began a 20-year campaign to get a permanent license to rehabilitate, or display if unable to be returned to the sea, any dolphin who should make it into his facility. It took a terrible toll on Hec, but he managed to do it. In October of 2004, the Pet Porpoise Pool was granted a permanent license to house dolphins.<br /><br />Calamity, a female dolphin, was rescued in 1995, not once, but twice. Her tail wrapped with fishing gear, and badly wounded, she was found near the mouth of the Tweed River. Healed and grown strong again, she was returned to the sea. Several months later she was found again, this time with over 10 kilos of fishing line wrapped around her tail stock, so tightly her flukes were nearly severed. This time, once she was healthy again, it was clear that her weakened tail would not allow her to survive at sea.<br /><br />Many dolphins have come and gone from the Pet Porpoise Pool. Many have been rehabilitated and returned to the ocean. Some have died, despite heroic efforts to help them live. At present (April 2008), there are four dolphins at the PPP, including Buck and Calamity, Buck’s son Zip, who is 19 years old, and young Bella, the energetic daughter of Buck and Calamity. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R_OQbU48oiI/AAAAAAAAAFU/od4xEDqQuPo/s1600-h/Zip+Cal+Bel+Buck+2sm.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R_OQbU48oiI/AAAAAAAAAFU/od4xEDqQuPo/s320/Zip+Cal+Bel+Buck+2sm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184646395172004386" /></a><br />Buck, Calamity, Zip, and Bella <br /><br />What are the chances for a dolphin who strands today, to be given a lifetime of excellent care, and a role as a teacher, ambassador, and example of compassionate care for Nature? Unless it happens close to Sea World on the Gold Coast, or near Coffs Harbour, and a National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger can be prevented from killing it immediately, its chances are virtually nonexistent.<br /><br />Based on the NPWS idea that the Australian public does not want to see dolphins under human care, an old idea left over from the days of the “End the Whaling” campaigns, rangers are told to exercise their authority to euthanise all dolphins who cannot be expected to survive a very short period of stabilisation. In practice, this means that all dolphins are put down if they cannot be refloated and released on the spot.<br /><br />At present there are only a handful of citizens in Australia trained to act as official dolphin or whale stranding volunteers. The pitifully small numbers, with little equipment, virtually no sea-water pools designated to serve as holding pools, and no government support, can do next to nothing in the event of a stranding.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Where can the dolphins go?</span><br /><br />The Cetacean Studies Institute has hopes that a national education campaign can be undertaken, aimed at several outcomes.<br /><br />1) A change of legislation to govern the NPWS policies regarding stranded dolphins and small whales. Rules must be written that will allow for stranding teams to help dolphins and small whales to be taken into care if at all possible.<br />2) A national stranding network should be designed, publicised, and supported by government grants, with trained, well-equipped teams and designated salt-water pools listed.<br />3) Regional centres should be built to rehabilitate, return to the wild, or provide excellent lives for marine animals, at government expense.<br />4) Legislation should be passed to allow for more licenses for rehab and display facilities where dolphins can be given care, and whose talents can be researched. <br />5) Because dolphins living among humans live lives that are not as rich with challenges and opportunities to use their extraordinary abilities, and who need, and deserve, enrichment in their lives to keep them healthy, Dolphin-Assisted Therapy should be given support as a means to help dolphins, and as a real therapy, especially valuable for special-needs children, as well as a rejuvenating aspect of wellness programs.<br /><br />As an independent research and education institute, we urge the Australian public to look closely at this situation, and write or talk to your local representative to initiate new legislation, enabling stranded dolphins and whales to be taken care of, and if necessary, given a meaningful -- and much longer -- life among humans.<br /><br />They offer us so much. Isn't it time that we show them the compassion they deserve?<br /><br />Scott Taylor<br />AmbassadorC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-71144655568660246192008-03-05T21:33:00.009+10:002008-03-27T23:39:48.112+10:00"In Defense of Dolphins": a book review<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R86K_Q6FgsI/AAAAAAAAAE4/CjF6mPWrwdE/s1600-h/Bella+here.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R86K_Q6FgsI/AAAAAAAAAE4/CjF6mPWrwdE/s320/Bella+here.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174225841370268354" /></a><br /><br />I have recently finished reading an important book titled <span style="font-weight:bold;">"In Defense of Dolphins: The New Moral Frontier"</span>, by Thomas I. White.<br /><br />White is a Professor of Philosophy who has been interested in dolphins for the last 15 years. He focuses on ethics in his teaching and writing, and applies his background in the philosophy of ethics to this book.<br /><br />His main theme is the assertion that dolphins deserve "person-hood", to be recognised as non-human persons. To this end he gathers much of the important current research into their cognitive abilities, their emotional intelligence, their social nature, and what he repeatedly calls their "alien intelligence".<br /><br />I feel indebted to Prof. White for this book. He has done us all a great service.