Marine Mammals – Part 1

 

The Indian peninsula (surrounded by ocean on three sides) and our rich coastline (over 4671 miles) are often mired in controversy than pride. Time and again we've read stories about Sri Lanka and Pakistan army taking away our fishermen for trespassing their waters and Olive Ridleys by getting caught in the trawler rudders and meeting their fate during the breeding season. The recent incident where the Italian marines opened fire at Kerala fishermen mistaking them for pirates the relationship between Italy and India dived into troubled waters.

Are oceans really calm waters or have we turned them into troubled waters making death and imprisonment along the Indian peninsula? To this Interesting question and I found a few parallels in the marine world during my recent trip to San Francisco, California, US.

My friend Bala, took me on take a boat ride along the Monterey Bay. During the boat ride, the two marine biologists onboard explained the behavior of mammals in water, their aggression and territorial fights, their migration patterns, and the impact of human behavior along the 870 mile Californian coastline.

We boarded the boat at 9 am, the sky was blue, the sun was shining bright and gentle breeze was blowing towards the shore. To our surprise we were welcome by two friendly dogs who wanted to play and be petted, but was restrained in the upper deck L of the boat. I had no clue how my body was going to react to the constant movement of the boat, high velocity cold wind and but was anxious to explore the marine world. Once we began the journey, I realized that Bala was damn right to get me a monkey cap at the Wharf. The thick layer of acrylic covered my bald pate and kept my ears warm. And we stood in the sun to keep ourselves warm.

Within 50 meters from the shore, we spotted sea lions, otters, few other sea birds, seagulls included. The mammals were basking in the warm sun, while the birds were busy collecting sea weeds to build their nest. While we humans fell trees and mine below the ground to get raw materials to build our homes, these birds were merely using what is easily available in the nature without causing any environmental hazard. Though some of them migrate across the globe and build new homes to breed, they still keep it small, simple, sturdy and eco friendly. There is so much to learn from nature and its creations.

Soon the shore looked very distant and suddenly the marine biologist asked us to look to the right of the boat. There were a dozen dolphins jumping out of the water and expressing their joy, excitement and social skills. The marine biologist explained that the dolphins were closely related to whales and porpoises and are the most intelligent animals in the marine world.

Sight, touch and smell: Most dolphins have acute eyesight, both in and out of the water, and they can hear frequencies ten times or more above the upper limit of adult human hearing. The dolphin's sense of touch is also well-developed, with free nerve endings densely packed in the skin, especially around the snout, pectoral fins and genital area. However, dolphins lack an olfactory nerve and lobes, and thus are believed to have no sense of smell. They do have a sense of taste and show preferences for certain kinds of fish.

Social skills: Dolphins are often regarded as one of Earth's most intelligent animals. Dolphins are social, living in pods of up to a dozen individuals. In places with a high abundance of food, pods can merge temporarily, forming a superpod; such groupings may exceed 1,000 dolphins. Individuals communicate using a variety of clicks, whistle-like sounds and other vocalizations. Membership in pods is not rigid; interchange is common. However, dolphins can establish strong social bonds; they will stay with injured or ill individuals, even helping them to breathe by bringing them to the surface if needed.

Slowly the boat ventured into deep waters of Pacific Ocean and the marine biologist was hopeful in sighting some whales today. And at a distance a fellow passenger spotted a shower in the middle of the ocean and asked the marine biologist to take a look towards two o’clock position. Was it a grey patch of cloud? Did we get lucky? Come back next week for more interesting stories, sightings and also find out if I lasted the entire trip.