Brainiacs of the Sea

admin on March 9, 2015

March 5, 2015: Kimmela Center Executive Director Lori Marino gave a talk entitled “Dolphin Brains: An Alternative to Complex Intelligence in Primates” at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) in Ocala, Florida.

The award winning IHMC Evening Lecture Series provides a community forum where individuals gather to hear presentations in topics from science and technology to urban planning to aviation.

The talk explored dolphin and whale evolution, brain size and cognitive complexity with an audience of over 300. Earlier in the day, Dr. Marino met with engineers, scientists and high school interns at the Institute to talk about artificial and nonhuman intelligence and explore the many fascinating possibilities for understanding how intelligence and consciousness evolves.

Family, friends, and freedom are as important to dolphins as they are to us humans.After the talk the IHMC staff, board members and supporters held a dinner in her honor, after which the audience and dinner companions engaged in a round-robin game of “Ask the Scientist” where everyone got to ask a question they’ve always wanted answered about dolphins and whales.

Dr. Marino explained that family, friends, and freedom are as important to dolphins as they are to us humans. And people were surprised to learn, for example, that:

  • The closest living relative to dolphins and whales is the hippopotamus. (One audience member guessed correctly!)
  • Dolphins and whales have the second highest level of encephalization (a measure of relative brain size) next to modern humans and have had their big brains for 15 million years – demonstrating that our species is just an upstart when it comes to braininess.
  • Dolphin and whale brains, on one hand, and primate brains, on the other, represent two very different ways large complex brains have evolved – “two different ways brains can produce complex intelligence and self-awareness.”
  • In addition to being able to recognize themselves in mirrors, dolphins can also play a form of the game Jeopardy in which they report (by pressing paddles) how certain they are about the answer to questions on a continuum of easy to very difficult. This ability, and self-recognition, mean that dolphins are self-aware.

Although humans like to pride themselves on their cultural sophistication, dolphins and whales share a lot of these characteristics like culture, social clubs, cooperation, and even tool use.

Recognizing Intelligence – Wherever It May Be

Lori Marino on October 30, 2014

Kimmela Center Director Lori Marino participated in a recent colloquium of scientists to discuss nonhuman communication research and the evolution of intelligence.

The meeting, which was held at The SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, on October 20-21, included discussion of new methods of exploring nonhuman animal complex communication systems on Earth that may provide insight into and tools for exploring potential future assessments of life on other planets.

Participants also presented a summary of the workshop at a public forum at the Institute. You can find the videotape of that event here:

Dr. Marino presented research showing that there is evolutionary continuity in intelligence across all animals on earth and that human intelligence is just one variation on a theme that was laid down over 600 million years ago. She also explained how there is no evidence for human superiority in the animal kingdom and that our species needs to gain better perspective on our identity as animals.

The workshop was organized by Dr. Denise Herzing of the Wild Dolphin Project and geologist Lori Walton. Dr. Marino was joined by a stellar group of participants from the fields of animal communication, biological computation, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, including Dr. Brenda McCowan, Dr. Laurance Doyle, Dr. Michael Coen, Dr. Con Slobodchikoff, Dr. John Elliott, Dr. Doug Vakoch and Dr. Gerry Harp.

This initial workshop and colloquium on nonhuman communication will lead to a working group and future workshops to continue to address this important area of exploration.

Next Steps for the Orca Welfare and Safety Act

Lori Marino on April 15, 2014

On April 8th, at the California legislature, the Orca Welfare and Safety Act went before the Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee. Passage of the bill would require the phasing out of captive breeding of orcas and their continued use for entertainment purposes.

After hearing testimony from scientists and advocates for the orcas, including from Dr. Naomi Rose of the Animal Welfare Institute and Dr. Deborah Giles of University of California, Davis, and then from SeaWorld officials and lobbyists, the committee requested an interim study and undertook to revisit the bill in 2015.

