DENISE L. HERZING

Denise Herzing, Research Director of the Wild Dolphin Project has completed 18 years of her long-term study of the Atlantic spotted dolphins inhabiting Bahamian waters. She received her B.S. in Marine Zoology in 1979; her M.A. in Behavioral Biology in 1988; and her Ph.D. in Behavioral Biology in 1993. She is Research Faculty in Biological Sciences at Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida.

Dr. Herzing has authored and co-authored many papers in the fields of whale biology, animal behavior and communication and environmental ethics. Coverage of her work with the spotted dolphins has appeared in National Geographic, BBC Wildlife, Ocean Realm and Sonar magazines. Her work has also been featured on the Nature series in the U.S., Discovery Channel, PBS, ABC network television, BBC in England and NHK channel in Japan. Her fields of interest are animal consciousness, behavior and communication of cetaceans, and environmental ethics.

Denise Herzing brought her latest book, Wild Dolphin Project: Long Term research of the Atlantic Spotted Dolphin in the Bahamas to the booksigning at our 35th Birthday Celebration.

ABSTRACT

CROSS CULTURAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN DOLPHINS AND OTHERS: LEARNING AND CULTURE IN THE UNDERWATER WORLD... For most cetaceans the potential existence of culture is deduced from temporal or spatial patterns in the wild. To date, four species of cetacea, killer whales, bottlenose dolphin, humpback whales, and sperm whales have been analyzed for potential cultural traits. In addition, generational observations from human/dolphin fishing cultures provide interesting perspective on cultural transmission at work in the wild. In the clear waters of the Bahamas long-term underwater observations of two species, the Atlantic spotted dolphin (Stenella frontalis) and bottlenose dolphin (Tursops truncatus), provide a unique opportunity to observe transmission mechanisms of social learning/exposure within and between these societies. Since 1985, 220 spotted and 200 bottlenose dolphins have been individually identified and regularly observed for five months every summer. Underwater video with hydrophone input was used to document individuals, sounds, and associated behavior. Spotted dolphins are of known gender, relationships (mother/calf, siblings), and association patterns. 15% of all spotted dolphin observations include the presence of, and active participation with, bottlenose dolphins. Spotted dolphin society has qualities conducive to social oriented transmission mechanisms including 1) mixed age-class groups, 2) multi-generation family groups, and 3) long-lives and extended maturation periods. This suggests that there may be a variety of social mechanisms available for the transmission of information between dolphins. How might dolphins in the world transmit such information? Vertical (mother/offspring), oblique (non-parental/juvenile), and horizontal (peer/peer) are potential directions of transmission. Two-way and non-exclusive transmission types of visual/kinesthetic behavior may include 1) observational learning, 2) goal emulation and others. Examples of both intraspecific (spotted/spotted, bottlenose/bottlenose) and interspecific (spotted/bottlenose, spotted/human) activity are given to explore other potentially emergent mechanisms available to dolphins in the wild.