Ellison, K.
The wrong spin on dolphins Journal Article
In: Frontiers in Ecology, vol. 7, no. 366, pp. 452, 2009.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: disturbance, Dolphin assisted therapy, dolphin watching, Hawaii, regulations, Spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris, Threats
@article{,
title = {The wrong spin on dolphins},
author = {Ellison, K.},
year = {2009},
date = {2009-01-01},
journal = {Frontiers in Ecology},
volume = {7},
number = {366},
pages = {452},
abstract = {I was kayaking in a bay along Hawai’i’s Big Island when they surfaced: an undulating line of fins that suggested
why so many ancient explorers believed in sea monsters. The pod of spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) looked like
nothing so much as a dragon’s back, until one of the creatures leaped and twisted aloft, as if – it seemed to me, at least
– inviting admiration. My young son splashed into the water to swim with them, to my vicarious joy. Just seeing these wild creatures at such
close range was something we’d never forget. Only after returning to the pier did I notice the billboards posted by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Half-hidden, these urged visitors to stay at least 50
yards away from the dolphins, and never to approach them. The rule is more than reasonable. The dolphins hunt in
deep water by night, using the shallow bay – where it’s easier to spot predators – to rest. Dolphins can
nap even while they’re swimming together. In other words, we were paddling through their bedroom.
Nor were we alone. Half a dozen other kayaks and a noisy tour boat were also following the dolphin pod
that afternoon. While not endangered per se, these cetaceans are certainly at risk of being run ragged by misguided human affection. Take this
to the extreme and you get Joan Ocean and the Sirius Institute, both based on the Big Island. Ocean’s website
describes her as a psychologist, shaman, and “authority on the subject of Dolphin Tel-Empathic Communication”. She
runs week-long excursions – for $1795 – in which participants progress from swimming with dolphins to “merging
with their group mind, their patterns of higher consciousness, and their telepathic visions and loving messages”.
(Incidentally, Ocean has recently branched out into reporting on her alleged encounters with “Sasquatch”.) Several years ago, Ocean was charged and fined under a
federal statute prohibiting harassment of marine mammals. Yet according to Jayne LeFors, NOAA’s point woman for
dolphin protection in Hawai’i, the fine amounted to less than the revenue generated by one seminar participant, and,
understandably, wasn’t much of a deterrent. The similarly fervent Sirius Institute champions the “dolphinization
of the planet”. Among other activities, it has developed a center for women to give birth underwater,
“assisted” by dolphins. The institute’s cofounder, Paradise Newland, says she gave birth to her own son while surrounded
by dolphins, and maintains that a dolphin healed the injured vertebrae in her neck with its sonar.
Reports of such “dolphin-assisted therapy” are increasing worldwide, despite strong indications that many of them
amount to dangerous wishful thinking. The internet is brimming with stories of dolphins supposedly mitigating symptoms of disorders,
including cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, and autism. But in 2007, writing in Anthrozoös, the journal of the
International Society for Anthrozoology, two Emory University researchers warned that the trend is a “lose–lose”
proposition for both people and dolphins. They concluded that no valid evidence exists for any long-term benefit from
the therapy, while people who spend thousands of dollars to interact with dolphins not only lose money but put themselves
and the dolphins at risk of injury and infection. According to LeFors, Hawai’i’s dolphin-loving commerce has intensified in recent years, for several reasons. The law
meant to shield the creatures is not only toothless, but vexingly vague. As LeFors explained, “harassment” – defined as pursuit,
torment, and annoyance – is difficult to prove. “You almost have to be in the mind of the dolphin to know if
it’s being tormented or annoyed”, she added wearily. Furthermore, the dolphins may in fact approach swimmers
or boats in a seemingly playful manner, which LeFors compares to a child staying up watching videos,
long after bedtime. “They don’t necessarily know what’s good for them”, she explained. Another problem is a lack of data pointing to harm from
these activities. A 2006 study in Conservation Biology documented significant declines of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops
truncatus) in Shark’s Bay, Australia, after several years of similar intrusions by tourists. LeFors suspects the Hawaiian
spinner dolphin population has also declined, a hunch that has led NOAA to commission research to explore this question.
