Dolphins Granted Non-Human Personhood

Dolphins Granted Non-Human Personhood

Dolphins Call Each Other by Name with Unique Whistles

Yucca Valley, CA – August 19, 2013 – The Government of India recently granted dolphins non-human personhood, making India the first nation in the world to recognize the unique intelligence and self-awareness of the cetacean class of aquatic mammals, as noted by Mike Adams in his Natural News article of August 9. Mike recently wrote that “Dolphins are extremely intelligent mammals with a highly-developed social structure. Recent research shows that dolphins call each other by name and can remember the unique name whistles from old friends heard just one time 20 years ago.” and further recommended “Action item: Help fund the Dolphin Communication Project.”

Dr. Kathleen Dudzinski, Director of the Dolphin Communication Project, has posted a project at FundaGeek seeking support for their ongoing dolphin communication research. DCP is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to both dolphin research and education. It strives to promote awareness of marine mammal conservation and to foster environmental stewards. Donations are already at 61% with 18 days to go.

Though dolphins have been studied for half a century, little is known about the subtle nature of their social bonds and how they navigate their social lives on a day-to-day basis. Long-term studies make it possible to collect detailed data that reveals the patterns in social behavior of these long-lived marine mammals. Continuing the studies on an annual basis is critical and keeps the data set viable for rigorous statistical understanding with respect to examining the social relationships that dolphins share.

DCP has been funding their research by hosting tours to study locations in the Bahamas, Japan, Germany, and Honduras. The difficult global economy forced DCP to cancel their 2012 trip to Roatan Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS) in Honduras but they hope this crowdfunding project will make their October 2013 trip viable. They hope to continue their observation of a group of bottlenose dolphins and piece together a more nuanced understanding of how dolphins value their social relationships. John Anderson of Terramar Productions will film this phase of DCP’s research into dolphin friendships at RIMS; John will create the final DVD project as a donation to DCP.

All of DCP’s fundraising efforts go directly to their research and education programs and Dr. Dudzinski receives no salary for her studies or work with DCP.

To be a participant in this interesting research and get a DVD of the trip, visit the project at http://www.fundageek.com/project/detail/853/The-Science-of-Dolphin-Friendships-How-do-dolphins-choose-their-friends

About FundaGeek

FundaGeek has entry portals specific to scientific research, inventions, technology, education, software, and community support. The company’s co-founder and CEO, Mr. Daniel D. Gutierrez, is founder and CEO of AMULET Development Corporation, a developer of custom web database software applications for business. The company’s co-founder and President, Mr. Cary C. Harwin, is founder and CEO of Catalyst Development Corporation, a developer of Internet components and decision analysis tools.

FundaGeek is headquartered in Yucca Valley, California and the company’s website is found at: www.fundageek.com.

ENDS

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