<br /><br />However, I think my indebtedness to him might be of a nature he does not expect. <br /><br />This book has many merits. It stands tall as a resource for the building movement toward recognition of the rights of dolphins. Professor White has done his research well, with many of the most current research projects into dolphin cognition reviewed. <br /><br />Here is where my views on this book might be surprising to Dr. White: I believe that this work will engage me for some time to come, as it will no doubt be used by many to continue the fight for the end of the dolphin-human connection. It reveals the strategy of those who would end or seriously impede our growing, and vitally important, relationship with the People of the Sea.<br /><br />At present I can only skim the issues that are found in this important book.<br /><br />I find it to be deeply flawed. Not only incomplete, but flawed by its incompleteness. He avoids, overlooks, and ignores important aspects of the story. Granted, the histories and sciences and traditions and philosophies and religions and vast storehouse of human experiences is a lot to take on, but they must if we are to have a full understanding of dolphins and our relationship to them. <br /><br />There is misdirection in this book, and it appears to be intentional. Very troubling is his abuse of the trust he has created in his readers once he attempts to reach his previously hidden, ultimate goal -- the abolition of all human-managed facilities where dolphins live.<br /><br />The misuse of the goodwill and trust he has created in the first part of the book, where he builds his careful case for person-hood, is apparent when he dives into his weird conclusions at the end, moving from one paragraph in which he says something is speculative, to the next paragraph where the same thing is now fact. He does this several times.<br /><br />White uses heavily loaded words in his concluding chapters, in a distinct contrast to his earlier, more balanced word choices. It is a subtle trick as he pursues his goal, as he shades carefully from reasoned argument into biased, emotion-laden rhetoric.<br /><br />He skips a lot of important information at the end, dismissing Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT) in the same two pages with military uses of dolphins. He has clearly never seen a DAT session and knows next to nothing about it. By putting it in the same subchapter with military uses of dolphins, he vilifies it by association.<br /><br />His incompleteness includes an apparent lack of interest in, reporting on, or simple knowledge of anything but philosophy and science. His ethics does not include any metaphysics, which I find very odd indeed. Nowhere does he mention one word of any of the spiritual dimensions of the beingness of dolphins. He exhibits the "standard disregard" for the hidden side of life, the feelings and spiritual aspects, which is all the more odd when one reads his many pages about the emotive, affective, feeling-aware dolphins.<br /><br />White is woefully ignorant of history, it seems. He states that our relationship with dolphins has existed for two thousand years. How very odd that he overlooks both indigenous wisdom and traditions, the very available record of over 15,000 years of contact and relationship with dolphins. If a researcher is willing to add mythology and pre-history, we can extend that time to over 50,000 years. This is telling, as he clearly has only looked at a few of the many dimensions of our important relationship with dolphins.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R86MWw6FgtI/AAAAAAAAAFA/74rzZKjpRt0/s1600-h/matsya+outline.jpg+copy"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R86MWw6FgtI/AAAAAAAAAFA/74rzZKjpRt0/s320/matsya+outline.jpg+copy" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174227344608821970" /></a><br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">Matsya Avatar, First Incarnation of Vishnu as a dolphin, 25,000 years ago</span><br /><br />He also does not address other important aspects of his argument: what about the "moral standing" of elephants, who are proven to be self-aware by the same tests he extols when applied to dolphins? Do elephants have the same degree of moral standing, thus person-hood, as dolphins? He decries the description of dolphins as objects, as items of ownership, as anything less than beings deserving high status alongside humans, and uses examples of how we should treat them by making it out that we can deny careful consideration for all other "animals". He seems to accept abuse of all animals-- captivity, raising them for food, doing research upon them, hunting them -- but not dolphins.<br /><br />He insists that all dolphins in captivity are less intelligent, less mentally adept, and definitely discontented, with nothing to interest them. He has apparently not met the same dolphins I know...<br /><br />After chapters and chapters making a case that we must not anthropomorphise them, he sets about doing that very thing, over and over, during his concluding remarks. He assumes to know their thoughts, levels of contentedness, and mental agility, by using human-value-based projections upon observed behaviours.<br /><br />Oddly, he says it is hard to make a case against captivity, then attempts to do so, and fails.<br /><br />He says that nearly all research into dolphins-- their intelligence, health, physical systems, self-awareness, and more -- were done - necessarily - in captive environments, and that this now has no place and must end. He implies that there is nothing left to learn about dolphins that we cannot learn at sea. I am reminded of the man who resigned from the US Patent Office in the early 1900s because he was convinced there was nothing left to invent.<br /><br />He suggests that dolphins in facilities be "allowed to die out over the next 40-50 years". He does not address the need for decent social interaction, which demands that dolphins be in mixed-gender groups for healthy lives, which produces more dolphins. Does he condone, as Ric O'Barry insists upon, the force-feeding of contraceptive drugs to dolphins? It would seem so. