Hey, everyone, I'm Sam,
and I'm in Baltimore,
Maryland, at
the National Aquarium
ready to learn more about a
super-smart marine mammal
that is surprisingly similar to
humans: dolphins.
They're truly fun and lovable
creature.
So let's go behind
the scenes to learn more
about them and the amazing
people who care for them.
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♪ ♪
The ocean is home to some
of the most diverse
and beautiful creatures,
all moving in their own rhythm
and pace.
And dancing through the waves
are the acrobats,
court jesters, and aerial
spinners of the sea...
Dolphins.
Today, I get to
go behind the scenes
at the Dolphin Discovery
Exhibit
in the National Aquarium.
I'm meeting up with Susie
Walker and her team
to check out the dolphins'
daily routine.
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A typical day starts at 6:30 in
the morning with breakfast.
It takes the team two hours to
sort and weigh 200 pounds
of fish that make up the
dolphins' diet.
We're prepping today's fish.
SAM: They are fed every
hour and a half,
about 7 to 10 times a day.
In addition to their diet, food
is an important part of their
learning through positive
reinforcement.
The trainers use food in a
series of play and reward
sessions to teach certain
behaviors
and build trust with
the dolphins.
Susie, can you tell me a
little bit about
what you do
here at the Aquarium?
Sure, I am a trainer, so that
means that I help
take care of our animals.
Another part of it is,
teaching them behaviors that
help us take care of them,
monitor their physical health,
so we can collect samples of
blood or other things.
Can you give me a little
history on the dolphins
that you have here?
Sure.
We have seven dolphins.
Five of them are girls, and two
of them are boys.
And all of the except one were
born here
at Dolphin Discovery.
One of them was born at another
aquarium,
and we provided a new home for
her when she needed a new home.
So all of these guys were born
in human care.
Let's head to the first
training session of the day
with Taylor.
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Every morning we do these
visual checks on them
just to make sure things look
nice and healthy
Gonna take a
nice deep breath for us?
There it is.
Do they keep that blowhole
closed
while they're under water?
Yes, so a lot of times people
think that dolphins
are breathing water.
What they're seeing is that
water that's sitting on top
moving out of the way with the
air.
They breathe air just like
you and I do.
SAM: I love marine mammals.
They're my favorite, cetaceans:
whales, porpoises, and
dolphins.
So right now Chesapeake is our
oldest dolphin,
and she's 25 years old.
(dolphin clicking)
She knows a lot of fun sounds.
(dolphin screeching)
And she's our only dolphin that
will blow a raspberry.
Oh, what's that?
So it's like a--well we'll have
her show you.
SAM: Okay. (laughs)
Whoa.
And so they say they have a
lot of teeth.
Do they use them?
They actually use their teeth
to catch the fish
that they eat.
When they close their teeth,
their teeth interlock
kind of like a zipper
-Okay.
-And that traps the fish.
-Oh, okay.
-And if you notice,
if she's eating, they swallow
their food whole.
SAM: Dolphins learn by
imitating their trainers'
behaviors and gestures.
And like dogs, they're always
ready for a treat.
TAYLOR: Most of the water work
is mimicry-related,
and it's all based on
relationship building.
SAM: What do you mean by
mimicry-related?
TAYLOR: So we
do some mimics with her,
if you want to stand up.
SAM: Okay.
TAYLOR: We'll spin in a circle
one time, and she'll follow us.
-Okay.
-Go ahead and spin.
-Oh.
-So dolphins learn very quickly
by mimicking each other as well
as us.
So when we do a behavior very
small like that, they're like,
"Oh, hey, I can do that too,
and that's really fun."
And that's a great way for us
to build a relationship
with them and build trust.
-Okay.
-Take your right hand
and hold it in the air and
give her a nice big wave,
and she'll wave back.
And then one of our favorites,
if you take
your hand like this,
and hopefully she won't get us
too wet.
You might get all little wet.
And then go ahead and
slap the ledge.
Good job.
She's just very good at
copying.
Wow.
All right, we're going to take
a quick step back.
Can you say bye?
Bye. Ohh.
(upbeat music)
The exhibit opens to the
public daily to let them see
how dolphins learn, play, and
interact with each other.
(upbeat music)
(light electronic music)
These sessions help educate
visitors about dolphins.
Now that I've seen them in
action,
I want to learn even more about
their social behavior.
So some of the social
behaviors that you see here,
would you see those also in
the ocean?
Yes.
They're very
touchy-touchy animals.
And that's kind of how they
bond with each other.
So they'll rub their flippers
along each other's bodies.
They'll whistle and click to
communicate with each other.
So they're very social
with each other.
Correct Yes
So they like to remain in
pods you would say?
Correct, yes.
Yeah, a typical pod size for a
bottlenose dolphin
is going to be a few
individuals to maybe 20,
whereas something
like another species
called a spinner dolphin, it's
not unusual to see 100 or 200
of them in a group at a time.
So each species is a little
different.
And do they work together
when they're in pods?
-Yes, absolutely.
-What do they do?
Yes, they look out for
each other.
If they're resting, they don't
completely sleep like we do.
They sleep with one eye closed.
They sleep with one eye closed?
-Yes.
-That's so funny.
What's interesting
is we believe that they sleep
with one half of their brain
at a time.
-What?
-So they're never
completely asleep.
SAM: Why do they do that?
If you think about it, when
you're out in the ocean,
and kind of looking around,
You've got to
keep your eyes open.
You don't want
to have both your eyes closed.
You could run into something.
SAM: Yeah
Do they use echolocation in
pods?
-Yes, yes.
-What is echolocation?
Echolocation is a way for them
to find their way around
if the water is either
dark or murky
-Okay.
-So what they do is,
they make these clicking
sounds.
They go out into the
water in front of them,
and they bounce off things in
their path.
So the click bounces, and
then the dolphin
can listen to the echo,
so they can kind of see
through sounds.
SAM: Wow.
So what's the life-long plan
here for your dolphins?
SUSIE: Well, currently our
plan is to find
a brand-new home for them.
SAM: After careful
consideration,
the National Aquarium has
decided to build and relocate
their dolphin colony to a more
naturalistic seaside
sanctuary.
SUSIE: And what's going to be
neat about this new home
is that it will be in an
ocean-type habitat.
SAM: Do dolphins in the wild
face any threats right now?
SUSIE: Yes, pretty much any
ocean animal out there.
Our oceans are in trouble.
So we are trying to
figure out how we can help.
We like to share our
animals here
at Dolphin
Discovery with our guests.
So we think about the dolphins
as ambassadors
for their species.
So they are sort of being the
voice for their kind
out in the oceans.
Well, thank you for sharing
this experience with me.
You're welcome.
Yes, my pleasure.
SAM: We learned so much about
dolphins today.
Like they
sleep with one eye open,
keeping half of their brain
running.
Dolphins are so important to
our marine ecosystem.
They provide clues about the
health and safety
of other ocean creatures, as
well as humans.
They also see through sound
using echolocation,
which helps them better
navigate through the oceans.
And the dolphins that we met
here today
serve as ambassadors for
dolphins all over the world.
So please be sure to take care
of our oceans.
See you next
time on "What Sam Sees."
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Captioned by Captionmax
