Dolphins and Animal Assisted Therapy
Some scientists who work with dolphins believe that these
sea-dwellers show a sense to the disability and physical trauma
associated with function and pain in humans, therefore making
the cranio-sacral therapy possible. Dolphins, with their
internal sonar or echo-location can feel where the person hurts
the most and are able to gently nudge and play without hurting
the person.
Once, two dolphins saved a writer while he was swimming far off
the coast of California. The man was a good swimmer and swimming
had become his daily routine. One day, far away from the shore,
he felt very tired, too tired to lift his arms or kick.
Suddenly, two dolphins came to his rescue. They swam with their
bodies touching him and they propelled him forward by fastening
their nose under his arms to keep him afloat, until they came
close to the shore where there were other people. By this time,
the writer had regained enough strength to swim a few more yards
to safety. He says the dolphins didn't leave immediately. They
kept leaping off shore to make sure he made it to land safely.
Many incidents of dolphins saving people at sea have been
reported. Some time ago, it was in the news that a pod of
dolphins defended a group of swimmers by circling protectively
around them to fend off the attack of the great white shark. The
swimmers were on a lifeguard training swim about hundred yards
off the shore. At first, the men didn't understand that there
was a shark. One of them swam away but was pushed back into the
circle by the dolphins. At that time he saw a nine-foot shark
two yards away from him. The men spent about forty minutes
before in that circle before the dolphins let them swim back to
the shore. Since sharks are dolphins' greatest enemies, it is
possible that they protected the men as if the swimmers were
their own offspring.
There are many different species of dolphins. A familiar one is
Flipper's kind, the bottlenose dolphin. One of the world's most
endangered species is a dolphin called by many names such as
Beiji; Pai C'hi; Chinese River Dolphin; Yangtze Dolphin;
Whitefin Dolphin; Whiteflag Dolphin. It inhabits the Yangtze
River in China. It is said that these animals are very close to
being extinct since there are only 5 of them left, whereas in
1984 there were 400.
Warm-blooded like men, dolphins are mammals, not fish, and they
give birth to one baby at a time, nursing their young up to four
years. They live in social groups called pods and interact with
each other very closely. These pods' make-up can change, since
dolphins interact with dolphins from other pods from time to
time. A lone dolphin that has lost his friends at sea can easily
be adopted by another pod.
Dolphins have powerful tails that not only help to steer them in
water, but also signal annoyance or danger. Just like humans,
dolphins like to gesture when they interact with each other. To
communicate, they use body language or they whistle and they
stroke one another with their fins as if bonding socially. When
they swim together as friends, they move synchronously leaping
in and out of the water. When they are angry or aggressive, they
open their mouths or clap their jaws violently.
Dolphins can dive to great depths and also can leap high over
the water. Being mammals, they need to breathe, but unlike
humans their breathing is voluntary. They breathe through the
opening on the top of their heads. It is possible that dolphins
can drown. When that happens other dolphins come to the drowning
dolphin's aid, supporting his body in such a way that his
blowhole stays above the water.
To sleep, dolphins have to shut down only half of their brain,
which probably means that they are always alert to danger.
Dolphins also take short naps as they float just below the
surface. Yet, unlike humans, their most active feeding time is
the night, although they spend a good amount of the day looking
for food.
One of the best dolphin research centers is located in the
Marathon Key, Florida. Here and at other dolphin centers around
the world, the project of aiding handicapped children with
Dolphins is carefully investigated, with the therapy based on
the dolphin's natural desire to come into contact with humans.
Through interaction with dolphins, children with Autism, Down's
Syndrome, anorexia, depression, cancer, and learning
disabilities have exhibited positive results by calming down and
showing a better sense of importance and self-confidence.
There are, however opposing views and theories. In 2003, a
report by WDCS (Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society) and HSUS
(the Humane Society of the United States) claims that the risk
to dolphins overweighs the positive effects of their interaction
with humans in dolphin-petting zoos. Dolphins become obese with
the excess feeding by the public and extended exposure to humans
subject the animals to stress and injury. Also some children,
even if very few, have been reported to regress in their
development from being pushed by their families and the fright
of the animals or the water.
Given the positive use of dolphin and human contact, more
research is needed, and attention to the dolphin petting areas
and more closely observed rules of hygiene and sanitation are in
order, so that both species can continue to benefit from each
other.