Better data could help justify tighter restrictions. In 2004, Egypt set strict limits on swimming and boating in a
Red Sea bay frequented by spinner dolphins, after researchers demonstrated the toll from overenthusiastic
hordes of humans. As I learned to my embarrassment, it’s easy to misinterpret the charismatic dolphins. We see what we want to see, with
dolphins as with life. Where I’d anthropomorphically assumed their leaping in the air to be playful and friendly,
LeFors said it more likely meant they were annoyed at being disturbed. It’s a lot like that famous scene from The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which the dolphins – after trying to warn humans about the planet’s impending
destruction, only to be cheered for their supposed antics – abruptly depart with},
keywords = {disturbance, Dolphin assisted therapy, dolphin watching, Hawaii, regulations, Spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris, Threats},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
I was kayaking in a bay along Hawai’i’s Big Island when they surfaced: an undulating line of fins that suggested
why so many ancient explorers believed in sea monsters. The pod of spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) looked like
nothing so much as a dragon’s back, until one of the creatures leaped and twisted aloft, as if – it seemed to me, at least
– inviting admiration. My young son splashed into the water to swim with them, to my vicarious joy. Just seeing these wild creatures at such
close range was something we’d never forget. Only after returning to the pier did I notice the billboards posted by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Half-hidden, these urged visitors to stay at least 50
yards away from the dolphins, and never to approach them. The rule is more than reasonable. The dolphins hunt in
deep water by night, using the shallow bay – where it’s easier to spot predators – to rest. Dolphins can
nap even while they’re swimming together. In other words, we were paddling through their bedroom.
Nor were we alone. Half a dozen other kayaks and a noisy tour boat were also following the dolphin pod
that afternoon. While not endangered per se, these cetaceans are certainly at risk of being run ragged by misguided human affection. Take this
to the extreme and you get Joan Ocean and the Sirius Institute, both based on the Big Island. Ocean’s website
describes her as a psychologist, shaman, and “authority on the subject of Dolphin Tel-Empathic Communication”. She
runs week-long excursions – for $1795 – in which participants progress from swimming with dolphins to “merging
with their group mind, their patterns of higher consciousness, and their telepathic visions and loving messages”.
(Incidentally, Ocean has recently branched out into reporting on her alleged encounters with “Sasquatch”.) Several years ago, Ocean was charged and fined under a
federal statute prohibiting harassment of marine mammals. Yet according to Jayne LeFors, NOAA’s point woman for
dolphin protection in Hawai’i, the fine amounted to less than the revenue generated by one seminar participant, and,
understandably, wasn’t much of a deterrent. The similarly fervent Sirius Institute champions the “dolphinization
of the planet”. Among other activities, it has developed a center for women to give birth underwater,
“assisted” by dolphins. The institute’s cofounder, Paradise Newland, says she gave birth to her own son while surrounded
by dolphins, and maintains that a dolphin healed the injured vertebrae in her neck with its sonar.
Reports of such “dolphin-assisted therapy” are increasing worldwide, despite strong indications that many of them
amount to dangerous wishful thinking. The internet is brimming with stories of dolphins supposedly mitigating symptoms of disorders,
including cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, and autism. But in 2007, writing in Anthrozoös, the journal of the
International Society for Anthrozoology, two Emory University researchers warned that the trend is a “lose–lose”
proposition for both people and dolphins. They concluded that no valid evidence exists for any long-term benefit from
the therapy, while people who spend thousands of dollars to interact with dolphins not only lose money but put themselves
and the dolphins at risk of injury and infection. According to LeFors, Hawai’i’s dolphin-loving commerce has intensified in recent years, for several reasons. The law
meant to shield the creatures is not only toothless, but vexingly vague. As LeFors explained, “harassment” – defined as pursuit,
torment, and annoyance – is difficult to prove. “You almost have to be in the mind of the dolphin to know if
it’s being tormented or annoyed”, she added wearily. Furthermore, the dolphins may in fact approach swimmers
or boats in a seemingly playful manner, which LeFors compares to a child staying up watching videos,
long after bedtime. “They don’t necessarily know what’s good for them”, she explained. Another problem is a lack of data pointing to harm from
these activities. A 2006 study in Conservation Biology documented significant declines of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops
truncatus) in Shark’s Bay, Australia, after several years of similar intrusions by tourists. LeFors suspects the Hawaiian
spinner dolphin population has also declined, a hunch that has led NOAA to commission research to explore this question.