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R86Nkw6FguI/AAAAAAAAAFI/svKv73-MkGU/s1600-h/Coff%27s+Family+w+Bella.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R86Nkw6FguI/AAAAAAAAAFI/svKv73-MkGU/s320/Coff%27s+Family+w+Bella.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174228684638618338" /></a><br /> <span style="font-weight:bold;">A happy family of dolphins, Coffs Harbour, Australia</span><br /><br />White recognises the failures of attempted release of formerly managed dolphins, so he does not advocate their summary dumping into the sea, which is to his credit, but he does advocate killing them all off by a sort of benign neglect -- and in doing so, going diametrically against his entire main argument for a decent regard for their "persons". He is hypocritical on this issue.<br /><br />It is clear that White wants to end captivity. He sets out to arrive at that destination, and his first chapters do an admirable job of building a case for much better appreciation of dolphins-- their lives, intelligence, self-awareness, cognitive abilities, and more. But when he gets close to his objective, his arguments suddenly become fact-free, emotive, subjective, and ultimately corrupted by twisted logic, making many of the same errors of fact and logic that he attacked earlier in others.<br /><br />All in all, his book is very important and will add fuel to many fires. He will be championed by the "Lori Marino camp" (he makes her out to be a major heroine on the dolphin scene, citing her repeatedly). He has also done the Dolphin Embassy a great favour, not only by building a very good case for person-hood, for the Cetacean Nation objective, but he has also clearly demonstrated and outlined the deep flaws in the arguments against DAT and our ever-improving, and critically important, relationship with dolphins.<br /><br />Scott Taylor<br />AmbassadorC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-60851947074897784642008-01-21T22:32:00.000+10:002014-10-18T00:36:33.327+10:00Think different<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R5SREMJei5I/AAAAAAAAAEw/QbAdcHBW_QA/s1600-h/think_different.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R5SREMJei5I/AAAAAAAAAEw/QbAdcHBW_QA/s320/think_different.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157906974412540818" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a>C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-37758576176836634362008-01-21T21:02:00.000+10:002008-01-21T21:30:16.297+10:00Showing that you care<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R5R-4cJei4I/AAAAAAAAAEo/e66I940U6I8/s1600-h/dave-dolphin-hug.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R5R-4cJei4I/AAAAAAAAAEo/e66I940U6I8/s320/dave-dolphin-hug.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5157886981339777922" /></a><br />Most internet-based petitions achieve nothing. Emails with thousands of names in them do not impress anyone, as these can be easily faked. For this reason, we ignore most requests to become involved in petitions.<br /><br />However, when we were invited by some friends (Dave Rastovich, Howie Cooke, Hannah Fraser) to join them in a visual protest, a vast collection of photographs of people holding images of dolphins or whales, to be sent to the delegates at the next International Whaling Commission meeting in Peru, we felt that this could be important.<br /><br />We are alerting all of you who read this to visit the website <a href="http://www.mindsinthewater.com">www.mindsinthewater.com</a> and to link to the Visual Petition. Follow the instructions, download a dolphin or whale picture and take a photo of yourself holding the picture. Then upload the photo back onto the Visual Petition site and join thousands of others who believe as we do, that all whaling and killing of dolphins must stop.<br /><br />Take the time, do what is asked, and you will have done something that can make a difference for the Cetacean Nation. Besides, it is fun!<br /><br />~~~~~~<br />Hannah "Mermaid" Fraser and her husband Dave Rastovich have visited us several times here in Coffs Harbour to swim with the dolphins. They are interviewed in our TV program "The Dolphin People", and if you watch the slides on the Minds in the Water site, or the Visual Petition site, you will see the photo above of Dave with Calamity, hugging her.<br /><br />If you get a chance to see Dave and his surfer friends performing their music, with their band "Low Pressure Sound System", make sure to go. You won't be sorry, they are fantastic!<br /><br />The AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-1894130097377023302007-12-21T12:36:00.000+10:002014-10-18T00:29:09.895+10:00The Dolphin People TV seriesWe have been working for several years on a TV series, entitled "The Dolphin People". We began principle filming in 2005, and have, to date, completed the first hour of a projected four-part series.<br />
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Our Director/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor friend, Richard Mordaunt, has recently returned from a journey to New York, where he attended an international congress on documentary films, meeting with commissioning editors from many companies around the world. We await their responses, confident that we will secure a production deal to complete the series.<br />
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Here is a promotional clip:<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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To obtain copies of "The Dolphin People" one-hour TV program on DVD, write to dolphin@dolphintale.com.<br />
Copies sell for $30 + $6 postage and handling.<br />
