A dolphin ostracized from its group for reasons we will never know, can find a suitable temporary substitute - a social connection with humans.
A dolphin ostracized from its group for reasons we will never know, can find a suitable temporary substitute - a social connection with humans. Dr. Oz Goffman from the Institute of Marine Studies and the Department of Maritime Civilizations at the University of Haifa, who recently submitted his doctoral thesis on the subject, estimates that the human replacement for members of the group is due to the fact that the dolphin or dolphins are unable to maintain a continuous social relationship in their natural group during a certain period of their lives.
The subject of Dr. Goffman's research is the dolphin "Holly", known to the many Israelis who have flocked to the shores of Sinai since the middle of 1994. "Holly" appeared in the Nueva area when she was nine years old and, being sexually mature, established contact on a social basis with humans. The interactions between "Holly" and humans continued on a daily basis for about six years. During the last three years of her life, she used to visit people more and more often and not on a regular basis. The dolphin, of the species Tursiops aduncus, swam and was recorded for 5.5 years of its life, in a limited and very accessible habitat, in front of the Bedouin village of Nuaiba Mazina in Sinai.
Dr. Goffman, who conducted the first study of its kind documenting the changes in the underwater behavior patterns of the dolphins towards different groups of humans over time, studied the subject for ten years. The video material that documented "Holly" was filmed using an underwater case and it included her two pregnancy cycles and raising her offspring up to the age of six months. The researcher also compared her interactions with humans to a similar relationship that developed between a dolphin named "Pita" from the Bahama Islands and humans, which was also photographed using the same method by the Oceanic-society organization from San Francisco. In the study, 423 underwater video clips of "Holi" were sampled and out of dozens of hours of footage, about 4 hours were sampled. The files were divided into units that make up the interactions between the dolphin and man, which were photographed over the years and the behavioral categories that were examined were: sharp activity, affiliative, aggressive, submissive and neutral sexual activity.
Dr. Goffman explained that the dolphins use their natural behavioral repertoire while swimming together with humans and treat the humans as if they were members of a pack, all this despite the great difference between the species. However, the dolphin preferred to have a variety of behaviors such as contact and play with smaller groups of humans swimming with it and was significantly more aggressive in the presence of a large number of swimmers - over five swimmers. At the end of the research work, Dr. Goffman got the impression that "Holly" had already had enough of human society and she began to show aggression towards each of the experimental groups, without any preference.
"The dolphins are developed marine mammals and have advanced sociable relationships. The relationships within the pack are similar in their complexity to the friendships of chimpanzees and the friendships of humans. In cases where the pod of dolphins is a permanent unit of a given size, consisting of the same dolphins every day, it can be expected that the pod will have regular social patterns," concludes Dr. Goffman, who noted that "Holly" preferred long swims with the male swimmers who swam with her on a daily basis across the swimmers who swam with her on an occasional basis.
The research was conducted with the help of the Bedouin members of the Mizna tribe of Nueva and with the help of volunteers from Hamalyi - an information research and assistance center for marine mammals in Israel. The research was directed by Prof. Ehud Shafnir, Dr. Danny Kerem, Prof. Yosef Turkel and the advisor Prof. Kerry Lawley.
5 תגובות
Apology: In further investigation we found out that Sol Diya is registered as a member of the Army under the name Soli Diya. Regardless of the question of membership, we also like the book.
Lesol Diya - why do you present yourself everywhere as a member of the army, when you are not?
Today I watched an article that was broadcast on TV, about the book "The Great Gift from the Sea", it looks like a charming and interesting book with simply stunning illustrations. Is the book in stores yet?
Excellent book
During the next two weeks, a children's book I wrote called "The Great Gift from the Sea" is about to be published, through "Kinneret Zamora Bethin Moden". The book is based on the true story of Holly the dolphin and Abdullah the deaf mute who, through their meeting and their unconditional love, finally returned to the bosom of their natural environment, which welcomed them again.
Soul is enough