Better data could help justify tighter restrictions. In 2004, Egypt set strict limits on swimming and boating in a
Red Sea bay frequented by spinner dolphins, after researchers demonstrated the toll from overenthusiastic
hordes of humans. As I learned to my embarrassment, it’s easy to misinterpret the charismatic dolphins. We see what we want to see, with
dolphins as with life. Where I’d anthropomorphically assumed their leaping in the air to be playful and friendly,
LeFors said it more likely meant they were annoyed at being disturbed. It’s a lot like that famous scene from The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which the dolphins – after trying to warn humans about the planet’s impending
destruction, only to be cheered for their supposed antics – abruptly depart with
why so many ancient explorers believed in sea monsters. The pod of spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) looked like
nothing so much as a dragon’s back, until one of the creatures leaped and twisted aloft, as if – it seemed to me, at least
– inviting admiration. My young son splashed into the water to swim with them, to my vicarious joy. Just seeing these wild creatures at such
close range was something we’d never forget. Only after returning to the pier did I notice the billboards posted by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Half-hidden, these urged visitors to stay at least 50
yards away from the dolphins, and never to approach them. The rule is more than reasonable. The dolphins hunt in
deep water by night, using the shallow bay – where it’s easier to spot predators – to rest. Dolphins can
nap even while they’re swimming together. In other words, we were paddling through their bedroom.
Nor were we alone. Half a dozen other kayaks and a noisy tour boat were also following the dolphin pod
that afternoon. While not endangered per se, these cetaceans are certainly at risk of being run ragged by misguided human affection. Take this
to the extreme and you get Joan Ocean and the Sirius Institute, both based on the Big Island. Ocean’s website
describes her as a psychologist, shaman, and “authority on the subject of Dolphin Tel-Empathic Communication”. She
runs week-long excursions – for $1795 – in which participants progress from swimming with dolphins to “merging
with their group mind, their patterns of higher consciousness, and their telepathic visions and loving messages”.
(Incidentally, Ocean has recently branched out into reporting on her alleged encounters with “Sasquatch”.) Several years ago, Ocean was charged and fined under a
federal statute prohibiting harassment of marine mammals. Yet according to Jayne LeFors, NOAA’s point woman for
dolphin protection in Hawai’i, the fine amounted to less than the revenue generated by one seminar participant, and,
understandably, wasn’t much of a deterrent. The similarly fervent Sirius Institute champions the “dolphinization
of the planet”. Among other activities, it has developed a center for women to give birth underwater,
“assisted” by dolphins. The institute’s cofounder, Paradise Newland, says she gave birth to her own son while surrounded
by dolphins, and maintains that a dolphin healed the injured vertebrae in her neck with its sonar.
Reports of such “dolphin-assisted therapy” are increasing worldwide, despite strong indications that many of them
amount to dangerous wishful thinking. The internet is brimming with stories of dolphins supposedly mitigating symptoms of disorders,
including cerebral palsy, Down’s syndrome, and autism. But in 2007, writing in Anthrozoös, the journal of the
International Society for Anthrozoology, two Emory University researchers warned that the trend is a “lose–lose”
proposition for both people and dolphins. They concluded that no valid evidence exists for any long-term benefit from
the therapy, while people who spend thousands of dollars to interact with dolphins not only lose money but put themselves
and the dolphins at risk of injury and infection. According to LeFors, Hawai’i’s dolphin-loving commerce has intensified in recent years, for several reasons. The law
meant to shield the creatures is not only toothless, but vexingly vague. As LeFors explained, “harassment” – defined as pursuit,
torment, and annoyance – is difficult to prove. “You almost have to be in the mind of the dolphin to know if
it’s being tormented or annoyed”, she added wearily. Furthermore, the dolphins may in fact approach swimmers
or boats in a seemingly playful manner, which LeFors compares to a child staying up watching videos,
long after bedtime. “They don’t necessarily know what’s good for them”, she explained. Another problem is a lack of data pointing to harm from
these activities. A 2006 study in Conservation Biology documented significant declines of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops
truncatus) in Shark’s Bay, Australia, after several years of similar intrusions by tourists. LeFors suspects the Hawaiian
spinner dolphin population has also declined, a hunch that has led NOAA to commission research to explore this question.
Better data could help justify tighter restrictions. In 2004, Egypt set strict limits on swimming and boating in a
Red Sea bay frequented by spinner dolphins, after researchers demonstrated the toll from overenthusiastic
hordes of humans. As I learned to my embarrassment, it’s easy to misinterpret the charismatic dolphins. We see what we want to see, with
dolphins as with life. Where I’d anthropomorphically assumed their leaping in the air to be playful and friendly,
LeFors said it more likely meant they were annoyed at being disturbed. It’s a lot like that famous scene from The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, in which the dolphins – after trying to warn humans about the planet’s impending
destruction, only to be cheered for their supposed antics – abruptly depart with
Farrenkopf,A.M.,Luther III,G.W.
