Craig is temporarily a post-doctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who is looking for a permanent position. He spends most of his time balancing his overwhelming geekdom with normalcy so he can function in the real world. Luckily his wife likes his geekiness.
Peter Etnoyer is a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He studies deep corals and ocean fronts, and he loves to be on the water.
Kevin Zelnio is a Graduate Student Researcher at Penn State studying the ecology of hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. He raises awareness of the plight of the spineless through folk music.
Now EVERY dolphin is going to be tail-walking on the water. Remember the moonwalk phenomenon in the 80s?? Yeah, you thought that was bad? Well, just think how bad it will be when all the dolphin's start tail-walking? Great job sea world...
BBC Reports "Wild Dolphins Tail-Walk on Water":
"A wild dolphin is apparently teaching other members of her group to walk on their tails, a behaviour usually seen only after training in captivity.The tail-walking group lives along the south Australian coast near Adelaide.
One of them spent a short time after illness in a dolphinarium 20 years ago and may have picked up the trick there.
Scientists studying the group say tail-walk tuition has not been seen before, and suggest the habit may emerge as a form of "culture" among this group. "
Brain & Behavior
Life Science
Comments
Well, this behavior really shouldn't persist within the wild populations, unless a) there's some kind of selection advantage to doing so, such as avoiding predators, or b) it's true that 'fins just wanna have fun. Either option bends the mind a bit, but it's nice to have distractions from Fay.
Posted by: FishGuyDave | August 19, 2008 6:36 AM
If the boy dolphins think she's cool and want to mate with her, there's your selection advantage right there. Human teenagers didn't moonwalk to avoid predators.
Posted by: Matthew Skala | August 19, 2008 7:08 AM
LOL Matthew, but how many reproduction events were the result of moonwalking I wonder.... *shudders*
Posted by: kevin z | August 19, 2008 7:33 AM
"Human teenagers didn't moonwalk to avoid predators."
Speak for yourself!
Posted by: Siamang | August 19, 2008 10:40 AM