March 12, 1996 Contact: Robert Irion (408) 459-2495; irion@ua.ucsc.edu

DOLPHIN CHRONICLES--A TALE OF A SCIENTIST AND TWO GUESTS FROM THE SEA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SANTA CRUZ, CA--Two Atlantic bottlenose dolphins named Echo and Misha surfaced in Carol Howard's life in 1988. Two years later, after the young dolphins completed a "science sabbatical" at the UC Santa Cruz Long Marine Lab, researchers returned them to their home waters in Tampa Bay, Florida. As dolphins tend to do, Echo and Misha made a lasting impact on the people who worked with them-- especially Howard, who describes her time with "the boys" in her first book, Dolphin Chronicles (Bantam Books, 1995).

Dolphin Chronicles is both a day-by-day account of those whirlwind years and a careful look at issues that dolphins often spark: communication among animals, the meaning of intelligence, and whether to keep sentient beings in captivity. There are no easy answers, and Howard doesn't try to supply them. Instead, she argues that while we may never know what makes dolphins tick, there are abundant reasons to continue exploring their complex society.

"Dolphins . . . inhabit a genuinely alien world," she writes. "They are down-to-earth flesh-and-blood animals who nonetheless seem to inspire some sense of the mythic, of the mystical in us. Even if we never achieve the in-depth philosophical discussions with them I once dreamed of, they may still provide us some perspective on ourselves, some broader basis for self-knowledge."

Howard was a graduate student under UCSC biologist Kenneth Norris, who devised the dolphin "sabbatical" before he retired in 1990. The idea was a partial response to activists who want to free all captive dolphins. Perhaps, Norris reasoned, scientists could borrow wild dolphins for a short time, learn about them in the controlled setting that science requires, then take them home and make sure they didn't forget how to survive. The last step was crucial: People had released many dolphins, but no one had watched their progress in a systematic way.

Echo and Misha, it turned out, did fine. Researchers in Tampa Bay have seen both dolphins dozens of times in the years since their release. But Norris and Howard believe that the stresses on the animals were too great--adjusting to captivity, learning new behaviors, and readjusting to the wild, all in a short time. It may be better, Howard says, for some dolphins to stay in captivity as "emissaries" for scientists to study and for the public to appreciate.

Howard's Ph.D. research focused on Echo and Misha's ability to echolocate--that is, to find objects by zinging them with sound waves and analyzing the reflections. Some writers have proposed that dolphins may use echolocation as a sort of language, communicating with each other in "pictures" rather than words. Howard disagrees with this notion, however aesthetically appealing it may sound. Her videotaped studies suggest that only by being fully aware of its own motions through the water can a dolphin make sense of the signals it receives. To another dolphin, she suspects, the information would be out of context. "I see no Star Trek-style instantaneous translation devices in the offing," she concludes.

With an educational background in psychology, it was hard for Howard to avoid endowing Echo and Misha with "personalities." But they did exhibit distinct "dolphinalities." For example, Echo learned tasks more quickly and regularly tested his handlers. Misha seemed more thoughtful, but he performed more reliably once he learned the ropes.

"If I were a male dolphin in Tampa Bay and could choose a buddy to pair up with, I'd pick Misha in a flash," Howard writes. "I'd bet on him as a steady, dependable, amiable, loyal, and sensible lifelong companion. If, on the other hand, I wanted help figuring something out, in some sort of problem-solving or brainstorming session, I'd pick Echo." This capacity for individual differences helped convince Howard that dolphins must learn and adapt in the wild, and are indeed highly intelligent.

The book brims with vivid anecdotes, from Echo and Misha's capture and transport (at a recent slide show, Howard called this the "alien abduction sequence") to the high emotion of their release. The dedication of Long Marine Lab's largely female crew, known as the "dolphinettes," is evident throughout. That work ethic was essential; the glamour of caring for dolphins lasted about as long as it took to scrub their tanks (repeatedly), chop endless quantities of fish, and get drenched on frigid days by seawater and dolphin snot.

Was it worth it? Howard's answer comes just three paragraphs into her introduction: "Echo and Misha are a lot more than mere research subjects to me. I didn't just collect data from them; I fed them, played with them, talked to them, stroked them, swam with them, spent hours just watching them, worried when they were sick or not eating properly, and regaled friends and acquaintances with pictures and tales of their exploits. I cried when they left. I still miss them enormously."

Editor's note: You may reach Carol Howard at (408) 438-3877. For a review copy of the book, call Robert Irion at (408) 459-2495.

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