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Orca Lulu's body contained PCB levels 100x above the safe limit. Image: SMASS

Toxic tides, troubled whales: the toll of chemical pollution

In last week's blog, we examined the challenges whales and dolphins face as they travel...
Group of orcas at surface

Breaking barriers for whales and dolphins at the Convention of Migratory Species

Many species of whales, dolphins and porpoises undertake long journeys, encountering human-made obstacles along the...
Tokyo

WDC in Japan – Part 1: Finding allies in Tokyo

At the end of May, I embarked on an incredible journey to Japan on behalf...
Amazon river dolphins leaping

The state of river dolphin conservation

At Whale and Dolphin Conservation, we partner with conservationists and communities fighting to save river...
Researchers in Southeast Alaska studying whale poo

We’re funding crucial research on whale poo to combat the climate crisis

The ocean is one of the lungs of our planet, and whales help it to...
Narwhal surfacing

The unicorns of the sea must be protected – CITES

The narwhal, is under threat. Often referred to as the unicorns of the sea, narwhals,...
Sperm whales

We’re pushing governments for action for our climate heroes – whales

The climate crisis is the greatest threat to all life on Earth. But there is...
Dolphins captured for captivity in Taiji. Image: Hans Peter Roth

Loved and killed – whales and dolphins in Japan

Protests and criticism from outside Japan in response to the slaughter of whales and dolphins...

The Dolphin Enigma- A Poem by Matthew Scott

The Dolphin Enigma

What is dolphin? Defined by science or subject to interpretation? There are many intangible qualities that make up dolphin. A dolphin is elusive to our eyes and thought. What is it like to be dolphin? Will we ever know? We cannot experience echolocation, our eyes are not on the sides of our heads, we cannot replicate the grace and speed they have through the water. An underwater camera is a poor proxy for dolphin. We cannot imagine their world, just as we cannot imagine the world of a worm. When we understand the dolphin we will understand ourselves. Free and perfectly formed, majestic and dangerous. When we can touch our hand to our hearts and say we understand dolphin; that will be when we have thought of their intelligence, their beauty and their worth. When we respect and protect the dolphin, we will save humanity. This level of caring is beyond the average thought process.

Movement. Sleek, streamline, passive, artful. They are perfectly built for their environment. They glide through the ocean with perfectly stylised bodies. They lead with their head; they follow instincts, they sense their environment with perfect precision without sight. They follow the food and follow basic animalistic rights. Food means security; when will your next meal come? From a cupboard? No. Searching the oceans, following patches of food through the endless abyss.

Next sociality. Fission fusion societies. They have close bonds. They need each other to survive. They work in teams to eat. Are we like that, are our friendships based on the question of life? They travel with family and stick together. They travel between pods and form bonds with other outcasts. Do we accept outcasts?

Next captivity. How can we keep these majestic creatures, creatures who have taken millions of years to evolve into perfect specimens, in cages? What is humanity if this is entertainment. What has gone wrong with the world if people follow money over basic human-dolphin respect. Endlessly swimming in circles, their only highlight is eating pennies that naïve tourists throw at them. Would you eat pennies?

We feel emotion. We feel pain. We feel happiness and sadness. We can sense our own life quality and compare it to others. We judge people and hate people and base everything we do on pleasing others and impressing those we respect. Is dolphin much different? Yes. Dolphin is playful and carefree. Dolphin is intolerant and crass. Dolphin doesn’t care what any of you think of it. Dolphin is dolphin.

This is why striving to be dolphin should be our goal. We collect our thoughts when we should act on instinct. We cower under societal pressures while dolphin jumps in the rain. When we understand dolphin, we make our quality of life better. When we act like dolphin we save the human race and improve our individual life quality.

Let us take this journey into dolphin enlightenment together. Respect these creatures. Strive to be one of these creatures and we will find ourselves along the dark road of life. When we save the dolphins, we save ourselves. Think on that.