Iodine chemistry reflects productivity and denitrification in the Arabian Sea: evidence for flux of dissolved species from sediments of western India into the OMZ Journal Article
In: Deep-Sea Research Part II, vol. 49 , no. 91, pp. 2303-2318, 2002.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: Arabian Sea, Atlantic, Hawaii, India, Oceanic, oxygen minimum, productivity
@article{,
title = {Iodine chemistry reflects productivity and denitrification in the Arabian Sea: evidence for flux of dissolved species from sediments of western India into the OMZ},
author = {Farrenkopf,A.M.,Luther III,G.W.},
year = {2002},
date = {2002-01-01},
journal = {Deep-Sea Research Part II},
volume = {49 },
number = {91},
pages = {2303-2318},
abstract = {Dissolved iodine species and total iodine concentrations were measured in the Arabian Sea during the Spring Intermonsoon of 1995. Two separate regimes of iodine chemistry are highlighted in this study: (1) the well-oxygenated surface layer (WOSL) where iodide concentrations were in the range of 158-558 nM, and (2) the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) where total iodine concentrations [primarily as iodide and in excess to the oceanic iodine/salinity ratio of ~13] varied from ~200 to 950 nM. Iodine data in the WOSL of the Arabian Sea are contrasted with data from the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Station (BATS), the Hawaii Ocean Time-series Station ALOHA (HOT), VERTEX in the Pacific and the Black Sea. Total iodine concentrations in excess of 400nM were observed in eastern portions of the OMZ. The eastern portion of the basin has a permanent denitrification zone as well as high concentrations of dissolved Mn2+ (d- Mn2+) and iodide. While there is precedent for high values of iodide and total iodine in several other isolated basins, this is the first report of such values in open-ocean waters. Potential sources of excess total iodine to the OMZ include advection along isopycnals, from hydrothermal vents or margin sediments; atmospheric deposition; and remineralization of sinking particulate organic iodine (POI) associated with elevated productivity in surface waters. We estimate that only 3.6% of the excess total iodine can result from remineralization of sinking POI from the WOSL to the OMZ. Advection from margin sediments off of India is the most plausible source of iodine to the OMZ and contributes ~96% of the total excess iodine to the OMZ. I- is maintained as the dominant form of iodine via in situ reduction of iodate by bacteria.},
keywords = {Arabian Sea, Atlantic, Hawaii, India, Oceanic, oxygen minimum, productivity},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Dissolved iodine species and total iodine concentrations were measured in the Arabian Sea during the Spring Intermonsoon of 1995. Two separate regimes of iodine chemistry are highlighted in this study: (1) the well-oxygenated surface layer (WOSL) where iodide concentrations were in the range of 158-558 nM, and (2) the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) where total iodine concentrations [primarily as iodide and in excess to the oceanic iodine/salinity ratio of ~13] varied from ~200 to 950 nM. Iodine data in the WOSL of the Arabian Sea are contrasted with data from the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Station (BATS), the Hawaii Ocean Time-series Station ALOHA (HOT), VERTEX in the Pacific and the Black Sea. Total iodine concentrations in excess of 400nM were observed in eastern portions of the OMZ. The eastern portion of the basin has a permanent denitrification zone as well as high concentrations of dissolved Mn2+ (d- Mn2+) and iodide. While there is precedent for high values of iodide and total iodine in several other isolated basins, this is the first report of such values in open-ocean waters. Potential sources of excess total iodine to the OMZ include advection along isopycnals, from hydrothermal vents or margin sediments; atmospheric deposition; and remineralization of sinking particulate organic iodine (POI) associated with elevated productivity in surface waters. We estimate that only 3.6% of the excess total iodine can result from remineralization of sinking POI from the WOSL to the OMZ. Advection from margin sediments off of India is the most plausible source of iodine to the OMZ and contributes ~96% of the total excess iodine to the OMZ. I- is maintained as the dominant form of iodine via in situ reduction of iodate by bacteria.
Dudzinkski,K.M.,Frohoff,T.G.,Spradlin,T.R.
Wild Dolphin Swim Program Workshop Technical Report
no. 361, 1999.
