The sea holds a fascination for people. It is an alien element for those who breathe air. However, it has long been an indispensable source of food and a pathway to wealth, adventure, and conquest. Sailors all throughout recorded history have told tales about mysteries in the ocean depths; they had no doubt that intelligent sea life was to be found under the waves.
Fisherman and sailors have always told stories of playful dolphins, monstrous sea serpents, the magnificent albatross, and other things landsmen never see. Strange things come up in nets or are caught on fishing lines. Tales found in myths and legend often really occur on the high seas. Sailors never doubted that the creatures under the water had a mind of their own.
There might not be personal malignancy, as in 'Moby Dick', but there are plenty of instances when dolphins learn to recognize friendly divers, for example. Some divers say that even barracudas respond to repeated offers of food. Seagulls quickly take up panhandling if people on the beach feed them; in fact, it sometimes doesn't seem quite safe to do so, the birds get so excited and come in such numbers.
Modern studies seem to validate the idea that sea creatures don't operate merely in established patterns of their species. Goldfish, once thought to have a memory lasting less than five seconds, can learn to operate feeding stations and even learn to come only at certain times of day. Moreover, they demonstrate the ability to remember learned skills for three months or more. They also learn to identify color-coded feeding devices, going only to those they have learned will dispense food.
Every visitor to an aquarium with regular shows knows that dolphins and Orcas can be trained. They eagerly perform to earn a reward, but they also seem to enjoy the performance itself and the attention of the audience. Seals are famous circus stars.
People who work with performing animals know that they recognize words and music. They also become fond of people who they regularly encounter and who treat them kindly. Sometimes the animals display human traits. For example, dolphins who are decorated with designs on parts of their body that they cannot see will look at themselves in a mirror and seem to enjoy the novelty.
It is sometimes hard to distinguish between instinct, a fascinating subject in itself, and intelligence. Do salmon find their way on migrations with thought or with instinctive urges they mindlessly obey? Do they recognize landmarks to choose the right river and creek? Is maternal love as demonstrated by dolphins and whales merely a behavior pattern dictated by survival instincts? Those who believe in creation rather than evolution may have an easier time of believing that sea creatures can reason.
When octopus and other bottom dwellers camouflage themselves with shells or when seabirds drop hard mollusks from great heights to break them on the rocks, is that intelligence? Is there any reasoning behind symbiotic relationships? Do sea creatures use inanimate objects as tools? It often seems like ocean denizens are solving problems with reason.
Fisherman and sailors have always told stories of playful dolphins, monstrous sea serpents, the magnificent albatross, and other things landsmen never see. Strange things come up in nets or are caught on fishing lines. Tales found in myths and legend often really occur on the high seas. Sailors never doubted that the creatures under the water had a mind of their own.
There might not be personal malignancy, as in 'Moby Dick', but there are plenty of instances when dolphins learn to recognize friendly divers, for example. Some divers say that even barracudas respond to repeated offers of food. Seagulls quickly take up panhandling if people on the beach feed them; in fact, it sometimes doesn't seem quite safe to do so, the birds get so excited and come in such numbers.
Modern studies seem to validate the idea that sea creatures don't operate merely in established patterns of their species. Goldfish, once thought to have a memory lasting less than five seconds, can learn to operate feeding stations and even learn to come only at certain times of day. Moreover, they demonstrate the ability to remember learned skills for three months or more. They also learn to identify color-coded feeding devices, going only to those they have learned will dispense food.
Every visitor to an aquarium with regular shows knows that dolphins and Orcas can be trained. They eagerly perform to earn a reward, but they also seem to enjoy the performance itself and the attention of the audience. Seals are famous circus stars.
People who work with performing animals know that they recognize words and music. They also become fond of people who they regularly encounter and who treat them kindly. Sometimes the animals display human traits. For example, dolphins who are decorated with designs on parts of their body that they cannot see will look at themselves in a mirror and seem to enjoy the novelty.
It is sometimes hard to distinguish between instinct, a fascinating subject in itself, and intelligence. Do salmon find their way on migrations with thought or with instinctive urges they mindlessly obey? Do they recognize landmarks to choose the right river and creek? Is maternal love as demonstrated by dolphins and whales merely a behavior pattern dictated by survival instincts? Those who believe in creation rather than evolution may have an easier time of believing that sea creatures can reason.
When octopus and other bottom dwellers camouflage themselves with shells or when seabirds drop hard mollusks from great heights to break them on the rocks, is that intelligence? Is there any reasoning behind symbiotic relationships? Do sea creatures use inanimate objects as tools? It often seems like ocean denizens are solving problems with reason.
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