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The AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-41135942577483553642007-12-21T10:06:00.000+10:002007-12-21T10:27:40.895+10:00The Question of Tradition<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2sFTMJei2I/AAAAAAAAAEY/jTACLD4rzmw/s1600-h/Thegun1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2sFTMJei2I/AAAAAAAAAEY/jTACLD4rzmw/s320/Thegun1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146212826437552994" /></a><br /><br />Japan 'backs down on humpback hunt'<br />From correspondents in Tokyo<br />December 20, 2007 01:00am<br />Article from: Reuters<br /><br /><br />JAPAN has apparently agreed not to kill humpback whales during its current Antarctic hunt, the US ambassador to Tokyo said today, a move that could help ease criticism of its controversial whaling program.<br />Japan's whaling fleet set sail last month with plans to catch more than 1000 whales, including 50 humpbacks, which are popular among whale-watchers for their distinctive silhouettes and acrobatic leaps, before returning to port early next year.<br />Humpbacks were hunted to near extinction until the International Whaling Commission ordered their protection in 1966 and the planned hunt had sparked a loud outcry from activists.<br />"I think we had an agreement ... between the United States and Japan that humpback whales would not be harvested, I think, until maybe the International Whaling Conference in June,'' US ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer said.<br />Because of migration patterns, the delay would mean it would be "a while before they are at risk again,'' Mr Schieffer said.<br />Australia yesterday announced that it would send a fisheries patrol ship to shadow Japan's whaling fleet near Antarctica and gather evidence for a possible international court challenge to halt the yearly hunt.<br />Separately, Greenpeace sent a ship yesterday to try to stop the Japanese fleet hunting whales.<br />Japan has long resisted pressure to stop what it calls scientific whaling, insisting that whaling is a cherished cultural tradition.<br />"Japan's whaling is being conducted in line with international treaties and for the purpose of scientific research. We would like to win the understanding of others,'' a Japanese foreign ministry spokesman said in Tokyo.<br /><br />~~~~~~<br /><br />The "cherished cultural tradition" mentioned should be seen like the "cherished tradition" of early English (Saxon) people*, the people of Easter Island**, the native people of the California coast***, who were also dolphin and whale eaters. It proved unsustainable in each case, wreaking havoc on local ecologies. With the extremely high levels of toxic chemicals now found in the meat of dolphins and whales (they are at the top of the chain of "bio-accumulation" and concentrate the toxins in their blubber and the milk of nursing mothers, passing it on from generation to generation, each time gaining in concentrated killing power) the tradition of "cetaceans on the menu" is now deadly. It is time to end this "tradition".<br /><br />Since the actual tradition of the Japanese whalers and dolphin hunters was to hunt and kill and eat the cetaceans from the waters around Japan (which still goes on in the tens of thousands each year, now), what does killing the whales of the Southern Ocean Sanctuary have to do with tradition?<br /><br />It just doesn't make any sense.<br /><br />The Ambassadors<br /><br />~~~~~<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2sIXcJei3I/AAAAAAAAAEg/iZTSNRK1IOA/s1600-h/025.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2sIXcJei3I/AAAAAAAAAEg/iZTSNRK1IOA/s320/025.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5146216197986880370" /></a><br />* "Continuing study of the huge middle and late-Saxon vertebrate assemblage from Flixborough, North Lincolnshire, has shown that the inhabitants of this important settlement were consuming whale and dolphin meat. More than twenty fragments of these marine mammals have been recovered from only 10% of the material so far recorded. These animals may have been caught at sea or, more likely, in the nearby Humber estuary where they may have been stranded. It is possible that they represent trade with the nearby east coast fisheries, although the almost negligible quantities of marine fish from the site appear not to support this theory. More specific identification of the species of whale and dolphin will provide valuable information about the past distribution of cetaceans since all are rare or uncommon visitors to these waters today."<br /><br />http://www.eng-h.gov.uk/archrev/rev96_7/enviro.htm<br /><br />~~~~~<br /><br />** "During the later centuries of the Mayan civilization, a new society was evolving on faraway Easter Island, some 166 square kilometers of land in the South Pacific roughly 3,200 kilometers west of South America and 2,200 kilometers from Pitcairn Island, the nearest habitation. Settled around ad 400, this civilization flourished on a volcanic island with rich soils and lush vegetation, including trees that grew 25 meters tall with trunks 2 meters in diameter. Archeological records indicate that the islanders ate mainly seafood, principally dolphins—a mammal that could only be caught by harpoon from large sea-going canoes. The Easter Island society flourished for several centuries, reaching an estimated population of 20,000. As its human numbers gradually increased, tree cutting exceeded the sustainable yield of forests. Eventually the large trees that were needed to build the sturdy canoes disappeared, depriving islanders of access to the dolphins and dramatically shrinking their food supply. The archeological record shows that at some point human bones became intermingled with the dolphin bones, suggesting a desperate society that had resorted to cannibalism. Today the island has fewer than 4,000 residents."