| Radio programs for the week of 10 July 2000 (fe00710 - fe00714) | For more information: | ||
Bottlenose Dolphin: King of the Sea? I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. Perhaps no animal is tied to the image of Florida so much as the bottlenose dolphin. Partly because of a 1960s television series, and partly because of a natural fascination with the marine mammal, humans have befriended the creature (John Reynolds, Ph.D., professor of marine science and biology, Eckerd College, chairman of U.S. Marine Mammal Commission). "In many ways, bottlenose dolphins are middle-of-the-roaders." John Reynolds is co-author of a book called Bottlenose Dolphin: Biology and Conservation... "When you compare them with other small toothed whales... they don't live as long as some, they don't grow as big as some, they don't dive as deep as some. On the other hand, they do all those things better than some others." But it is bottlenose dolphin that have been touted for their intelligence... "Generally the species with which people have worked most closely on intelligence -- whatever intelligence really means -- is the bottlenose." Whatever intelligence really means... "We have over a hundred IQ or intelligence quotience tests for our own species, and can't quite seem to come to grips with what our own species intelligence might be. It's very difficult to categorize the term with other species." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University, and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
|||
 fe00711An adaptable dolphin I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. Scientists say many of the superlative humankind has attached to bottlenose dolphin are undeserved... that the creature, popularized on TV is perhaps not the smartest, or the fastest. But the Bottlenose Dolphin's middle-of-the-road attributes may combine to a great strength (John Reynolds, Ph.D., professor of marine science and biology, Eckerd College, chairman of U.S. Marine Mammal Commission)... "One of the superlatives that you can say about the bottlenose is that it is a superior opportunist. Because it is middle of the road in terms of body size and certain types of social behaviors, and so on, it can take advantage of a lot of different habitats and a lot of different situations and thrive. John Reynolds is co-author of a book on Bottlenose Dolphin... "Because it is so adaptabile, and because it is used to shallow waters and navigating around bottoms and around obstacles, one of the things that it does very well is adapt to captivity." And even in captivity, Bottlenose Dolphin thrive. Another reason that humans feel so comfortable around them... "Many species are very difficult to keep in captivity. The bottlenose has made the adjustment pretty well and breeds well in captivity and so on. That's one of the reasons we know so much about it. For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University, and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
|||
| fe00712 Man's threat to dolphins I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. At present, there is little reason to think of Florida's Bottlenose Dolphin as an endangered species. But their relative abundance, now, doesn't stop dolphin researchers from pondering the future (John Reynolds, Ph.D., professor of marine science and biology, Eckerd College, chairman of U.S. Marine Mammal Commission)... "These are animals that live in waters that we've impacted a lot. And they may be showing the effects of that." Marine Biologist John Reynolds is co-author of a book called Bottlenose Dolphin: Biology and Conservation... "We're worried for example about the effects over a 45 to 50 year life span, of what toxicants in the water might do to dolphins." Their long life-span is part of the reason for concern... "With a lot of the subtle and overt things that humans do, a species that lives in such close proximity to us and has such a long life span over which it can accumulate insults, we've got to be a little bit concerned." At present though, Dolphin populations are doing better than some marine species... "Dolphins aren't in the same boat as some of the endangered species like Manatees and marine turtles and some other species for which there aren't very high numbers and for which human impacts -- especially in the case of Manatees -- may be much higher than for dolphins." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University, and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
|||
| fe00713 Dolphin: Friend or Foe? I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. The bottlenose dolphin is a familiar sight near Florida's coast, and is often thought of as a "friend"to man. But scientists say that might be one of many misperceptions about the marine mammal (John Reynolds, Ph.D., professor of marine science and biology, Eckerd College, chairman of U.S. Marine Mammal Commission)... "I think that the image the public has is that dolphins really like people, and that dolphins want to be around us and that dolphins, maybe some people feel, actually need us." Marine biologist John Reynolds is one of the authors of a book called "Bottlenose Dolphin: Biology and Conservation". "The same behaviors that they do that we interpret as loving toward us, they may do toward inanimate objects. We simply choose to interpret them as wonderful, caring acts." In fact, the dolphin deserve a healthy respect... "They're wonderful animals; they're not trivial animals. They're not animals we should underestimate in terms of their physical power. Dolphins are big predators: big dolphin can weigh 600 pounds or more. There are instances of dolphins actually killing people." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University, and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
|||
| fe00714 The future of bottlenose dolphin I'm Kevin Pierce with the Florida Environment. Scientists say that human interest in bottlenose dolphin is both a wonderful and terrible thing. Attention and awareness, they say, is a good thing. But there can be too much of a good thing (John Reynolds, Ph.D., professor of marine science and biology, Eckerd College, chairman of U.S. Marine Mammal Commission)... "The Bottlenose Dolphin, perhaps more than any other marine mammal, is symbolic in much of the minds of the public. And I think that symbolism can work for or against the animal." Marine Biologist John Reynolds says dolphins neither want nor need human contact... "Swimming with them or otherwise interacting closely with them doesn't necessarily do the animals any good, even though those activities are done with the best of all possible intentions." He suggests keeping the intentions... and keeping a distance. "The future that I'd like to paint for the dolphins is one where we continue to have great respect for what the dolphins are and can do. But that we do it from a little bit greater distance from where we currently do it." Reynolds hopes education is the key about the species popularized by TV's "Flipper." "What I hope we can do is educate the public about what the animals truly are, rather than what the old TV show suggested what they might be." For more information, visit floridaenvironment.com. With help from its Environmental Studies Program, we're produced at the Whitaker Center at Florida Gulf Coast University, and funded by the Southwest Florida Council for Environment Education. |
