0rcinusorca

Kotar seemed to revel in pushing the limits of those who interacted with him and trusted him.  Playing his game of trying see how much people would put up with or maybe getting them to show fear.

During one visit he seemed to particularly enjoy me rubbing his tongue, though perhaps it was just a prelude to get me to drop my guard in preparation to what he did next.  After several rounds of tongue rubbing and him swimming off to work the crowd for fish, the next time he came up, he gently closed his mouth on my arm while I was rubbing his tongue.  Now this had happened many times in the past with the bottlenose dolphins so I was not overly concerned about my safety as I knew him well by this time and trusted him [ as he trusted me by allowing me to rub his tongue ] and he had done this so that my arm was in the gap at the tip of his mouth were there are no teeth but just the hard bone of the jaw.  We were looking each other in the eye as I continued to rub his tongue.

Then he slowly began using his tongue to press my hand against the roof of his mouth.  I stopped rubbing thinking that is what he wanted and waited to see what he was going to do.  He slowly began to press harder and harder, eventually adding pressure with his jaw, never letting up.  This was not a problem at first, but after a bit it began to be uncomfortable.  Then it started to be painful.  I held out as long as I could but when I thought my arm might break, I firmly pressed my fingertips into his tongue in an attempt to let him know it hurt.  He immediately stopped squeezing but did not let me go so I stopped pressing into his tongue.  All through this we had eye contact.  

After a few seconds he began squeezing again.  When it got to a firm but still comfortable level, but still much lower than the first time, I gently pressed my fingertip into his tongue and he stopped squeezing and I stopped pressing when he did.  He seemed genuinely surprised at the difference between the two times.  After a few seconds he opened his mouth releasing me.  I did not immediately remove my hand but instead gave his tongue a good rub to let him know I was not hurt or upset by what he had done.  Though it never bruised, the place on my arm where he had been pressing with his jaw was sore for days after this.

Most interesting about this is the fact that after this incident none of the other Orcas ever grabbed me harder than the comfort level I had established with Kotar.  He was in some way able to pass this information onto the other Orcas.   I miss him and the others every day.

Trust. Possibly unquantifiable. Hard to earn. Extremely easy to lose.

This female White-Sided Dolphin [ the one in my pictures ] had picked up the habit of nipping at the fingers of people who were trying to feed her. Perhaps she had a mean streak, not every dolphin is as friendly as portrayed, though it's mostly captive ones that get a 'tude. Perhaps she had been poorly treated in the past and she simply distrusted humans now. Maybe another game, scare the human. Whatever the reason, this caused people to drop the fish they were feeding her in the water. She would then quickly pick it up and swim off.

I never saw her actually bite anybody besides me.

I had intentionally not pulled back as she expected and she wound up getting two of my fingers. I could feel the points of her teeth but she did not break the skin. Not that hard, about what I would think it would take to hold a struggling fish. My hand twitched at the contact and I think this surprised her as she quickly let go and swam off. Dead fish don't move on their own. I didn't pull back, I kept my hand where it was. The "bite" was accidental and unintentional. She swam by several times observing me. We had good eye contact. She tried couple more times to get a reaction out of me by acting like she was going to bite my fingers still failing to the reaction she expected out of me. She then started playing what I now call "The Keep Away Game". That staying just exactly one inch from my fingertips no matter how much I stretched out or pulled back. I had played this game with many other Dolphins by now and I had learned to hold my reach back just a bit and on the her next pass, I quickly closed the gap and touched her with one fingertip down her side as she swam by. Game won, first round. It apparently surprised her as she twitched slightly but didn't break stride swimming by. It's not easy to surprise a Cetacean when they can see you coming with their sonar.

A couple of passes later with some good eye contact from them, she finally came closer and pressed against my hand as she swam by. A nice long rub from just above her pec down her side to her flukes and off. This continued for a couple of minutes

Everyone, no matter the species, has that "One Spot" that they just cannot scratch when it itches and the love it when someone they trust knows what to do. Cetaceans seem to have several, around the base of the Dorsal Fin, where the Flukes join the tail, the corners of the mouth, the spot behind the Pectoral Flipper which also seems to be ticklish.

