January 24, 2004 - San Antonio, FL
Sitting at the Foretravel store again, waiting for our appointment on Tuesday. Going to get a decal replaced that is tearing off the nose of the motorhome, a small shelf installed in the computer cabinet to hold the monitor, and some other stuff taken care of.
While we were in Marathon enjoying the Keys, we stopped at the Dolphin Research Center located on Grassy Key. Paid the admission fee of about $7 each (with 2-for-1 coupon from local Visitors Center), and wandered in. Bill and Carol were with us. Unlike Sea World and other places that have dolphins that are trained to perform, this place is mostly studying behavior and doing some training in the process. The guy on the left is the oldest and largest male in the place. As well as being the father of several of the other dolphins. He seems to like looking at people and enjoys their company. He hangs out in a location where almost everybody walks by, and if nobody is there he yells about it and kicks up a fuss until somebody comes to look, then talks to him. They also have a couple of sea lions that they're studying as well. Most (if not all the animals) come from captive breeding programs or zoos that can no longer handle them.
During the day the trainers/observers will be at a particular lagoon for some reason or other, and they'll put up an orange flag so the wanderers like us can go over to see what's going on. They're wired for sound, will invite the animals to do different things, and talk to us about what's going on. While there was obviously some training and performing going on, that's not the central purpose of the facility. The dolphin with its mouth open is making noises, and it's interesting to note that all dolphin noise comes from its blow hole on top of its head. The theory about it moving its mouth while making noises (or "vocalizing") is that it sees us move our mouth to make noise, and it's mimicking us.
In one lagoon there were several dolphins, one of which likes to be touched by humans. While that one was doing its thing (under close supervision by a trainer/observer), the other two were just goofing off. This female that is jumping was playing with her boyfriend most the time, and apparently trying to get attention as well. There were two other trainers/observers at the other side of the lagoon who were giving instructions to the female, and most the time they were able to keep the two non-participants away from these kids who had paid extra to be able to stand there and interact with the animals.
In this sequence, the kids were told to hold their hand out, let the dolphin put its chin in their hand, and then lean over and let the dolphin "kiss" them on the cheek. Hard to tell who was having more fun. Us adults, the kids, the dolphins, or the trainers/observers. And, of course, in the background there was always these other two carrying on. This time doing a tail-walk in reverse!
Think about it. Mammals need fresh water to survive. Dolphins are mammals. But they live in salt water. So where do they get their fresh water? Well, in the wild they get all they need from their diet of fish which can process the salt water, turning some of it into freshwater stored in their bodies. But here in captivity, the diet doesn't have fresh fish on the menu, so these guys get to "drink" their fresh water provided by the staff. More on that later. The speed of these animals is incredible when you think about it. Weighing up to 300#, they can hit speeds well over 35mph (if I've got my numbers right, that is).
Here's a closer shot of one of the staff inserting the drinking tube down the dolphin's throat. It's really interesting that the dolphin will let the people do this. There's no way that woman is going to force that animal to do anything it doesn't want to do. It could bite her, it can escape, it can refuse to hold its mouth open and all kinds of evasive maneuvers could be done. But it does it willingly, and more than that, by closing its eyes it gives the impression it actually likes the treatment! And then a couple of them jumping over each other. A behavior I'd not seen before.
I was taking a picture of Barb, Bill and Carol as Carol was taking pictures of me, and this dolphin jumped up between us several times. Making a racket in the process, which delighted the staff because they'd never seen this happen with this dolphin before. And again, the animal opens its mouth while making noises.
You could buy T-shirts painted by a dolphin at the place too (see paint brush in mouth). We declined. The staff would hold the paint, the dolphin would stick the brush in the paint and then on the T-shirt held by either a staff member of somebody who paid a little extra to be able to have their shirt painted. The guy on the right is "laughing", mimicking one of the women who works with him a lot. I was amazed at how accurate it sounded. The woman would laugh at the dolphin laughing, the dolphin would laugh back, and the crowd would crack up as well. Again, it was difficult to tell who was having the most fun here.
This dolphin is carrying a stuffed alligator back up to the platform after showing off to the rest of us. Apparently it's fairly natural for the animal to carry stuff in its mouth, but this is unusual behavior. And the laughing gulls were all over the place trying to steal the fish the dolphins were being fed while the staff were working with them.
If you wanted to touch a dolphin but didn't want to get in the water like those previous kids, you could do it this way. For an additional fee, of course. What a neat way to fund research. I don't have any desire to touch a dolphin so why should I pay for someone else to do it. Our government should take note and tax us accordingly, eh? You can tell it's after the first of the year and taxes are on my mind again. And look at the altitude of that jumper. See that fence in the background? That's all that's keeping these guys here. Any one of them could jump over it in a heartbeat and be "free" if they wanted to. Only they don't want to apparently. I was talking to one of the staff about that, and she told me that one guy had a habit of finding holes in the fences and would go play with other dolphins occasionally--on the other side of the fence. One morning when they came to work, the staff heard a dolphin "calling" them from outside the enclosure. They knew it was one of theirs because in the wild dolphins don't make noises above the surface of the water, and, sure enough, there was "Houdini" asking to be let back inside. Apparently he'd found a way out of the enclosure, but couldn't find his way back in. The staff seemed real casual about the fences. Their main purpose is to isolate breeding pairs to maintain a genetic mix to prevent inbreeding, and to keep outside critters outside.
Messing around with balls seems to be a favorite activity. On the left is one who would swim on her back holding the ball in her flippers, and do tail-walks holding it as well. On the right, the woman in the middle is throwing a ball to the guy who is waiting to catch it.
Even having its buddy doing back flips in the background didn't keep this dolphin from playing catch. I'll admit that this sequence is not all one series, as the ball wasn't always caught. Blonde lady not a real good shot, but having more fun than than you can imagine.
Of course, the obligatory "sit on the Dolphin and I'll take your picture" picture, and the camp cat came over to say hello while I was getting the sand out of my sandals. What a waste of time that was. Not scratching the cat, messing with the sand!