Dolphins and the Strait of Hormuz/Why the sea turned red in Denmark

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arion
Excerpt:
Although notable for his musical inventions, Arion is chiefly remembered for the fantastic myth of his kidnapping by pirates and miraculous rescue by dolphins, a folktale motif

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/arion-to-a-dolphin-on-his-majesty-s-passage-into/
Excerpt:

  Why the sea turned red in Denmark. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q0fnlQlO4Y

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/navys-plan-to-keep-strait-of-hormuz-open-dolphins/
Excerpt:

(Image source: The Atlantic)

With tensions rising as Iran continues to threaten the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf, the Navy has a way to keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz open. The answer? Dolphins.
As a report in The Atlantic details, the Navy has “a solution that isn’t heavily-advertised but has a time-tested success rate: mine-detecting dolphins”:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_dolphin
Excerpt:
A military dolphin is a dolphin trained for military uses. The United States and Russian militaries have trained and employed oceanic dolphins for several reasons. Such military dolphins have been trained to rescue lost naval swimmers or to locate underwater mines.
The U.S. Navy trains dolphins and sea lions under the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program, which is based in San Diego, California. Military dolphins were used by the U.S. Navy during the First and Second Gulf Wars.^[1] About 75 dolphins are in the program.^[2]

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/mar/26/local/la-me-0326-dolphins-military-20110326
Excerpt:

Dolphins die after underwater Navy training exercise near San Diego

Three of the marine mammals were found dead this month during explosives training near the coast. The long-beaked common dolphins showed injuries consistent with blast trauma.

March 26, 2011|By Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times

Three dolphins died this month during a Navy training exercise using underwater explosives near the San Diego County coast, authorities said Friday.
Scientists have yet to officially determine what caused the deaths at the Silver Strand Training Complex near Coronado, but examinations of the animals showed injuries consistent with blast trauma.

http://twincities.indymedia.org/2011/mar/navy-explosives-kill-dolphins-and-45-other-ways-worlds-military-slaughter-animals
Excerpt:
revised March 29 2011


Trillions of Animals Died in World War I and II

Countless trillions of animals died in World War II of atom bomb testing,
of bombing, starvation, abandonment. Animals were bulldozed by tanks, shot
by machine guns. Zoos were intentionally bombed.
Family dairy cows were rounded up, butchered, and eaten. Animals
were victims of torture in military labs. 20 million horses died in World
War I.

They were the devoured, the blinded, the maimed,
the dis-armed, the trampled, the lamed
They died freezing, blown apart, drowned, unfamed,
these helpless victims, silent and unnamed


http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Saints/Authors/Poetry/Poetry2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_drive_hunting
Excerpt:
Dolphin drive hunting, also called dolphin drive fishing, is a method of hunting dolphins and occasionally other small cetaceans by driving them together with boats and then usually into a bay or onto a beach. Their escape is prevented by closing off the route to the open sea or ocean with boats and nets. Dolphins are hunted this way in several places around the world, including the Solomon Islands, the Faroe Islands, Peru, and Japan, the most well-known practitioner of this method. Dolphins are mostly hunted for their meat; some are captured and end up in dolphinariums.

Despite the controversial nature of the hunt resulting in international criticism, and the possible health risk that the often polluted meat causes, thousands of dolphins are caught in drive hunts each year.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Why-Are-Dolphins-So-Intelligent-46144.shtml
Excerpt:
Scientists looked for the factors that produced the big brain of the dolphins:

_The possibility of movement in all directions (forward, backward, upward, downward, to the right, to the left), while their terrestrial ancestors moved only on a bi-dimensional plan; this developed the motor cortex;

_Fast swimming developed for catching very fast prey (fish, cephalopods); for fast speed and good space orientation the organism needed a more developed sensorial system, including sensorial cortex;

_The strong development of the auditory sense, which allows them to perceive a large spectrum of sounds, from a few hertz to 200 Khz (all the sound waves over 20 Khz are ultrasounds, undetectable for the human ears). Using ultrasound echolocation, dolphins can detect food (and its nature, size, distance) or the presence of their fellows;

_Group life and collective hunt, which triggered the development of a complex social behavior and communication system, based on sounds (clicks and whisperings) and ultrasounds;

_The protein rich food enhanced the brain development;

_The offspring stays for a long time with their parents, so they receive a long time "training" and the transmission of individual experiences (the so-called "culture", so typical to human populations and amongst animals found till now in chimpanzees).