<br />--Lester Brown<br /><br />http://www.earth-policy.org/Books/Seg/PB2ch01_ss4.htm<br /><br />~~~~~~<br /><br />*** "The Dolphin Hunters: A Specialized Prehistoric Maritime Adaptation in the Southern California Channel Islands and Baja California<br />Judith F. Porcasi, Harumi Fujita<br /><i>American Antiquity</i>, Vol. 65, No. 3 (Jul., 2000), pp. 543-566<br />doi:10.2307/2694535<br /><br />Abstract<br />Synthesis of faunal collections from several archaeological sites on the three southernmost California Channel Islands and one in the Cape Region of Baja California reveals a distinctive maritime adaptation more heavily reliant on the capture of pelagic dolphins than on near-shore pinnipeds. Previous reports from other Southern California coastal sites suggest that dolphin hunting may have occurred there but to a lesser extent. While these findings may represent localized adaptations to special conditions on these islands and the Cape Region, they call for reassessment of the conventionally held concept that pinnipeds were invariably the primary mammalian food resource for coastal peoples. Evidence of the intensive use of small cetaceans is antithetical to the accepted models of maritime optimal foraging which assume that shore-based or near-shore marine mammals (i.e., pinnipeds) would be the highest-ranked prey because they were readily encountered and captured. While methods of dolphin hunting remain archaeologically invisible, several island cultures in which dolphin were intensively exploited by people using primitive watercraft and little or no weaponry are presented as possible analogs to a prehistoric Southern California dolphin-hunting technique. These findings also indicate that dolphin hunting was probably a cooperative endeavor among various members of the prehistoric community."C Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-89050857523262648422007-12-15T19:11:00.000+10:002010-08-29T13:56:15.918+10:00The Proof is in the PoolSome recent wonderful moments in our Wellness Program:<br /><br />We had a woman attend who is a therapist, whose specialty is Cranial-Sacral Therapy. Her skill in her work -- using sensitivity to detect and redirect the pulses of energy that move up and down our spines -- was evident in her approach to the dolphins. <br /><br />She was a rare person, one who was able to slow down, to look into each moment as it came, and to see the tender details. It seemed, as we took pictures of her experience, that we could not take a poor picture of her. Even when we were using our sequential-shot setting, taking pictures at the rate of 1.7 shots per second, each photo was wonderful. Not easy to edit...<br /><br />Here she is having a sweet moment with young Bella--<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2OfUwPpUYI/AAAAAAAAADg/su5n6WKuvtg/s1600-h/C+and+Bella+web.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2OfUwPpUYI/AAAAAAAAADg/su5n6WKuvtg/s320/C+and+Bella+web.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144130378283962754" /></a><br /><br />~~~~~~~<br />Another guest was a "bird lady". She traveled to Coffs Harbour from western Victoria with her birds. She loves her birds, and her sensitive understanding of them was expressed in her hands -- and they were fascinating to Bella. She approached the woman repeatedly, requesting contact, rubbing against her, spinning around and returning for more touch, more strokes, and especially, having her tail rubbed and massaged.<br /><br />Here is a single frame of a long string of photos from their time together--<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2OtCwPpUZI/AAAAAAAAADo/Rb90PqK1z1M/s1600-h/Martell+touch+sm.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2OtCwPpUZI/AAAAAAAAADo/Rb90PqK1z1M/s320/Martell+touch+sm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144145462209106322" /></a><br /><br />~~~~~~~<br />One thing that has become very evident: when you want to get the attention of dolphins, do something interesting. Sometimes the best thing to do is to ignore them and do something they will find odd -- like swim away from them toward the empty deep end of the pool....<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2OwEQPpUdI/AAAAAAAAAEI/FNXTF8DxJ-Y/s1600-h/Swim+away!+sm.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2OwEQPpUdI/AAAAAAAAAEI/FNXTF8DxJ-Y/s320/Swim+away!+sm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144148786513793490" /></a><br /><br />Our time among the dolphins -- swimming, diving, dreaming, listening and learning -- is about to take a short break. We will be away from them for about six weeks, during the busy season of the year, when they entertain thousands of visitors. We, and the PPP staff, are careful to not ask too much of them. The dolphins are very busy keeping so many people happy at this time of year.<br /><br />Our Dolphin EDventures Wellness Program will recommence in February. For details, go to www.dolphintale.com.<br /><br />A final image:<br />Amanda among the pod...<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2OxLQPpUeI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/SNcxN57cucQ/s1600-h/Amanda+in+pod+sm.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R2OxLQPpUeI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/SNcxN57cucQ/s320/Amanda+in+pod+sm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144150006284505570" /></a><br /><br />Scott and Amanda<br />The AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-4664077347760255912007-11-29T10:51:00.000+10:002014-10-18T00:28:31.793+10:00In defense of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R04Ojm8jrxI/AAAAAAAAADY/mw1yc_61jVk/s1600-h/DAT+with+Deena.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/R04Ojm8jrxI/AAAAAAAAADY/mw1yc_61jVk/s320/DAT+with+Deena.jpg" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138060229789069074" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;" /></a><br />
