The next morning the weather was beautiful and the sun shone; it was very hot. North Bimini seemed animated by a strange frenzy, everybody seemed to be running around for something. We met at the marina; we were waiting for Ronn, we wanted to see how he was doing. As he came towards us, limping slightly, we all went forward to meet him. He said that his condition was quite good, despite the pain, and that he was a very strong guy. The doctor had said that he could come with us on the boat, but he wasn’t allowed to dive. For a few more days, he would play the tourist. As usual we set off from the North Bimini Marina, in search of dolphins. The commander heard on the radio that a large group of bottlenose dolphins had been sighted about ten miles out from South Bimini. We went there and we actually found a large family of bottlenose dolphins struggling with calamari. They were hunting. Once we were in the water we started filming and recording this sight. It was really fascinating to watch a bottlenose hunt for squid. They swam quickly and then dipped down low, scanning the bottom using their sonar, then, once the prey was identified, they did a strange approach maneuver, uncovering the squid under the sand. These activities were done very quickly for all the group’s members. Every now and then, they all went back to the surface, as if gathering for a meeting, before going back to hunting. We were recording everything, especially the frequencies used to stun their prey and get their food. In trying to define the behavior of cetaceans in general, we can assert that they are subjects characterized by a tendency towards great social interaction, as they are able to aggregate into groups of many elements, with very structured relations. Conversely some whales have an almost uniquely solitary life, deciding from time to time to privilege social relations: the interpretation of their social behaviours is beyond our human concept of the pack. While hunting, the social nature of dolphins, unlike other animals that compete with each other, leads them towards a very cooperative attitude, ensuring that all elements of the group receive the right support. The physical transformations to which they were subjected during the millennia have given them these amazing features, which make them particularly cohesive herds. It might be obvious to say that senses are important for dolphins, to the extent that they are for other animals. The sense of smell, for example, could be considered critical to the olfactory reception of prey, such as with sharks, but it is not. In fact, whales and dolphins, while having all the areas of the brain connected to the nose, these are of little physiological importance. With regards to taste, it was established that two small slits on the sides of the tongue, were not actually taste receptors and that the two small furrows below the apex of the upper lip were connected to taste perceptions. It was later understood that in reality their function is quite different: they are in fact touch receptors. More recently, these slots have been interpreted as vestiges of the Jacobsen organ, still used in ungulates, and felines. For a long period it was thought, among cetologists, that dolphins were able to perceive some types of electrical signals, coming from any prey. Each organism, in fact, has its own basic electrical activity that allows its identification by means of a normal oscilloscope. In fact this activity is well known among sharks, but it has never been demonstrated in cetaceans. There is absolutely no proof that dolphins are able to interpret electrical signals. This is so for both dolphins and whales. The electrical activity of schools of fish is normally used by men in the identification of pelagic fish shoals, which, moving in very large groups, emit a fair amount of electricity. So, in the same way as we smell, they taste and their electric perception appears to be a valid explanation for the use of their senses and to communicate between individuals of the same herd. More likely, what allows large schools of dolphins to live together and easily communicate is their excellent management of sound. In this, they are the real masters. In fact, sound is for them the easiest and the characteristic that is most "suitable" to their great depth in vision. In the water, sound travels very well and is reflected perfectly by providing images in fairly sharp contours and precise shapes. Also, in the communication between individuals of the same group, a kind of preferential channel, a well-coded frequency that allows all members to "keep listening" and communicate is used. All cetaceans produce a large amount of sound at different frequencies and, in particular, bottlenose dolphins communicate with each other using frequencies that are three octaves higher than our normal communication frequencies. This frequency is the best you can find in the communications media in liquids. For bottlenose dolphins, sound is a real axis for connection while for us, images stored in the brain level are visual images, for dolphins cognitive images are represented in image "Sheets". For them, sight is used exclusively for identifying objects at a short distance. Out of the water, dolphin’s eyes are able to evaluate shapes at a distance of about 25-30 meters.
