Observations from the Dolphin Research Center
I had the extraordinary pleasure of going to the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, FL recently, and can’t say enough good things about the facility, the staff, and the residents. While it is a small facility, it is packed with up close encounters and interactions with not only dolphins, but also seal lions, birds, a giant tortoise, as well as resident wild iguanas.
It’s taken me a while to process the experience and chew on everything I observed. Now that I’m over the initial fan girl response of being able to experience interactions with dolphins THAT close, I’ve been mulling over all that I observed.
The first thing that struck me is just how aware they are. We approached the first lagoon and it wasn’t long before a dolphin swam close to the edge, rolled on her side with her eye out of the water, watching us. She stayed for a moment, before disappearing, only to return with another dolphin. Again they stayed for a while, before leaving, only to return with four dolphins this time!
Three dolphins swimming by observing people
It was clear that we were being checked out. I can only imagine it’s like watching people passing by from your balcony or window along a busy street. Some people will pass by, some will stop and chat, and sometimes they might bring you a treat!
The staff at the DRC were all so very personable, and delighted to share knowledge and information to any and all questions asked. The demonstrations were not only fun, but it was clear that the dolphins were just as engaged with the watching crowd as they were with their trainers, responding more enthusiastically whenever the crowd would get excited.
What was impressive is these animals can in no way be controlled. You’re not putting a halter on a dolphin. So they have to be willing participants in the interactions in order for there to be any training in the first place.
In the wild, dolphins spend most of their time looking for food. All of the behaviors that the trainers ask for are things the dolphins can do naturally in the wild, and can sometimes be seen doing just off shore along the beaches. They do them for fun, to play, to learn how their bodies work, and just for the heck of it. Some of the behaviors are even maneuvers the dolphins will utilize while fishing. Food is always utilized in abundance during the training, but much like clicker training, it doesn’t come every time at exactly the same time. The dolphins don’t beg for it, and happily perform and happily take a mouth full of fish whenever it’s offered.
What was fascinating was the level of detail and nuance in the training. In this particular lagoon, there were 4 different docks with trainers on them, each working with 2-3 dolphins at a time. I don’t know about you but I can hardly manage my 2 horses at the same time sometimes! Here were these wild animals that are free to come and go as they please not only responding to a specific trainer, but taking turns with training.
Trainers would give a ‘wait’ command to a dolphin and then focus on another dolphin, and they each knew when they were being asked something, and when to be patient. That doesn’t mean they did it perfectly, either, the trainers were very adept at shifting gears when a dolphin would insist on being the center of attention in that moment.
To signal to the dolphin that they responded correctly to what was being asked of them, the trainer would blow a whistle (much like clicker training), which the dolphin can easily hear above or below the water. With 4 docks and 4 trainers and about 10 dolphins all doing various things at the same time, it was miraculous that any one of them knew which whistle was for themselves vs another dolphin - but they did.
They very clearly understood when the whistle was to tell them they did what was being asked of them, and were keenly aware when they chose not to do what was being asked of them! And they didn’t always do exactly what was asked. The trainers were quick to redirect focus, shifting to find something the dolphin could do, and was willing to do, without missing a beat.
A trainer blows the whistle to signal the correct response to a dolphin.
Out of all the animals to train, dolphins are probably some of the most challenging. There’s no way to physically manipulate them, there’s no way to “show” them something, and there’s no way to move them around. Most conventional training relies on a combination of all of the above to achieve the end goal with a pet - for better or worse.
I’m not saying that we shouldn’t use tools like leashes and halters, or physically move our pets around, but seeing the world of possibility that is achieved with the dolphins was incredible. Not only are they working with an animal “at liberty” (completely untethered to the trainer in any way), but they were working with multiple animals at the same time, asking some to be patient and wait, while focusing on another.
Seeing how much their personalities shine through the training and connection was so beautiful. My wish for any pet is that they have this kind of support, connection, and magic in the relationship. The fun part is that we can all do this with and for our pets - it just takes time, willingness to learn together, and a desire to have fun!