The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) has recently chosen to start a campaign against Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT). Using a recently published paper, they claim to have scientific evidence that DAT is ineffective.<br />
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There are a few problems with this…<br />
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As the founding Director of the Cetacean Studies Institute, founded in 1996, and long-time researcher into the effectiveness of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy (DAT), I feel compelled to comment.<br />
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The review of DAT research cited by WDCS written by Marino and Lilienfeld has many errors in it. Titled “Dolphin-Assisted Therapy: More Flawed Data and More Flawed Conclusions”,<b> it is itself littered with flaws.</b><br />
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Without any clear definition of what Dolphin-Assisted Therapy is, the Marino-Lilienfeld paper makes unsupported accusations against well-developed and well-proven therapeutic programs of therapy that include dolphins. It does not adequately differentiate between real DAT programs and “swim-with-dolphins” programs.<br />
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The paper suggests, for instance, that any person swimming with dolphins is undertaking some kind of intentional therapy. It cites research having to do with injuries sustained by people in commercial swim programs, and it cites only one side of the debate about whether diseases can be transmitted between dolphins and humans as part of its basis for describing DAT as an “unsubstantiated intervention”.<br />
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Here is the final conclusion in this paper:<br />
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“At the very least, we believe that DAT practitioners should be required to inform parents and, when relevant, participants, of the absence of evidence for DAT’s enduring effects on psychological symptoms. Only then can consumers of DAT make adequately informed decisions regarding the costs and benefits of this unsubstantiated intervention.”<br />
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Yes, DAT is, so far, unsubstantiated by the research cited by Marino et al.. Does this mean that it is ineffective?<br />
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The main issue here is whether DAT has a positive and long-lasting effect on the lives of patients and their families. Instead of addressing this question, which would necessitate actual research, extensive interviews, arranging for standardized measuring instruments to be deployed to discover and document changes, and a host of other expensive and time consuming research, <b>Marino and Lilienfeld have taken the safe arm-chair route.</b> They have reviewed <b>some</b> of the very few research papers ever published to see if they can stand up to an extremely rigorous analysis of their scientific validity.<br />
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<b>Reviewing the validity of research is not the same as doing research.</b><br />
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We could all benefit from a review of the available research and suggestions about how it can be performed better. If this had been their intent, Marino and Lilienfeld's review could have been truly useful. Instead, they selected papers to critique and pursued a predetermined mission to condemn DAT -- <b>without doing any research themselves</b> into the effectiveness of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy.<br />
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In our many years of studying DAT, visiting facilities, interviewing therapists, patients, family members, trainers, doctors, medical technicians, as well as filming dozens of sessions, collecting patient stories, and operating a small Wellness Program ourselves, we have seen many wonderful results.<br />
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Literally thousands of families have had their entire family history changed for the better through the effectiveness of good DAT programs.<br />
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To date no one has created an accurate definition of Dolphin-Assisted Therapy. However, just as the Supreme Court Justice said, “I know it when I see it”, one can visit some of the DAT programs around the world to see what it is. We recommend Island Dolphin Care, in Key Largo, Florida (www.islanddolphincare.org) as the most professional, effective, and long term program, under trained medical professionals, run as a non-profit organization, as the model for high standards.<br />
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The results -- improved lives -- are the means by which to evaluate DAT.<br />
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Our program (www.dolphintale.com) here in Australia works with rescued dolphins and their progeny. These dolphins would be dead, long ago, if they had not been rescued. Now, as dolphins living among humans, it is important that they have life experiences that are enriching, stimulating, and as safe as possible to help them maintain their health. We know that our interactions with these dolphins are a real benefit to them as well as a benefit to those people who swim among them.<br />
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<b>DAT needs to be investigated more fully. Research needs to be done by competent, well-funded scientists, who have no bias or agenda to push. Until this is done, we will have ill-informed campaigns such as the WDCS campaign, and the misdirection of papers such as the one by Marino and Lilienfeld.</b><br />
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Scott Taylor<br />
