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Tales from the Whale Side – Six

Posted September 9, 2017 in Learn More by Carl Safina

“Did They Know What Had Happened on Our Boat?”

Page Six of remarkable, inexplicable stories of killer whale behavior toward humans in the wild.

During several decades of research on free-living dolphins in the Bahamas, Denise Herzing, founder and Research Director of the Wild Dolphin Project, got familiar with particular individuals. Apparently, the feeling was mutual. After being gone for eight months each year, the researchers would return and all would reunite.

“Joyous is probably the word I would use to describe it,” wrote Herzing, “And even though I am committed to studying and understanding the dolphins scientifically, I have no problem also feeling like they are friends, of another species, but clearly aware, with feelings and memories, and this was a reunion of friends.”

Perhaps they were using another sensory system, one that we humans neither possess nor suspect.

At the end of multi-week research trips, she writes, “The dolphins seemed to know we were leaving and gave us a grand send-off. I have often wondered how they knew.”

Seemingly “telepathic” behavior occurred in a more somber incident. At the beginning of a research trip, as Herzing’s vessel approached the familiar dolphins that she’d been studying, they “greeted us but they acted very unusual,” not coming within 50 feet of the boat. They refused invitations to bow-ride, also odd. And when the captain slipped into the water, one came briefly nearer and then suddenly fled.

At that point, someone discovered that one of the people aboard had just died during a nap in his bunk. Spooky enough. But then, as the boat turned to head back to port, “the dolphins came to the side of our boat, not riding the bow as usual but instead flanking us fifty feet away in an aquatic escort… they paralleled us in an organized fashion.”

Bottlenose dolphins. Credit: Carl Safina

After attending to the sad necessities ashore, when the boat returned to the dolphin area, “The dolphins greeted us normally, rode the bow, and frolicked like they normally did.”

After 25 years with those dolphins, Herzing never again saw them behave the way they did when the boat had a dead man aboard. Perhaps, in a way we don’t understand, dolphin sonar lets them scan inside a boat and somehow realize and communicate among each other that a man in a bunk has a heart that is still. Perhaps they detected that a human had died using another sensory system, one that we humans neither possess nor suspect.

And what does it mean for dolphins to become solemn in response to a human death?

Next – Page Seven: Questions Unsettling, Unshakeable and Disturbing.

All posts in this series are excerpted from Beyond Words; What Animals Think and Feel by Carl Safina.

 

1 Comment

  • Family Scapegoat Kid says:
    March 17, 2021 at 8:32 PM

    Dolphins, sheep, dogs have a hidden intelligence not yet seen or understood by humans. Probably could be weaponised for good or perhaps evil. Animals can communicate telepathically and also on a higher group emotional level. They are more complex and intelligent and their lives are different from ours. They have more love. And enjoy food as a tool to survive. The dolphins new was a dead human because they could smell or perhaps see the spirit passing through the gaps.

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Photo of Carl Safina
Carl Safina

Tales from the Whale Side

Conservation biologist Carl Safina came upon some remarkable, unexplainable stories of killer whale behavior toward humans in the wild while writing his book Beyond Words; What Animals Think and Feel. Carl is President of the Safina Center and is on the board of the Whale Sanctuary Project. These stories are excerpted from his book. Tales from the Whale Side – Seven

Why would these beings declare unilateral peace with humans and not with dolphins and seals, whom they hunt and eat? Why would they single us out to give assistance? And why no grudge? Read more

Tales from the Whale Side – Six

One of the dolphins came briefly nearer the boat, and then suddenly fled. At that point, someone discovered that one of the people aboard had just died during a nap in his bunk.Read more

Tales from the Whale Side – Five

She allowed herself to wonder: were the whales trying to communicate something after she’d defended their family? Reading her thoughts while she watched them would mean true telepathy. That, she knew, “flew in the face of reason.”Read more

Tales from the Whale Side – Four

The dog’s owner was sitting on a log, crying, when he heard the blows of killer whales. He could see them coming closer. Just after the whales passed, he heard splashing. Suddenly, there stood his sodden dog, weakened and vomiting saltwater.Read more

Tales from the Whale Side – Three

“It was like a portal opened, or an introduction to another possibility of communication. I felt lighter, more integrated, very hopeful, light-hearted and full of joy.”Read more

Tales from the Whale Side – Two

Killer whales seem capable of random acts of kindness that defy explanation and make scientists consider some pretty far-out possibilities. Killer whale behavior seems to fall into two categories: amazing behavior and inexplicable behavior.Read more

Tales from the Whale Side – One

“The whales understood that we weren’t going to be involved in high-speed chases. We weren’t going to be shooting any darts and tags. They saw that we were cool around them. Which implies, y’know, a consciousness of what’s going on.”Read more

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