14 January 2003 - 00:06

Christmas was wonderful, as Christmases always are. The rest of vacation was spent cheerfully and productively with my new toys and my new computer, a Dell I dubbed Mithril.

Nonetheless, I was happy to return to Sarasota--the water, the warmth, and the lovenest I share with Wheel. I slipped back into a schedule of work, hacking away at my Thesis, birding (for ISP), and organizing things (the room, my finances, my dolphin papers, etc.).

And on Friday, Wheel and I gathered up our things. We packed two bags full of nonperishable food, and in the evening, we were whisked away by a friend (and alumn), DXZ5. We crashed at his pad (45 minutes+ south) before proceeding to Miami.

Yes, we spent Saturday at the Miami Seaquarium, bracketed of course by long car trips. We arrived there as they were opening, and hurried in to meet some friends, JJ and DragonSmile.

And dolphins, dolphins, dolphins! JJ lives in the area and goes there often, so he gave us some pointers to recognizing the Top Deck dolphins. I spent much of the day watching them and snapping photos of them, from above and under water.

All of the animals at the Seaquarium seemed quite well cared for. Most of the staff, and the trainers especially, seemed genuinely cheerful and very attentive.

The shows were what bothered me the most. They were pure, raw show business, and I think anyone would be hard pressed to defend their merit as "education." They are relentlessly high-energy and low-content. Moreover, they were geared towards making each and every audiance member identify with the trainers, and long to be in their places.

The Top Deck show starts off with really loud, up beat, "tropical" music ("Pina Coladas" ... "Brown Eyed Girl" ..) and the dolphins gathering under the trainers' platform in anticipation of fish/fun. Then the trainers come out and launch excitedly into their routine, saying "Aloha!" and welcoming everyone to "The islands." ("Which Islands?," I wondered to Wheel. "You know," he replied, "THE Islands. Just like Main Street.")

The trainers sketch out a show business fantasy world where they spend their time frolicking in the sun and playing games with their dolphin friends. A few bits are thrown in about dolphins being mammals rather than fish, and the fins on their sides being called "pectoral fins." Mostly there are the dolphins performing their spectacular swimming and leaping and playing with the trainers. It's all very cheerful and it is a lot of fun to watch... on the surface it seems harmless, but I have to wonder.

Three years ago I spent several months going out every weekend to help study a dolphin named Beggar. This wild dolphin has been fed by people for a very long time. I watched hundreds of boats go by, often with people banging on the sides to attract his attention. I saw people feed him pringles, bits of sandwiches, ice, and dead fish.

Like many provisioned wild animals, Beggar can be very aggressive towards humans who aren't feeding him. Apparently someone jumped into the water with him many years before, and ended up in the emergency room.

I myself saw someone reach out of the boat to try to touch him. He bit her. One of his teeth went clean through her finger. In one side, out the other, leaving a little round hole.

Not nice.

So I can't help but think that maybe the Seaquarium and places like that have had a hand in creating the Beggar-problem. They do such a good job of painting dolphins as fun to be with, and dolphin-human play as very desirable. Anything people would spend hundreds of dollars for (like participation in any of many captive swim-with-dolphins programs), they might be hard pressed to pass up for free (illegally (arguably) in the wild).

At SeaWorld you can buy fish to give to the dolphins. In the ICW, you can give your fish to Beggar for free (as long as you're not caught and held to a massive federal fine...which is unlikely). Is it really such a wonder so many people try to do it?

Of course, this is subjective, nigh untestable. And it may well be that the good that is done by encouraging people to like dolphins, and perhaps to then protect them and the oceans, is more than enough to make up for it.

Although the latter is certainly not explicit either, and I think were it really a goal, much progress is left to be made towards it.

Those musings aside, I really did have a great time. The "Flipper" show had a pretty well done spiel about training. Lolita was so big. And I got some good photos, too. It was a warm, sunny day, with good friends. JJ tossed a ball in front of one of the tank windows at one point, and one of the younger dolphins (Abaco, I think) came over to watch. April vocalized a lot above water, possibly towards us, or possibly not.

And those dolphin shows worked... I found myself wanting to be a dolphin trainer, thinking it over and over. I think I could do it. I think I'm qualified and competant. I'm a good swimmer. SCUBA certified. Fairly close to a BA in Biopsychology. Won ribbons from training my dog in Agility. I'm easy enough on the eye, good memory, eager to please. And of course, plenty of dolphin knowledge. It would be useful experience, undoubtably, and enjoyable. Yet ... concerns expressed above remain.

And Lolita's tank did look awfully small.