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.
Fisherman and sailors have always told stories of playful dolphins, monstrous sea serpents, the magnificent albatross, and other things landsmen never see. Strange things come up in nets or are caught on fishing lines. Tales found in myths and legend often really occur on the high seas. Sailors never doubted that the creatures under the water had a mind of their own.
Divers today swear that dolphins and even barracuda learn to recognize them if they swim in one area regularly. Everyone who has been at the seaside knows to be careful about throwing food to the gulls, because every bird in the sky will shortly be besieging them for handouts. There is no doubt that the wild animals quickly learn the habits of people who interact with them.
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.
When octopus and other bottom dwellers camouflage themselves with shells or when seabirds drop hard mollusks from great heights to break them on the rocks, is that intelligence? Is there any reasoning behind symbiotic relationships? Do sea creatures use inanimate objects as tools? It often seems like ocean denizens are solving problems with reason.
Fisherman and sailors have always told stories of playful dolphins, monstrous sea serpents, the magnificent albatross, and other things landsmen never see. Strange things come up in nets or are caught on fishing lines. Tales found in myths and legend often really occur on the high seas. Sailors never doubted that the creatures under the water had a mind of their own.
Divers today swear that dolphins and even barracuda learn to recognize them if they swim in one area regularly. Everyone who has been at the seaside knows to be careful about throwing food to the gulls, because every bird in the sky will shortly be besieging them for handouts. There is no doubt that the wild animals quickly learn the habits of people who interact with them.
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.
When octopus and other bottom dwellers camouflage themselves with shells or when seabirds drop hard mollusks from great heights to break them on the rocks, is that intelligence? Is there any reasoning behind symbiotic relationships? Do sea creatures use inanimate objects as tools? It often seems like ocean denizens are solving problems with reason.
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