She began slowing down as she passed allowing more contact time. Trust was growing faster than usual it seemed this time. Perhaps she felt a bit guilty at having bit me and was trying to make up for it now that she realized I was one of the good guys.

On her next pass, she pressed her melon against my hand as she swam slowly by and stopped when my hand reached her flukes. There are several places in this area that are problematic for them to rub against to get rid of dead skin. The buildup even gives it a different feel than the rest of the body. I've learned the difference over time. I started rubbing one of the areas to get rid of the old skin, she went totally limp and just floated there. There is only a slight current in the tank but it is enough to cause her to drift away which she did. Even after I stopped because she was out of reach, it seemed to take her a few seconds to recover and be able to swim off for a moment and come back for more, like she was waking up from a trance or something. This went on for some time, I don't know how long, 10-15 mins maybe longer.

On her next pass she rolled over belly up and laid her flukes in my arms. A very vulnerable position for her. Trust was growing very rapidly. I must have made her feel real guilty about biting me with this quality of attention. This went on for several minutes. I stopped to give her a chance to roll over and breathe. She didn't move for about 10 seconds, then her pecs began waving a bit but slowly as she tried to roll over. I applied a gentle twisting motion to her flukes to which she pushed back. I pushed a little harder to give her leverage and she slowly rolled over to take a breath and without stopping continued the roll right back over for me to continue. Conservation of Energy and Momentum. Nice.

This continued for several more minutes. I again stopped so she could breathe. This time, 10 seconds and no movement… 15 seconds… 20 seconds… Now I start to panic a bit. Cetaceans are conscious breathers. This means they have to think about taking a breath, like a Human would have to think to hold their breath. Unconsciousness means they don't breathe and die. Did it feel so good she passed out? I reached down and rolled her over right side up and held her at the surface waiting. After what seemed like an eternity, she shook a bit and finally took a breath. She was still shaking a bit and stayed in my arms. I was so relieved I pulled her closer to give her a hug and a kiss on the melon.

I just stayed there holding her letting her recover. It was at this point that the other White-Sided came over. He came up between us and pushed her out of my arms. My arms were still in the water somewhat around him and I knew enough at this point to not move. He did a couple of jaw snaps underwater and I could see the whites of his eyes as we made eye contact. He was clearly upset at me with all the attention I was giving to the female. They were the only two White-Sides in the tank at the time. Mates perhaps? Does he see me as a rival or possible challenge to his authority? Got to be careful here. The female was bobbing on the other side of him rubbing against him occasionally with eyes wide as well in apparent concern of what he was doing as well. Perhaps trying to tell him she's ok and I'm one of the good guys. This tableau continued for a few seconds as I decided what to do while we stared at each other. So I reached around him and gave him a hug to say thank you for allowing me the encounter and began rubbing him under the chin showing him I'd gladly share the attention she was getting with him. All the while keeping eye contact. He tensed for a moment as this apparently caught him by surprise. Then he closed his eyes and relaxed in my arms letting me continue rubbing him under the chin. After a bit he let me move onto his Dorsal Fin and then Flukes. Giving him some of the same attention I'd been giving the female. He reacted the same way, seemingly taking a moment to recover and swim off when I stopped then turn around and came back for more. The female seemed relieved by this turn of events and began rubbing against his side again. This went on for a minute or two and then I had to say my goodbyes to them and leave for the day.

They were always glad to see me after this.

Dolphins do have the concept of possessions.  Just because they have something you might not think they should have, don't try and take it away.  Margret Howe learned this with Peter when for a time he took possession of her diving mask.

A quiet day at the petting pool.  Not too many people around.  It was foggy and wet today.  Good for me, few people around the tank.