We spent a full day at sea, from morning until night. Time was flowing fast. One week had passed in an instant. Hours flowed into eachother incessantly, much like our emotions. For days we had been frantically searching for the largest dolphins herds and, more importantly, without leaving out the smaller groups. Every time we saw a dolphin at sea, we quickly slid into in the hopes of recording a large majority of their sounds and their language. The boat constantly had its hydrophone down in the water, connected to the amplifier and someone (usually Pedro!) who was listening. Our dream was not about working, but rather to fullfill a dream. Every one of us, in our own way, was grateful for the opportunity we had been given and for the dream we were living. Diving in the sea always brings about a feeling of contact with another reality. Imagine a world of sounds in which a dolphin can decipher different languages ...it is a priceless feeling. Diving down into a world of colors and forms that are so different from what one usually sees can only make you feel alive. The sea, beneath the surface, is not a dark and silent world, but it is a reality populated by life, an external and internal reality. Different shapes, bright colors, and small fish and algae are the background to the song of the soul, supporting our thoughts. Immersion is the best gift that we can give ourselves. Learning to dive, to listen to the voice of our soul, can provide us with glimpses of an inner peace. The sea shortens the distance: it is not only physical. Even when the light stops following us and we are alone with ourselves, in the darkness of doubt, the sea brings out what is deepest and most mysterious inside us. The sea is the only judge; friend and foe, life and death, it is thought and action, peace and anxiety. Our feelings become alive at sea. You would never understand the sea from its surface. In order to understand it, one must dive in and this is also true in life. During each dive in the presence of dolphins, one finds special significance. Their superiority is evident in their eyes and in the eyes they turn towards us, intruders into their world. In the evening, we all decided to register on our laptops the videos and sound recordings we had accumulated.
I invited everyone to my house that evening. The house was big enough to comfortably accommodate friends and spend an evening together. I promised to cook pasta for them; no one had refused the offer. However, the problem was that I had to boil water with a single electric stove..! After a very pleasant meal where the Italian delicacies I had prepared were much appreciated, a heated discussion got started on the different frequencies used in the process of communication among the different groups of cetaceans.
"A key difference seems to characterize baleen whales (whales) and toothed whales (dolphins)...: the use of low frequencies", asserted Theo. "Unfortunately we are not yet able to interpret the reason for this" he added.
"It seems, in fact, that whales usually emit sounds of about 20 Hertz to communicate and to look for one another, even in the open sea...." Simone said, getting up quickly from the table.
"Whales emit these sounds frequently, almost like a mantra. These sounds have a frequency of 20 Hz which is perfect for communicating over large distances" said Pedro.
"Dolphins also high frequencies to communicate over long distances" I added.
"Maybe this theory is the right response to the statement made by very low frequencies from whales....!"concluded Ronn.
"This is the problem we come across when trying to understand the meaning of these sounds." echoed Simone.
"We are not yet able to correctly and safely interpret their language,” concluded Pedro.
"Let’s not forget that dolphins and whales are animals that emit an incredible array of sounds, without changing their attitude. A bird sings, a dog barks, a donkey brays, emitting sounds and opening their mouths, and this allows for the identification of the subject that is emitting a sound. In cetaceans, this is not the case. Their appearance is always the same. Therefore, in emitting a sound, whether audible or inaudible to humans, their appearance remains the same", I concluded.
While we enjoyed a good Italian coffee, tempers calmed down and we planned our meeting, as usual, for the next morning.
I stood for a while in the garden. The humidity level was high and the mosquitoes were flying around like angry airplanes, but the feeling of peace was deeply felt. My normal life felt so distant; Italy, my clinic, everything seemed covered by a veil created by distance. It felt like I was living in another dimension. I went back inside and turned on my computer. Despite the slow connection, I started looking at my emails. I had a number of emails to respond to regarding various problems to be resolved. This brought me back, briefly, to the reality of everyday life and it usual concerns. I spent about an hour in front of the screen then went to bed, exhausted.