Friday, August 8, 2008

Put on your oxygen and grab a Fin!

"It is the only creature who loves man for his own sake," wrote the Greek essayist Plutarch. He was referring to my number one pick of Ocean creatures to swim with! The Dolphin.


According to The World Book Encyclopeia, "many scientists believe that dolphins are among the most intelligent animals, along with chimps and dogs." Just as Plutarch noted, dolphins are not drawn to humans just to be fed. Just the opposite, it seems that many of them simply enjoy our company. " Though the dolphin may not need man," notes the book Mysteries of the Deep. "he is curious and quite possibly gets as much pleasure from watching our antic as we do his."


During our summer of surf and when camping along the coast near Santa Barbara, we have witnessed the Dolphins surfing the waves like this picture shows. It is breathtaking!!!! If dolphins are around when you are swimming in the ocean it is not unusual for them to come just out of reach to check you out!!! They really are a very friendly species. They are extremely playful.


To see under water more accurately, dolphins use an echolocation, or sonar, system which operates on a frequency similar to that of an ultrasound scan. The dolphins send out clicks, and the "pictures" they receive enable them to locate food and other objects of interest --including us! Dolphins communicate with one another using high-pitched whistles--transmitted at frequencies ten times higher and four and a half times faster than human speech. Rather than using a language as we know it, dolphins seem to create 'sound pictures'

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMCf7SNUb-Q


Little girls and dolphins I couldn't resist:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YedGn_ZD5dw

youtube.com/watch?v=Jsct3wNPPJc

This video is for Krista:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCAUleX5h8A&feature=related

5 comments:

Gram said...

I love the dolphins and whales. I hope all of my grandchildren get to see these videos.

sandyseashells said...

What a beautiful, gentle animal. Who doesn't love dolphins. We can learn many good things from them. I love those videos. That was very relaxing and calming for me to watch. Thanks, sis.

Pedaling said...

loved all 3. the little girls one was my favorite.
i was reading about dolphins in readers digest the other day- it was telling about how after a man was seriously bitten by a shark that the dolphins kind of encircled him for protection until he got some help and to the shore.
krista loves baluga whales because she was picked out of the audience at around age 6 or 7 at sea world to participate and was kissed by a baluga whale

In the wine country said...

I have heard that dolphins will protect people in the water. One story is that a fighter plane was shot down in the Pacific and the dolphins pushed their life boat to an island, unfortunely it was occupied by the Japanese. Another fact about dolphins is that when one gives birth, they surround the mother and new calf to keep the sharks away! How can you not love a creature like that!

Krista said...

belugas seem to almost have the same playful behavior as dolphins. so cute