One of the younger Dolphins swims up and drops a penny on the underwater ledge in front of me.  Where did he get a penny?  Did some other visitor drop one in on purpose?  Cetaceans are sometimes trained to bring any trash in the tank up to staff.  They are given fish for bringing it in.  Does he consider me staff because he knows me almost as well?  Or is this another game?  Some people might be worried he could swallow it.  I know they're smarter than that.  He's floating there in front of me about two feet away looking at me, waiting for me to do something.

I had to be very discrete about this.  If another visitor or staff saw the penny it could be a big problem.  

I could just remove it.  No, it's his possession, can't do that, he brought it to me.  Can't let staff walk by and see it there, then they'd think I put it in.  I swish my hand in the water to wash it off the ledge and into deeper water.  He gets excited and watches the penny float down a few feet then swims after it.  He brings it back up and drops it on the ledge again.   I swish my hand again and wash it off again.  He goes to get it and brings it back again.  Ok, could be a game, or he could still be trying for a fish.  He's not opening his mouth like he's expecting a fish, so it must be a game.  I pick it up and hold it in my hand out of the water.  He continues to watch me, so I try to make up a new game.   I put my hands together out of the water so he can't scan them and switch the coin to my other hand.  I make two fists and put them back in the water.  He moves a little closer and I can see his head moving left and right as he looks at each hand and presumably scans them with sonar.  He moves in to touch his beak to one hand.  The hand with the penny.  I open my hand to show it to him and drop it in the water off the ledge.  He seems happy with this.

He swims down to get it and brings it back again.  I randomly choose a hand and put two fists in the water.  Again he picks the correct hand.  Time after time he picks the hand with the penny.  Simple to do with sonar.  Maybe not the best game but we were having fun.

One time instead of picking it up I washed it off the ledge while acting like I was picking it up out of the water as usual.  I made my two fists and put them back in the water.  Scan Left.  Scan Right.  Wait, What?  Left, Right, Left, Right, Left, Right.  He seemed confused as he couldn't find the penny.  I opened my hands.  He turned so he could see my empty hands.  He looked from one to the other, then turned a bit more to survey the ledge around us, then back at me.  I laughed to myself and reached out and pointed down over the ledge.  He dove down.  Shortly he came back and dropped the penny on the ledge again.  He glared at me a bit when we made eye contact again.  I think still a bit confused about how it happened.  How did I fool his sonar and how did he miss that?  A few rounds later I tried this again.  This time as soon as he scanned both hands and found no penny he dove down the wall and quickly came back up with the penny.  He dropped it much further back on the ledge than he normally did which was normally just a few inches.  We made eye contact and now it's like he knows what I did.  Can't hide from the all seeing sonar.

We go through a few more rounds and I try it again.   I don't know if he saw it or sonar gave it away but as soon as it cleared the ledge and started down he turned to follow it down without scanning my hands.  Almost as if to say "Aha, I caught you".  He didn't even drop out of sight before he stopped and came back up with the penny, having grabbed it before it hit bottom.  I tried several more times and only managed to fool him once more.  Sonar is hard to fool.  Nothing hidden.

This game had been going on for a while now and I was getting a little concerned.  While I knew this was a harmless game, staff would go ballistic about a coin in the tank.  He wouldn't stop bringing the coin back now that he found someone who would play with him with it.  There was no way I was going to take his coin away now.  I needed a break so on the next round when I dropped the coin and he swam down to get it I just walked away.  I hated to do that but it was the only think I could think of to satisfy all sides.   Let someone else incur his wrath for taking the coin.

I wonder what he would have done if had a second penny to put in the other hand.

For Cetacean enthusiasts here are two site created by Sea World trainers who have worked with the Orcas.  Some insider information that should be of interest to everyone concerned with Cetacean welfare from those who know.

sites.google.com/site/voiceoft…

voiceoftheorcas.blogspot.com/

Informed choices are the best choices.  Spread the word.

