How dolphins born in captivity learn early to like humans
"How many dolphins allow themselves to be petted by kids?," asked Keegan McChristian, 7, a second-grader at Robert Crown School in Wauconda.
"Dolphins are very social and love to play, " said Julie Scardina, animal ambassador for Busch Entertainment Corporation, operators of SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.
Dolphins are fast and often acrobatic, leaping into the air as high as 10 feet. They live in pods and communicate using clicking and buzzing noises. Dolphins echolocate -- project the clicking sounds to sense obstacles, prey and predators in their environment.
Dolphins bred in captivity are very comfortable interacting with people. "Dolphins born at SeaWorld learn quickly and at an early age that people are nice. They feed and care for mom, they are fun, they play games with mom and me, they feel good, they pet and touch gently," Scardina said.
SeaWorld in San Diego, Calif., and Discovery Cove in Orlando, Fla., both offer visitors an opportunity to interact with dolphins through special programs. For an additional fee, visitors can register for the Dolphin Interaction Program. During the hour-long class, students are taught the anatomy of a bottlenose dolphin as well as training and breeding basics. The are invited into the dolphin habitat to learn how to feed, touch and cue the marine mammals.
"The dolphins really enjoy these interactions too," Scardina said. "Just about every one of them that I've met enjoys being touched, stroked and splashed with water -- all tactile sensations. Most don't need much encouragement or training to get to that stage. Of course I'm talking about animals that have been born right here at SeaWorld -- most of the animals in our park were born here."
Scardina cautions that humans must be responsible when they interact with dolphins. "It's important to make sure we don't interact with those animals in the ocean," Scardina said. "Dolphins in our care, those that were born in our carefully protected environments, never need to worry that someone will hurt them or feed them something they shouldn't eat. In the wild, if a dolphin learns to trust even just one person, that dolphin will be more likely to trust others, and there's no way to protect them all from accidents, illness or irresponsible people."
Dolphins in the wild live in the warmer ocean water. But kids in Chicago can observe these magnificent animals at the Shedd Aquarium. Only trainers are allowed into the tanks at the Oceanarium exhibit with the Pacific white-sided dolphins and beluga whales.
Lisa Takaki, Shedd Aquarium's director of marine mammals, said dolphins are charismatic, curious and social. "Dolphins, like people, enjoy contact , but are leery of strangers like people should be."
For more information
The Vernon Area Library in Lincolnshire suggests these titles on dolphins:
• "Do Dolphins Really Smile?," by Laura Driscoll
• "Signs of the Apes, Songs of the Whales: Adventures in Human-Animal Communication," by George & Linda Harrar
• "Dolphins: What they Can Teach Us," by Mary M. Cerullo
• "Follow that Fin!: Studying Dolphin Behavior," by Amy Samuels
• "Everything Dolphin: What Kids Really Want to Know," by Marty Crisp