samedi 23 décembre 2017

The Case For Intelligent Sea Life

By Jennifer Evans


People have been fascinated with the sea and its creatures since they first saw it. From the beginning, people harvested fish and shellfish from the ocean for food, but they also enjoyed the diversity of life under the waves. Over the centuries, people have become convinced that intelligent sea life exists.

People alive today say they have been rescued by dolphins, who nudged them to shallow water after they had fallen from their boat. Whales seem to communicate with each other by song; some recent studies say that new songs are constantly being composed by these massive creatures. Those who spent their lives on the high seas learned all they could, since that could spell the difference between life and death, or at least between a profitable journey and financial disaster.

Divers in tropical waters say that dolphins, barracuda, and other denizens of the deep recognize them after a few encounters. Dolphins often interact with people. Seagulls are famous panhandlers, flocking so quickly and thickly that people learn not to throw bread on the water.

Goldfish were once thought to have a memory span of about three seconds. A modern study, however, explodes this idea. Not only can goldfish - not saltwater fishes, it's true, but representative of the species - learn to feed themselves by operating a lever, they also can learn to work it only at meal times. Moreover, researchers found that the fish remembered the trick for three months or more.

Every visitor to an aquarium with regular shows knows that dolphins and Orcas can be trained. They eagerly perform to earn a reward, but they also seem to enjoy the performance itself and the attention of the audience. Seals are famous circus stars.

Animals often exhibit traits once thought to be exclusive to humans. In one case, dolphins who were adorned with painted designs spent hours admiring their decorations in a mirror. Many creatures form family or group bonds, recognize each other after long separations, and remember people or animals they once interacted with. Some scientists think animals may remember words, from several to several hundred.

It is sometimes hard to distinguish between instinct, a fascinating subject in itself, and intelligence. Do salmon find their way on migrations with thought or with instinctive urges they mindlessly obey? Do they recognize landmarks to choose the right river and creek? Is maternal love as demonstrated by dolphins and whales merely a behavior pattern dictated by survival instincts? Those who believe in creation rather than evolution may have an easier time of believing that sea creatures can reason.

Animals on both land and sea have been observed using inanimate objects as tools. There are complex symbiotic relationships that raise questions. It just may be that sea creatures are smarter than we think. Scientists know that there is much still to learn about and from denizens of the watery realms that cover most of the earth.




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