Abstract | BibTeX | Tags: Australia, behaviour, bottlenose dolphin, bottlenose dolphins, Brazil, Hawaii, Japan, management, Spinner dolphin, swim with dolphins, Whale watching
@techreport{,
title = {Wild Dolphin Swim Program Workshop},
author = {Dudzinkski,K.M.,Frohoff,T.G.,Spradlin,T.R.},
year = {1999},
date = {1999-01-01},
journal = {Workshop held in conjunction with the 13th Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals},
number = {361},
pages = {1-72},
abstract = {The workshop addressed many issues related to swimming with wild dolphins and the report includes abstracts/summaries of presentations on the following subjects: Interactions between the public and wild dolphins in the United States: Biological Concerns and the Marine Mammal Protection Act; Interactions between humans and bottlenose dolphins near Panama City, FLConcerns about Hawaiian spinner dolphins in HawaiiManagement Policies in New Zealand regarding wild dolphin swim programmesManagement of commercial swim with dolphin programmes in AustraliaMinimizing Impact and maximizing research during human dolphin interactions in the BahamasVessel and human impact monitoring of the dolphins of Little Bahamas BankWhale and Dolphin watching and associated research programs in the Ogasawara Islands, Japanan Example Approach the dolphin swimming/watching programs around Mikura Island, JapanIncomplete history of spinner dolphin research in HawaiiThe Hawaiian spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris: effects of tourismSwimming with wild dolphins in New Zealand: a multispecies research exampleLearning dolphin "etiquette" by understanding their rules of behaviour and interactionConducting research on human-dolphin interactions: captive dolphins, free-ranging dolphins, solitary dolphins and dolphin groupsObservations of a lone sociable dolphin in BelizeApproaching wild dolphins in Brazil: potential risks in a near futureConsequences of swimming with a lone female bottlenose dolphin in the gulf of Eilat/AqabaStudying the human/dolphin interactions from a cliff-side in Kaikura, New ZealandBehavior and ecology of common dolphins and the impact of tourism in the Coromandel Bay of Plenty region, New ZealandResearch on Hawaiian Spinner dolphins in Kealakekua Bay, HawaiiA study of the Hawaiian spinner dolphins around OahuUnderwater research of dolphins in BelizeThe number of dolphin watching boats limited per day, according to a treaty about dolphin watching in Mikura Island watersBibliography of Human/Dolphin Interactions (19pp)},
keywords = {Australia, behaviour, bottlenose dolphin, bottlenose dolphins, Brazil, Hawaii, Japan, management, Spinner dolphin, swim with dolphins, Whale watching},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {techreport}
}
The workshop addressed many issues related to swimming with wild dolphins and the report includes abstracts/summaries of presentations on the following subjects: Interactions between the public and wild dolphins in the United States: Biological Concerns and the Marine Mammal Protection Act; Interactions between humans and bottlenose dolphins near Panama City, FLConcerns about Hawaiian spinner dolphins in HawaiiManagement Policies in New Zealand regarding wild dolphin swim programmesManagement of commercial swim with dolphin programmes in AustraliaMinimizing Impact and maximizing research during human dolphin interactions in the BahamasVessel and human impact monitoring of the dolphins of Little Bahamas BankWhale and Dolphin watching and associated research programs in the Ogasawara Islands, Japanan Example Approach the dolphin swimming/watching programs around Mikura Island, JapanIncomplete history of spinner dolphin research in HawaiiThe Hawaiian spinner dolphin, Stenella longirostris: effects of tourismSwimming with wild dolphins in New Zealand: a multispecies research exampleLearning dolphin "etiquette" by understanding their rules of behaviour and interactionConducting research on human-dolphin interactions: captive dolphins, free-ranging dolphins, solitary dolphins and dolphin groupsObservations of a lone sociable dolphin in BelizeApproaching wild dolphins in Brazil: potential risks in a near futureConsequences of swimming with a lone female bottlenose dolphin in the gulf of Eilat/AqabaStudying the human/dolphin interactions from a cliff-side in Kaikura, New ZealandBehavior and ecology of common dolphins and the impact of tourism in the Coromandel Bay of Plenty region, New ZealandResearch on Hawaiian Spinner dolphins in Kealakekua Bay, HawaiiA study of the Hawaiian spinner dolphins around OahuUnderwater research of dolphins in BelizeThe number of dolphin watching boats limited per day, according to a treaty about dolphin watching in Mikura Island watersBibliography of Human/Dolphin Interactions (19pp)