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Human-Dolphin Partnership Reserve
ahbe writes that the Myanmar government recently established a protected reserve for partnering between fisherman and wild dolphins. From the article: "The fascinating partnership involves fishermen summoning the dolphins to voluntarily herd schools of fish toward the boats and awaiting nets. With the aid of the river-dwelling dolphins, the fishermen can increase the size of their catches by threefold, and the dolphins appear to benefit by more easily preying on the cornered fish in both nets and on the muddy banks of the river."
And thanks for all the fish.
Just forty years ago Larry Niven, in his first book of Known Space, World of Ptaavs (now collected in the Three Books of Known Space omnibus) had dolphins talking with humans and handling tools by means of various technological implants linked to the nervous system. It seemed to be taken for granted that dolphins were self-aware and just as intelligent as human beings, they just couldn't tell us so.
Now, however, that idea is totally gone from speculative fiction. What research has been done in the last few decades that has removed hope that dolphins are really as smart as we once thought?
...that this was something that George W. would disapprove or write a constitutional amendment about.
But now that I see it's about taking advantage of nature's resources by utilizing the intelligence of others, I'm pretty sure he'd be behind it.
This really should be expected, them dolphins being the second most intelligent on the Earth and all, you know, next only to mice.
I forget the exact wording, but it goes something like: "Humans invented war, the M25 and Windows while the dolphins were just playing in the water and eating fish. On the other hand, the dolphins considered themselves more intelligent - for precisely the same reasons".
And I for one welcome our new cetacean overlords.
It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
Human/Dolphin partnerships are just the first step on the Dolphin agenda! Soon they will begin having parades and demanding marriage, and that will destory the sanctity of marriage! Marriage should be between a human and a human! Adam and Steve, not Adam and OOOEEEEEE-CLICK-CLICK-CLICK-AAAAAAAA!
Eve, I mean! Adam and Eve! I'm not gay. No one who's a good Christian is ever gay, understand? Ok. Just wanted to clear that up.
partnering between fisherman and wild dolphins.
this is just too perverse...
I love stacking my barbecues in the shed at the end of summer - you can't beat a bit of grill on grill action.
Usefulness to humans seems to be a huge evolutionary advantage.
There's also a small population of Irawaddy Dolphins in the Mekong river where Laos Cambodia and Thailand meet. They also have a population less than 100.
Sadly, being useful to local fishermen is probably the only way these creatures will be allowed to continue to exist, as human beings aren't really keen on cutting pollution, not building dams, and protecting the fisheries. Currently they're on parole from a very small tourism industry around viewing them.
Hopefully more fishermen will pick this up and they will become as common as elephants, water buffalo and the other useful creatures around here.
I remember seeing that because the sight of dolphins leaping up onto the muddy banks to grab stranded fish was really something! A localized group of dolphins innovating to maximize the resources available to them seems to indicate that they are pretty smart. I won't say that their intelligence rivals that of humans, since we clearly grasp abstract concepts pretty well and can create some pretty neat tools. But they have never started any major wars, nor have they developed weapons that can destroy most all life on Earth (to my knowledge anyway - they might be more clever and sneaky than we give them credit for), as we have. They also speak Dolphin much better than most Americans ever well. (Caveat: most Americans never speak nothin other than English, and few speak that language well. And I ain't never never met no dolphins that talk da English better than me, yo!)
(Note: I use "we" to denote myself and fellow humans. Please take this into account if you are a dolphin or of some other species that I do not think very highly of.) But yeah, dolphins got nothin on me!!!
This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
Nice idea though, and it would be cool if it were true.
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
...someone finds a bigger dick every man is screaming... and every woman got that funny Mona Lisa like smile on her lips.
Wait... this was not about SEX with dolphins ???
link
I quit!
Too late to stop the dolphin marriage
Read here.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
Be glad that they didn't evolve in such a manner, or we would be screwed. Start practicing your echolocation as soon as possible!
http://www.talknerdy.org
when they said: So long and thanks for all the fish.
"the fishermen can increase the size of their catches by threefold, and the dolphins appear to benefit by more easily preying on the cornered fish in both nets and on the muddy banks of the river."
Yeah, hurray, the dolphins get an easier catch for how long? 20 minutes? Than they lost even more fish due to humans taking up 3 times as much as usuall. Hurray! Good day for the dolphins.
Fucking stupid people who catch and eat fish from a fleet which is way to large for what the seas can handle. What will you do when you have catched all the fish?
If anything can rile up the conservative base, it's the thought of human-dolphin partnerships. I guess when he said "I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully," GWB he conveniently left out aquatic mammals, leaving an issue open for election years!
...and the dolphins die. YAY!
... that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons. -Doughlas Adams
Smarter or not, dolphins have it right.
I give bread to the poor, they call me a saint.
I ask why the poor have no bread, they call me a communist.
Actually, the idea of dolphins having near or equal to human intelligence was being bandied about in a pretty high profile setting as recently as 1996. Remember Seaquest DSV?
I swear, that must have been the easiest show ever to pitch:
A TV executive taps his pen absently, briefly pursing his lips as he scans Roy Scheider's name off a proposed cast list. The lights dim. A lone desk lamp throws light up on a couple of jittery, curly-haired men with bad suits and an overlarge portfolio that'll never be opened. One stands up, and begins to gesture: "Okay, it's Star Trek... underwater!" The pen ceases tapping.
The Burmese Government is more likely trying to use this to bring in tourists and try to make people forget that they are a brutally repressive regime, that habitually lies to their people and outsiders.
http://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
I think the government should set some pretty restrictive quotas on commercial fishing in both oceans and inland water bodies, and do something to encourage fish farming (in ponds, not pre-existing rivers). Otherwise some species are going to go extinct. This form of commercial greed is really getting outrageous, and this story is just one more example of it. Eating lots of fish is very good for us humans, but the planet can't keep up with the number of people anymore. It's time to find alternatives to satisfy the demand. I think for us to switch to mostly catfish and the like (raised in controlled conditions) might be the best way.
No, you just get a warlock and two friends, and invite the dolphin to your party.
Mark of the Coder fades from you. You perform Opening on World of Warcraft. Warcraft crits GPA for 4. GPA dies.
So, what's so funny about my last post/comment? I was being serious and NOT joking. If you don't believe me, then please kindly visit my Web sites. I am really disabled, Christian, etc.
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
I've read speculation that the unusual friendliness of dolphins towards humans stems from our being fishing partners long ago. (Also, speculation that human hairlessness and "blubber" is the result of our ancestors spending a great deal of time in the water.)
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your hollow threats do nothing for me, you need to try harder FOE.