The Kimmela Center worked with Dr. Rose to craft a Scientist Statement that was presented in support of the bill and signed by 35 prominent members of the marine mammal scientific community.

Kimmela will continue to work over the next year to strengthen scientific support for the bill, including bringing to bear scientific peer-reviewed papers and more marine mammal experts.

By the time the bill goes before the committee again next year, and having heard the arguments of the SeaWorld lobby, we are confident that we can make a very strong case, and one that will gather the support of large numbers of California voters.

How I Became an Elephant

Lori Marino on March 28, 2014

When she was 14 years old, Juliette West set out from California on a quest that would take her through Thailand to learn everything she could about the elephants and their plight. A small camera crew joined her, and the result is a movie that’s touching hearts and fueling action in the United States and around the world.

Early on in her journey, Juliette meets Asia’s famous “Elephant Lady,” Lek Chailert, who has risked her life and freedom for more than 30 years to protect elephants from illegal trade and abuse. Together, these two determined women from opposite ends of the earth work to save elephants, stopping at nothing to expose the dark secrets within entertainment and logging industries that are steeped in greed and corruption. Together, these two determined women from opposite ends of the earth have had some impressive successes protecting elephants.

The two women have had some impressive successes. But elephants, as we know, are still being captured to meet the demands of increasing tourism and entertainment in countries such as Thailand, where they are severely mistreated and suffer malnutrition. Thousands more are pressed into hard labor in Myanmar to support the logging industry. As a result, wild populations are plummeting – from 100,000 at the start of the 20th century to a mere 5,500 today.

For Juliette, now 18 years old and still at high school, the elephants have become her life’s work. She gives talks around the country, providing youth with the tools they can use to develop their own leadership abilities as effective animal advocates. On her own website, JulietteSpeaks, young people can find answers to their biggest question: “How Can I Help?”

Back home in Los Angeles, she has been part of the successful campaign to ban bullhooks from the city, and part of the ongoing campaign to provide better living conditions for Billy the Elephant in the LA Zoo.

How I Became an Elephant has become the cornerstone of an inspiring program to save the world’s elephants before time runs out on them. Here at the Kimmela Center, we’re delighted to be able to provide the movie to you at less than half the price of commercial sources. Just click on any of the links on the video above. You can rent the movie (subtitled in numerous languages) for $5.99 or for $10.99 for the Director’s Cut Deluxe edition with deleted scenes, etc. Or buy the physical DVD professionally packaged for $19.99 (also subtitled in numerous languages).

NOAA Says No to the Georgia Aquarium

Lori Marino on August 9, 2013

In a stunning victory for the anti-captivity movement this week, the U.S. government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) denied the Georgia Aquarium’s application to import 18 wild-caught beluga whales from Russia and share them around the country with SeaWorld and Shedd Aquarium.

It would have been the first time since 1993 that an aquarium had imported dolphins and whales directly from the wild. And it would have set a major precedent, regressing to a time before public outcry forced the captivity industry to agree to stop capturing marine mammals to put on display.

Animal protection groups organized major opposition to the Georgia Aquarium’s plan. The Kimmela Center played a key role in providing scientific support for opposition arguments and reaching out to colleagues in the scientific community. Executive Director Lori Marino helped to create and submit a Scientists Statement Opposing the Beluga Imports by the Georgia Aquarium to NOAA last year and it was signed by nearly thirty prominent marine mammal scientists. She also provided testimony opposing the application at a public hearing last October.

A decision by NOAA has been expected since February. And word went around in May that NOAA was expected to give a thumbs-up to the Georgia Aquarium any day.

But this week, NOAA issued its decisions: No to the Georgia Aquarium. The agency described its decision as having hinged on three key criteria:

* NOAA Fisheries is unable to determine whether or not the proposed importation, by itself or in combination with other activities, would have a significant adverse impact on the Sakhalin-Amur beluga whale stock, the population that these whales are taken from;

* NOAA Fisheries determined that the requested import will likely result in the taking of marine mammals beyond those authorized by the permit;

* NOAA Fisheries determined that five of the beluga whales proposed for import, estimated to be approximately 1½ years old at the time of capture, were potentially still nursing and not yet independent.

