On the day before Christmas, the morning ocean was a mirror.
Distracted by your name on glittering treasures under the Christmas tree, it's hard to remember that giving is better than receiving.
Hopefully, you had more fun anticipating the pleasure of presents for loved ones than they had in getting them. Is that selfish? Alternatively, we must receive gracefully when not gleefully. Giving and getting can be complicated.
On the day before Christmas, the morning ocean was a mirror. If ever a time to give myself a gift, this was it. I traded my apron for my kayak, soon pedaling across shiny smooth seas. How removed the calm ocean motion seemed from the pleasant Christmas confusion. But it gave me a present too: a peek at seaside giving.
Almost immediately, two dark dolphin silhouettes sliced the powder blue horizon. I headed toward them leisurely.
By the time I got there, they'd spread out for a leisurely breakfast of their own. Foraging dolphins disperse widely. The distances between them probably reflect the size of the area they must search for sufficient food. I lingered peripherally off the foraging patch of X, one of my favorite moms (The Mother X). Another fin sliced the surface a hundred yards away. I assumed it was her calf Little X (Dolphins for my Dentist).
Twice, X gently repeated the pattern of searching a small area, traveling to a new area and returning to the deep dives of searching. Some timeless time later, a small form rushed up. Ah, Little X. They swam to each other. When they met, the waters lunged slightly sideways as if X rolled to give her baby a quick squirt of milk. Soon, she gave Little X a more lasting kind of mother's milk.
They fell into step then, X surfacing first and Little X right after. It's hard to see how small dolphin calves are unless they surface next to a big dolphin. But their behavior reveals all: Like human kids, calves are quick and cute and a little clumsy. Little X surfaced with an excited promptness compared to X's silky practiced surfacings.
They were half way along a sandbar off a modest island when a peacefully floating cormorant gave a little squeak and leapt up with a sudden flap of feathers. X surfaced under it. My chuckle turned to awe. X burst into powersharking, shearing the water surface into paired rooster tail splashes with inconceivable speed. Her terrified prey fled just under the surface. She snapped at it again and again, spewing small splashes of water to the right as she launched to the left.
Drama done, the water quieted to a mirror again. Little X surfaced nearby. They fell into step and swam to the other side of the island. Sudden rooster tails again sheared the surface as X powersharked once more.
Men in a nearby boat stood and stared at the sudden spectacle. Few people are immune to the gift that dolphins give just by being.
Whether she meant it or not, X's powersharking was a remarkable gift to Little X. She gave Little X the chance to learn about special techniques for special circumstances. She showed Little X how and for whom to powershark. What a magnificent advantage, I thought, a capable parent who shows you things.
X humbled me with gifts too. She gave me the serenity of observation and the peace of understanding. But she gave me the best gift of all: curiosity. Would I ever discover what prey extracts this dramatic dolphin behavior from their impressive arsenal of feeding techniques? Did Little X learn anything? Was X teaching Little X?
Animal teaching is hotly debated. Years of fieldwork allow some animal behaviorists to state flatly that animals, notably common chimpanzees, clearly teach each other.
Others think teaching is uniquely human because 1) we know another individual lacks information and 2) we act to give them the information they lack. That is, people teach intentionally. How would you show that an animal is teaching intentionally? Without supporting data, which are extremely hard to get, we avoid saying animals have intentions.
Some behaviorists think animals teach each other whether or not they have a theory about the state of the other animal's mind. After all, people can and certainly do teach others without meaning to.
Whether she meant to or not, X's gift of giving was uncomplicated. She gave me this story. I give it to you. Happy Holidays.
Dr. Weaver studies wild dolphins under federal permit GA1088-1815, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Contact her at www.dazzlingdolphins.com.
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