Hey, everyone, I’m Sam, and I’m in Baltimore,
Maryland, at the National Aquarium
ready to learn more about a super-smart marine mammal
that is surprisingly similar to humans: dolphins.
They’re truly fun and lovable creature.
So let’s go behind the scenes to learn more
about them and the amazing people who care for them.
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The ocean is home to some of the most diverse
and beautiful creatures,
all moving in their own rhythm and pace.
And dancing through the waves are the acrobats,
court jesters, and aerial spinners of the sea…
Dolphins.
Today, I get to go behind the scenes
at the Dolphin Discovery Exhibit
in the National Aquarium.
I’m meeting up with Susie Walker and her team
to check out the dolphins’ daily routine.
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A typical day starts at 6:30 in the morning with breakfast.
It takes the team two hours to sort and weigh 200 pounds
of fish that make up the dolphins’ diet.
We’re prepping today’s fish.
SAM: They are fed every hour and a half,
about 7 to 10 times a day.
In addition to their diet, food is an important part of their
learning through positive reinforcement.
The trainers use food in a series of play and reward
sessions to teach certain behaviors
and build trust with the dolphins.
Susie, can you tell me a little bit about
what you do here at the Aquarium?
Sure, I am a trainer, so that means that I help
take care of our animals.
Another part of it is, teaching them behaviors that
help us take care of them, monitor their physical health,
so we can collect samples of blood or other things.
Can you give me a little history on the dolphins
that you have here?
Sure. We have seven dolphins.
Five of them are girls, and two of them are boys.
And all of the except one were born here
at Dolphin Discovery.
One of them was born at another aquarium,
and we provided a new home for her when she needed a new home.
So all of these guys were born in human care.
Let’s head to the first training session of the day
with Taylor.
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Every morning we do these visual checks on them
just to make sure things look nice and healthy
Gonna take a nice deep breath for us?
There it is.
Do they keep that blowhole closed
while they’re under water?
Yes, so a lot of times people think that dolphins
are breathing water.
What they’re seeing is that water that’s sitting on top
moving out of the way with the air.
They breathe air just like you and I do.
SAM: I love marine mammals.
They’re my favorite, cetaceans:
whales, porpoises, and dolphins.
So right now Chesapeake is our oldest dolphin,
and she’s 25 years old.
(dolphin clicking)
She knows a lot of fun sounds.
(dolphin screeching)
And she’s our only dolphin that will blow a raspberry.
Oh, what’s that?
So it’s like a–well we’ll have her show you.
SAM: Okay. (laughs)
Whoa.
And so they say they have a lot of teeth.
Do they use them?
They actually use their teeth to catch the fish
that they eat.
When they close their teeth, their teeth interlock
kind of like a zipper
-Okay. -And that traps the fish.
-Oh, okay. -And if you notice,
if she’s eating, they swallow their food whole.
SAM: Dolphins learn by imitating their trainers’
behaviors and gestures.
And like dogs, they’re always ready for a treat.
TAYLOR: Most of the water work is mimicry-related,
and it’s all based on relationship building.
SAM: What do you mean by mimicry-related?
TAYLOR: So we do some mimics with her,
if you want to stand up. SAM: Okay.
TAYLOR: We’ll spin in a circle one time, and she’ll follow us.
-Okay. -Go ahead and spin.
-Oh. -So dolphins learn very quickly
by mimicking each other as well as us.
So when we do a behavior very small like that, they’re like,
“Oh, hey, I can do that too, and that’s really fun.”
And that’s a great way for us to build a relationship
with them and build trust.
-Okay. -Take your right hand
and hold it in the air and give her a nice big wave,
and she’ll wave back.
And then one of our favorites,
if you take your hand like this,
and hopefully she won’t get us too wet.
You might get all little wet.
And then go ahead and slap the ledge.
Good job.
She’s just very good at copying.
Wow.
All right, we’re going to take a quick step back.
Can you say bye?
Bye. Ohh.
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The exhibit opens to the public daily to let them see
how dolphins learn, play, and interact with each other.
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These sessions help educate visitors about dolphins.
Now that I’ve seen them in action,
I want to learn even more about their social behavior.
So some of the social behaviors that you see here,
would you see those also in the ocean?
Yes.
They’re very touchy-touchy animals.
And that’s kind of how they bond with each other.
So they’ll rub their flippers along each other’s bodies.
They’ll whistle and click to communicate with each other.
So they’re very social with each other.
Correct Yes
So they like to remain in pods you would say?
Correct, yes.
Yeah, a typical pod size for a bottlenose dolphin
is going to be a few individuals to maybe 20,
whereas something like another species
called a spinner dolphin, it’s not unusual to see 100 or 200
of them in a group at a time.
So each species is a little different.
And do they work together when they’re in pods?
-Yes, absolutely. -What do they do?
Yes, they look out for each other.
If they’re resting, they don’t completely sleep like we do.
They sleep with one eye closed.
They sleep with one eye closed?
-Yes. -That’s so funny.
What’s interesting is we believe that they sleep
with one half of their brain at a time.
-What? -So they’re never
completely asleep.
SAM: Why do they do that?
If you think about it, when you’re out in the ocean,
and kind of looking around,
You’ve got to keep your eyes open.
You don’t want to have both your eyes closed.
You could run into something. SAM: Yeah
Do they use echolocation in pods?
-Yes, yes. -What is echolocation?
Echolocation is a way for them to find their way around
if the water is either dark or murky
-Okay. -So what they do is,
they make these clicking sounds.
They go out into the water in front of them,
and they bounce off things in their path.
So the click bounces, and then the dolphin
can listen to the echo,
so they can kind of see through sounds.
SAM: Wow.
So what’s the life-long plan here for your dolphins?
SUSIE: Well, currently our plan is to find
a brand-new home for them.
SAM: After careful consideration,
the National Aquarium has decided to build and relocate
their dolphin colony to a more
naturalistic seaside sanctuary.
SUSIE: And what’s going to be neat about this new home
is that it will be in an ocean-type habitat.
SAM: Do dolphins in the wild face any threats right now?
SUSIE: Yes, pretty much any ocean animal out there.
Our oceans are in trouble.
So we are trying to figure out how we can help.
We like to share our animals here
at Dolphin Discovery with our guests.
So we think about the dolphins as ambassadors
for their species.
So they are sort of being the voice for their kind
out in the oceans.
Well, thank you for sharing this experience with me.
You’re welcome. Yes, my pleasure.
SAM: We learned so much about dolphins today.
Like they sleep with one eye open,
keeping half of their brain running.
Dolphins are so important to our marine ecosystem.
They provide clues about the health and safety
of other ocean creatures, as well as humans.
They also see through sound using echolocation,
which helps them better navigate through the oceans.
And the dolphins that we met here today
serve as ambassadors for dolphins all over the world.
So please be sure to take care of our oceans.
See you next time on “What Sam Sees.”
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