AmbassadorC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-88874907839952470712007-11-09T10:46:00.000+10:002007-11-09T11:58:50.275+10:00A "human-like" dolphin<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/RzO9CXrMlaI/AAAAAAAAADI/xL1Bq2S5E_U/s1600-h/Castaway+crop+sm.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/RzO9CXrMlaI/AAAAAAAAADI/xL1Bq2S5E_U/s320/Castaway+crop+sm.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130652248917710242" /></a><br />Recently we were in Florida, visiting our friends at SpeakDolphin.com, where we were hosted to present an evening of Dolphin Embassy news and updates to a community of old friends, new friends, and a variety of local experts on dolphins and whales. We had a wonderful time sharing the news of our latest work, and viewing footage from several dolphin and whale researchers.<br /><br />While in Florida, one focus was to catch up with the team we have been collaborating with on a special research project. This project was focused on a stranded dolphin, her conditions, and the birth of her calf.<br /><br />Castaway was stranded on Castaway Beach in south Florida. She was a single stranding, an unusual event. When she was examined, it was discovered that she was unusual in other ways. She was pregnant, and she was deaf.<br /><br />How a dolphin becomes deaf is not fully known. She may have suffered ear infections -- she had none at the time of her stranding -- she may have been born deaf. Most likely she was the survivor of infection. Her pregnant condition may have forced her to choose to head toward land, as her deafness probably left her feeling very vulnerable. But then, what do we know of the choice to head toward shore by a dolphin?<br /><br />In any case, she presented both huge challenges and some special opportunities for research.<br /><br />A team was formed to address her situation and she was transferred from the original stranding organisation's facility to a facility we have become familiar with, the excellent Marine Mammal Conservancy, on Key Largo.<br /><br />Because of her situation, her questionable health, and the need to keep her isolated from other dolphins, we knew that her infant was going to be without an essential element in its development in the womb -- no sounds from other dolphins, or from Castaway herself. Castaway made some sounds, but similar to deaf humans, there was little dynamic range or variation to her sonic output. We decided to enrich her environment by providing supplemental dolphin sounds.<br /><br />The first and easy part was to get recordings from Dolphins Plus, a few miles away, of their pregnant dolphin and the others who shared her pool. These recordings were played to Castaway -- and her growing fetus -- in two daily sessions. The next step was more difficult. We wanted some kind of live interaction for the new infant. We arranged to have a telephone link set up to provide a live and open phone line between the two facilities! This was widely reported in the national and international media.<br /><br />We wondered: "How does a baby dolphin gain it's language?", "Where does the signature whistle originate, from the young calf, or from the mother?", "How will a mother communicate with her calf without sound?", "How will a deaf mom affect the calf in it's feeding?", and many more questions.<br /><br />We decided to set up 24 hour video and sound recorders to watch the process.<br /><br />Sadly, the calf was born only to perish five days later. There was nothing more that could have been done. To see the full story of Castaway and her son Wilson, visit www.marinemammalconservancy.com<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/RzO9CXrMlbI/AAAAAAAAADQ/DUAhQyHBPgM/s1600-h/castaway+and+wilson.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/RzO9CXrMlbI/AAAAAAAAADQ/DUAhQyHBPgM/s320/castaway+and+wilson.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130652248917710258" /></a><br /><br />Research continues with Castaway, but the opportunity to watch the process of language acquistion by a new calf will have to await another opportunity. Will Castaway become pregnant again? Time will tell.<br /><br />When we visited, we were able to go to the MMC, see the amazing birthing pen that was built, and then go to Dolphins Plus, where Castaway now makes her home. We were invited to swim with her.<br /><br />This was truly a highlight in our 25 years of dolphin interaction, and literally hundreds and hundreds of dolphin swim encounters. What an amazingly different dolphin she is.<br /><br />Castaway can be, with all due respect, be thought of as a sort of "human-like" dolphin, in that she depends entirely, as we do, on her sight and touch in the water. She was more than friendly...she approached right away and began to caress us. She swam beside us, so close we had to backpedal to be able to take pictures. She gazed into our eyes, closely and steadily. Her gentleness -- she is a very large Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin, at least 2.5 meters long -- and presence were startling in their power. We were deeply moved by her tender play and seeming fascination with these new people.<br /><br />After so many months of having humans lift her, measure her, help her thru a difficult birth, the loss of her calf, and all the odd things we humans do when trying to care for dolphins in distress -- hydration, injections, massage, staring at them night and day -- after all that, she was so gentle and loving, so very close and curious about us.<br /><br />Thank you, Castaway, for one of our most amazing encounters. We will continue to visit you, to spend time contemplating the destiny that brought you to the human world, and the role of Ambassador that you play.<br /><br />The AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-57326207379675064702007-11-09T10:15:00.000+10:002010-08-29T13:56:15.919+10:00Renewing old friendships<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/RzOsU3rMlZI/AAAAAAAAADA/PcmBEePBVv4/s1600-h/Amanda+flyer.