I have always considered Cetaceans of intelligence at least equal to that of Humans or even possibly superior.  They've been around 25 Million Years in their present evolutionary state and Humans have been around a paltry 100 Thousand.  We should learn from that.

I never fed the Dolphins I've gotten to know.  I did not want to be associated with being a food source and the control issues that raises.  Tactile interaction only.

I was well known by all these Cetaceans before any these incidents, having spent so much time at the pool.  We knew and trusted each other very well.  When you can't talk to each other, all that is left is eye contact, body language, and actual touch.  Having a good "Poker Face" is also important.  By that I mean the ability to stand your ground, be calm and in so doing show your trust.  Not just look calm but be calm.  Some of the tests of your trust can be nerve racking.

Always have your fingernails well manicured.  A rough nail can cause problems and be misinterpreted by them.

Never forget it's an entirely different culture.

different rules
different laws
different taboos
different beliefs

Somethings they do may be personally shocking at first.  Don't forget you're dealing with a totally alien culture.  They are more open about somethings than humans usually are.  They are not doing it to insult or shock you.  It is just how they do things.

My usual stance at the pool is with my arms in the water most of the time.  Reaching out offering my hand underwater where they can see and sonar it.  You have to get wet if you're gonna work with Cetaceans.  I do this to give them the choice of contact or not.  It is also a show of my trust of them.  

The development of mutual trust is a progression. One level of trust leading to a higher level of trust and so on.  Letting them lead the way.  It must progress equally on both sides or it will not progress at all.  I just kept reaching out to show I was ready and they would swim by, maybe close enough to touch, maybe not.  It was like a game.  No matter how far out I reached, they could always stay just one inch further out.

===

A Bottlenose Dolphin had given birth in the petting pool.  The park, probably having realized too late she was pregnant, was probably afraid to move her out fearing a miscarriage.  Eventually she began showing it off by swimming close by the edge of the tank with the calf riding along in mom's slipstream on the side towards the edge of the tank.  Always just out of reach as usual.  Another game ?

On one pass, the baby pooped as it was passing front of me.  I thought to myself "why you little stinker, that's not polite".  I reached down and gently caught its right fluke in the web of my right thumb for a split second and pulled away.  This extra drag caused him to drop out of mom's slipstream and stop moving.  This startled him as he froze for a moment and then with a couple quick tail pumps was gone.  Mom immediately spun around and came up over by my left arm in the water.  I could see she was a bit upset with me when I made eye contact and she proceeded to do a mock rake on my left arm to show her displeasure with me at what I had done.  

I knew to keep completely still at this point.  To try and move away while she was doing this meant risking turning my arm into hamburger.  Remaining still showed her I trusted she would not actually hurt me.  She stopped moving with her mouth open and my elbow halfway in staring at me.   I put my elbow all the way in until it touched the teeth at the back of her mouth to show I understood and submitted myself to her reprimand.  This surprised her as she quickly backed up [ not something easy for a Cetacean to do ] and got completely off my arm and just stayed there staring at me.  I looked back to my right and the calf had returned was hovering out of reach nearby watching.  Mom is still hovering off to my left watching us.  I slowly reach my right hand out toward the calf.  Then I felt something grab my left hand.  I stopped and looked over and it is mom holding the palm of my left hand in the end of her mouth looking at me.  I gently closed my hand around her lower jaw so there is no accidental slippage and scratch her under the chin with my right letting her know I understand.  I reach back over towards the calf and waited.  It [ I never learned the sex of it ] hovered about six inches away for a few seconds then slowly approached.  I gave it a melon rub and a gentle scratch under the chin.  

This went on for a minute or so and then the calf swam off.  Mom opened her jaws to let me go.  I pulled her a bit closer and gave her a few good rubs to show my appreciation at what she had done.  I opened my hand and she swam off.

"Dumb Animals" my Gluteus Maximus.  What other captive animal would act this way if you messed with it's child despite how well you might know each other?