More details from NOAA on their decision are here, where the agency also describes what comments from the public were the most impactful:

The comments that were most helpful to our decision-making process addressed the specific MMPA and regulatory criteria that we must use to make a decision and discussed why the commenter felt the application did or did not meet them.

The comments we received pertaining to humaneness determinations (capture and transport), the age of the animals at capture, the status of the Sakhalin-Amur beluga stock, and the effects of the ongoing capture operation on beluga stocks were directly related to the MMPA issuance criteria and considered further in the decision making process.

In general, comments regarding opposition to captivity were not considered substantive as the MMPA allows for public display of marine mammals.  Also, the comments we received related to the care and maintenance of marine mammals in captivity fall under the purview of the Animal Welfare Act and the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, so we were unable to respond to them as part of this process.

The Georgia Aquarium issued a statement saying they have yet to decide whether or not they will appeal. On NOAA’s decision, they offered the standard talking points used to justify keeping wildlife in captivity:

“Sadly, the decision places the long-term global sustainability of an entire species in limbo. The animals in question would help to ensure the sustainability of beluga whales in human care in the U.S. for the purposes of education, research and conservation.

“Through ongoing conservation and research efforts, our team is proactively seeking solutions to learn all we can to protect these incredible animals in the wild in the face of increasing challenges to their survival as the effects of climate change, increased shipping and exploration for natural resources impact them in their natural habitats.”

Neither the Georgia Aquarium, nor SeaWorld, nor any other marine mammal captive facility has, in fact, presented any evidence that they are helping to protect and “conserve” belugas. It is striking that the criteria NOAA used to deny the imports directly mention the possible negative impact upon the whales by the Georgia Aquarium’s proposed actions.

NOAA’s decision is not the end of the story. Beyond the fact that the Georgia Aquarium may well appeal the decision, there is the question of what happens to the belugas now.

However, this decision has been important for preventing the proliferation of the international trade in wild-caught marine mammals in the U.S., which the Georgia Aquarium was hoping to reinstate.

India Bans Dolphinariums

Lori Marino on May 19, 2013

In a stunningly progressive move, India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests released a statement on May 17th that they are banning dolphinariums in India.

Dolphins in the sunsetThe Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India have decided not to allow establishment of dolpinarium in the country.

The State Governments are advised to reject any such proposal for dolphinarium to any person/ persons, organizations, Government agencies, private or public enterprises that involves import, capture of cetacean species to establish for commercial entertainment, private or public exhibition and interaction purposes whatsoever.

Kimmela collaborated with the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organizations (FIAPO) and their international partners to provide the scientific evidence that convinced the Indian government that it would be morally wrong to keep dolphins in captivity because of their complex intelligence and poor survival in captivity. The Ministry noted this in its preamble, saying:

Whereas cetaceans in general are highly intelligent and sensitive, and various scientists who have researched dolphin behavior have suggested that their unusually high intelligence, as compared to other animals, means that dolphin should be seen as “non-human persons” and as such should have their own specific rights and [that it] is morally unacceptable to keep them captive for entertainment purpose.

Whereas cetaceans in general do not survive well in captivity, [and] confinement in captivity can seriously compromise the welfare and survival of all types of cetaceans by altering their behaviour and causing extreme distress.

The Kimmela Center was originally contacted by FIAPO which was preparing to advise the Animal Welfare Board of India (which advises state governments and wildlife wardens) on efforts to capture, transport or keep dolphins and whales in captivity. The board then ruled that dolphin shows and exhibits would violate the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. In its new policy directive, the Ministry has now ratified that ruling.

The Indian government’s decision is advanced in comparison to the United States, which still permits dolphin captivity for entertainment. Moreover, their acknowledgement that dolphins are nonhuman persons with basic rights is an unprecedented step forward for animal advocacy.