And dolphins do live enough for cultural transmission (about 30-40 years). In fact, scientists even found that each dolphin population has its own dialect, and dolphins belonging to different populations cannot understand the callings of the others. But it is wrong to compare dolphins with the humans, as the causes that triggered brain development in the two evolutionary branches are different. In dolphins, this high intelligence level emerged as an adaptation to the water environment.

http://www.ehow.com/about_4572048_what-dolphins-family-like.html
Excerpt:

What is a Dolphin's Family Like?

Contributing Writer

LMT, CBE and Freelance Writer

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By an eHow Contributor

What is a Dolphin's Family Like?

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Being part of a dolphin family has both many benefits and some difficulties as well. What makes up the members of a dolphin family?

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 Parent Families

Identification -A dolphin family is called a pod or, less often, a school. The male dolphins are called bulls, the females are known as cows and the babies called calves.

Size - A dolphin pod is usually made up of related family members with around a dozen or so members on average. However, during certain seasons or where food in plentiful, many smaller family groups may join together in what scientists call "superpods." These superpods can have hundreds of dolphins in them during the short time they remain together.

Significance  - A family group is important for a dolphin. Researchers are discovering that baby calves actually learn from their parents. Some pods of dolphins have even been observed teaching their young how to use tools in the form of sponges carried in their mouths.

Benefits - For a dolphin, being part of a family group has many benefits. Dolphins help each other find and capture food. A pod of dolphins is also less vulnerable to attack than an individual. Dolphin families are known to look after a sick or injured member also, to the point of physically lifting them to the top of the water if the hurt member is too weak to breathe on their own

http://tursiops.org/delphina/dol-del.html
Excerpt:
Dolfin and Delphinaby Vaghn (1996)
I sat on the beach, all alone.
I sat there and cried, 'til the morning sun shown.
Then they came, like a gift from the sea.
I knew somehow, that they came to comfort me.
They chittered and chirped and danced and played.
They made me smile throughout the day.
I came to understand the language they spoke.
It was full of happiness and freedom and hope.
Their dances were more graceful than the most talented ballerina...
They told me their names were Dolfin and Delphina.
They picked me up, when I was down...
They helped me to swim so that I wouldn't drown.
Now I know the magic they share...
I feel their love and endless care.
Then it was time for them to leave me...
But I know that tomorrow they will come to see me.
They have shown me that I have a dolphin inside...
I know now that I can not hide.
I long to be with them, to be free...
Someday I will, I have a dolphin in me.

http://bikyamasr.com/51313/egypt-declares-a-dolphin-sanctuary-in-hurghada/
Excerpt:

Egypt declares a dolphin sanctuary in Hurghada

Joseph Mayton | 21 December 2011 | 0 Comments

Dolphin sanctuary Hurghada map

AIRO: Egypt’s Red Sea Governor Mahmoud Assem announced this week the establishment of a dolphin sanctuary off the coast of Hurghada. The announcement was praised by local environmental groups, saying the effort could help protect and save Egypt’s dwindling dolphin population.
“Over the past years the amount of stress exerted upon this population by the tourism industry has been phenomenal, with unregulated and unsustainable dolphin watching and swimming-with activities happening on daily basis,” said the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Agency (HEPCA) in a statement.
It said the move to establish the sanctuary is the “first step” toward greater protection of dolphins in Egyptian water.
The sanctuary and protected area will run across the Fanous Reef and will bar all vessels from entering the area.
Diving and snorkeling can still occur in the area, but must be in accordance with the new “safe zone” procedures to maintain the ecological environment.
“This much needed decision was taken after the harassment of dolphins in the wild in the past had become far too prevalent at Fanous Reef; vessels posed a serious threat to dolphins as well as snorkels and divers at the site,” HEPCA continued.
“The new safe zone decreed by the governor will provide a sanctuary for the dolphin population and allow visitors to interact with them in a healthy and safe manner –with no associated fees-, at a location that is considered to be a critical habitat as it is regularly used by Indo-pacific bottlenose dolphins for socializing and potentially resting,” it added.

It is the first such animal sanctuary for Egyptian water and could help bring back dolphins to the Red Sea coast, as reports indicate that dolphin populations have been moving further and further south as a result of pollution in the northern Red Sea area.