Clever? No, dolphins are dim and violent

Kornhub

Kornhub

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London - Fun-loving, friendly and bright as a button, dolphins are often painted as the most gentle of all ocean creatures.

But according to research, not only are dolphins actually “less sophisticated than chickens” - but their playful nature masks a darker, more aggressive side.

Scientists from the sea mammal research unit at St Andrews University say they have spotted bottlenose dolphins engaging in wanton acts of violence.

They found the marine mammals will often try to isolate and then kill smaller harbour porpoises, without any intention of eating their carcasses.

The leader of one particularly vicious pod was even dubbed Jack the Flipper thanks to his violent tendencies.

And a six-year Australian research project found that gangs of males try to assert their authority by forcefully mounting other males - often resulting in bloody fights.

The findings sit uneasily with a growing campaign led by experts who claim that the mammals deserve the same rights as humans because of their apparent high level of moral sophistication.

Last year scientists made a bid to have dolphins reclassified as “non-human persons”, and said killing them should be treated as murder. But zoologist Justin Gregg, who works for the US Dolphin Communication Project, believes we have allowed sentimental ideas about the species to cloud our judgment.

“Dolphins are fascinating in their own right, but in terms of intelligence they are nowhere near as special as they have been portrayed,” he said.

“Dolphins do have a unique signature whistle, and it’s possible that they could use this in order to communicate.

“But they do not seem to have alarm calls or food calls - so in that respect they are less sophisticated than chickens.”

He added: “If we could just stop looking at them through the lens of our human condition, then we might open our minds to the idea that many other species have equally wondrous lives.” - Daily Mail
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http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/scienc...ns-are-dim-and-violent-1.1575389#.Ui7jZj88JE8
 
Sure, whatever.
So what about all the stories of them saving drowning people - maybe they were trying to mount them and just inadvertently pushed the bloke to shore. Yes , yes - that must be it.

I've never heard of a chicken saving a human though.

Except maybe Rusty from the Spur ad
 
Haters be hatin'.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...phins-whistle-names-identity-animals-science/

We already knew that bottlenose dolphins can follow "recipes" in preparing mollusks, help other species in distress, and possibly do math. So it may come as no surprise that the marine mammals also call each other by whistles that act as names.

Past studies have shown that individual dolphins have a unique whistle, called a "signature whistle," that they often use in big group settings, like when several pods of dolphins meet at sea.

The idea that dolphins have a name in the form of a whistle has been around since the 1960s, and studies of captive dolphins have shown that the animals are responsive to the whistles of dolphins they know.
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http://science.time.com/2013/08/08/hello-my-name-is-dolphin-the-mammal-that-never-forgets/

Slightly dated, but research has been done into coordinated hunting.

http://oregonstate.edu/ua/ncs/archi...w-light-dolphin-coordination-during-predation

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Spinner dolphins have long been known for their teamwork in capturing prey but a new study using high-tech acoustics has found that their synchronization is even more complex than scientists realized and likely evolved as a strategy to maximize their energy intake.

The study, by scientists at Oregon State University and the University of Hawaii, found that dolphins engage in a highly choreographed night-time “dance” to enclose their prey, and then dart into the circle of confused fish in organized pairs to feed for about 15 seconds, before backing out and letting the next pairs in line take their turn
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.

The below video shows 3 dolphins beaching themselves simultaneously while hunting. I struggle to believe that they do this without ''planning'' their actions, unless dey dum-dum and jus follow da biggered one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE49xEU_z7g
 
[video=youtube;42MpfPqWkhk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42MpfPqWkhk[/video]
 
http://justingregg.com/

I have been wronged, interweb friends! After being interviewed about my upcoming book by the Sunday Times, a series of news stories appeared where it was alleged that I stated that “dolphins are dimmer than chickens” and that dolphins engage in “gang rape.” I never said such obvious nonsense. The source for this “quote” appears to be a little editorial piece that accompanied the main article in the Sunday Times. It was only a few sentences long, and I think was meant to serve as a kind of light-hearted overview of the full article. Unfortunately, it included the following problematic sentence: “Not only are dolphins dimmer than the average chicken, says Justin Gregg, a zoologist, but they are capable of gang rape and acts of violence.”

The thing is, I didn’t say any of this. In fact, I harped on the point in my interview with the Sunday Times that it is wrong to suggest that dolphins are dumb, and that my book was about elevating the intelligence of other animal species, not about suggesting that dolphins are not intelligent. I have argued on my blog and in the book that dolphins are highly intelligent animals, but that it’s generally impossible to compare intelligence between species in this manner. In any event, dolphins quite clearly display more complex behavior than chickens on the whole, so this statement is wrong no matter how you slice it.
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Why did the dolphin kill himself?
He had no porpoise in his life!

What did Cinderella Dolphin where to the ball? Glass flippers!

How does a group of dolphin's make a decision? Flipper coin!

What is a dolphin's favorite TV show? Whale of fortune!

What did the baby dolphin do when he didnt get his way? He whale-d!

Does a dolphin ever do something by accident? No, they do everything on porpoise!

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An animal is an animal, never romanticise them in to Disney type creature.

I have seen chimps savage other animals (and humans) to death.

Animals are savage creatures essentially and you should never drop your guard around them.... if you do drop your guard, they will take their opportunity.
 
Good.Fellow said:
An animal is an animal, never romanticise them in to Disney type creature.

I have seen chimps savage other animals (and humans) to death.

Animals are savage creatures essentially and you should never drop your guard around them.... if you don't they will take there opportunity.
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The same argument can be made for human beings :erm:
 
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