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/RzOsU3rMlZI/AAAAAAAAADA/PcmBEePBVv4/s320/Amanda+flyer.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5130633875047617938" /></a><br />We have just begun our Summer 2007 Dolphin EDventures Wellness Program (see www.dolphintale.com for details). After a brief and intense trip to the US, which included a visit to Florida where we had some special time with Castaway (see the next blog entry), we have returned to our important work here in Australia -- we are enjoying one of our favorite activities -- introducing new friends to our old friends, Buck, Zip, Calamity, and Bella.<br /><br />The dolphins who live at the Pet Porpoise Pool are unique, and their circumstances have largely contributed to this. Two were rescued from dire circumstances in which they would, no doubt, have died. After months of recovery, they were deemed to be unable to survive at sea, and have been given a promise of a lifetime of excellent care.<br /><br />If any of you have ever tried to give a dolphin a fine and healthy environment in which to live it's amazing lifestyle, you will know what a huge promise this was. <br /><br />With Buck, who has been living at the PPP for 36 years, this has proven to be a very big promise. For Calamity, whose tail flukes were nearly severed, her life in the pools at the PPP have been her only chance at a happy and safe life. Calamity has recovered so well that she has given birth to Bella. <br /><br />Bella, born in July of 2005, has delighted us since we first met her. Swimming with her since she was about 3 feet long, it feels like we have been partners in her learning and growth, sort of like Aunt and Uncle.<br /><br />And Zip, also born at the PPP, 18 years old, is a fine example of a healthy and playful dolphin. He specializes in ball play and can make anyone say "Wow" when he puts on his display.<br /><br />Our return to our season of dolphin swims is very much appreciated by us, and we believe, by the four dolphins. We provide a very real kind of enrichment to them, living in the reduced circumstances of human-managed pools. We play, we dive, we float and listen, we stand and receive their attentions. We do not ask them to perform any behaviours. Instead, we believe that most people want as authentic an experience of dolphins as this circumstance can allow, and we support that. We do not want the dolphins to have to "work for us", so we simply play and watch.<br /><br />And without exception, every guest we have ever had (hundreds so far) has reported an amazing and delightful experience.<br /><br />Thanks for having us, Friends, we are so happy to be back!<br /><br />The AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2308450319508228187.post-11591662948928070572007-09-11T17:26:00.000+10:002010-08-29T13:56:15.920+10:00The Encounter with the "Other"<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/RuZInPL0qlI/AAAAAAAAAC4/VswfRdSzIa0/s1600-h/Buck+watches.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_skoeChYR2Ug/RuZInPL0qlI/AAAAAAAAAC4/VswfRdSzIa0/s320/Buck+watches.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108850666226625106" /></a><br />Underwater among the dolphins, we find ourselves to be the clumsy ones, the ones who do not belong here, but have come for visit. We stare, wide-eyed, at the grace and weightless power of the dolphins as they spin, turn, flip over, and proceed in a new direction before we could tell they were going elsewhere.<br />They glide and turn, the smallest flicker of their pectoral fins guiding them into a new pattern, a weaving of balance and freedom and desire, their goals fleeting, their aims simple.<br />We are among Elders, beings who live as one with their world, adjusting their very flexible selves to whatever comes their way.<br />They communicate their ideas quickly, so quickly. Above our hearing, far above mostly, they whistle and click to each other, offering suggestions and comments to each other -- or do they? What do we know of the content of their communication?<br /><br />When we study closely the communication of the dolphins, we find that they can respond well to whatever we ask them to, whether it be counting, memory games, sorting words into correct order to accomplish complex tasks, or giving each other instructions on how to do something the other has not ever done before. They can do whatever we ask of them. Yet we do not know what they talk about among themselves. Since we know they are capable of whatever we imagine for them to try, is it not reasonable to imagine that they can communicate in ways we have not asked of them?<br /><br />Do they speak with a noun-based language? Or are they mostly useing verbs, the moving actions of life to base their language? Or is it of another order altogether? Perhaps the mysterious languages spoken by initiates of arcane studies, who must constuct whole vocabularies to express their occult knowledge is akin to the dolphin's speech. Do they carry on metaphysical exchanges, telling each other of dimensions unknown to us?<br /><br />What is the cause of the ease, the sense of gentle peace they radiate so much of the time? Do they know something so well that it leaves them knowing not the unease we seem to live within, but somehow know some of the reasons "why" life is as it is? Do their millions of years of living free in the oceans, mostly without fear, give them a transcendental reality, one of deep and abiding trust?<br /><br />I wonder many times when among them, how they see us. Their gentle knowing seems so wise, so free of entanglement in our "stories".<br /><br />They can serve as our teachers if we choose. They can represent The Other, the outside being who sees us and reflects an image of the self back to us, if we approach them with respect.<br /><br />The AmbassadorsC Scott Taylor, PhDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13152258915579819892noreply@blogger.com0