The Dolphin in the Mirror
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, July/August 2011:
The Dolphin in the Mirror
by Diana Reiss
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
(215 Park Ave. S., New York, NY 10003), 2011.
265 pages, hardcover. $27.00.
Diana Reiss, Ph.D., shares her extensive experience with dolphin intelligence in her first book, The Dolphin in the Mirror. A Hunter College professor of psychology, and director of dolphin research at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, Reiss has studied dolphins on the West Coast, in Europe, and in various other places while earning her advanced degrees.
An early chapter introduces the reader to dolphins in Greek and Roman mythology. The dolphins of classical myth were often consorts of gods, and helpful to humans as well. The Maori, the first human inhabitants of New Zealand, also have extensive mythological acquaintance with dolphins. To the Maori, says Reiss, “Dolphins are a source of spiritual guidance and a font of wisdom in difficult times.”
Reiss’s hands-on experience started in the late 1970s in the Florida Keys at a place called Little Torch Key. After a month she picked up specific dolphin vocalizations. She left with more questions, but started on her career in dolphin research. Her study of dolphin communications later took her to the Animal Acoustics Laboratory in France.
Dolphins are notoriously adept at mimicking sounds. At several oceanariums captive dolphins have amused themselves by imitating fire alarms, to the consternation of staff. During an experiment Reiss conducted at Marine World, dolphins “learned the rub sound, the ring sound, and the disk and float sounds that we later added,” she recalls, “each one after fewer and fewer exposures.”
What these sounds represent to dolphin, Reiss says, is unknown. Dolphins lack hands. Instead they steer with dorsal and pectoral fins to “touch, stroke, rub, caress, slap, carry and interact with other dolphins.”
When Reiss held up a mirror in front of a pair of dolphins they reacted as if their reflections were other dolphins. “While staring at themselves, they circled and cocked their heads, rocked their bodies back and forth, and opened and closed their mouths,” Reiss writes.
Dolphins are lovable. The popular television series, Flipper, featuring a dolphin in a leading role, aired for just three seasons, 1964-1967, yet remains among the best-remembered programs ever. Audiences at the three Sea World marine parks are captivated by dolphin antics. Swim-with-dolphins attractions have proliferated worldwide.
But dolphins have enemies, including those who capture them for entertainment use. The Academy Award-winning film The Cove, for which Reiss was scientific advisor, depicts the cruel Taiji dolphin hunts. Most of the dolphins who are trapped in the Taiji cove are butchered, but the money driving the killing comes from the sale of selected specimens to exhibitors.
Reiss is a gifted researcher and an impressive advocate for dolphins. But The Dolphin in the Mirror is unfortunately congested with details that sidetrack the reader. Details of every study could probably be left out and replaced with graphs or charts that summarize the results.
Photos of the dolphins whom Reiss studied might help. I grew up in New York City and rarely saw dolphins. I now live in Phoenix, far from any ocean. I’d have enjoyed a few color photos of the dolphins Reiss speaks so eloquently about. –Debra J. White
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