Page 21 - The Villager March 2021

Nature

Can COrky

read yOur

mind?

By JAMES CLARkE

ome years ago, marine biologist, seeking attention. She suggested the “Tish, Tish, come! Quick, you’ve got
alexandra Morton, a world oceanarium try to get its two captive to see this!’”
Sauthority on orcas, was visiting orcas to do the same – “just to liven Tish emerged from the stadium
Marineland Oceanarium in Los Angeles things up”. tunnel to see Corky flying around the
where she had once worked. She was Flynn said the oceanarium’s orcas tank, waves sloshing water over the
chatting to dolphin trainer, tish Flynn, had never done that and said, “We’ll try side. With each breath the exuberant
and mentioned the problem of captive it next week.” whale rolled and smacked her fin on
orcas (also known as ‘killer wales’) Morton, in her 2002 book, Listening the water.
suffering boredom in the ‘dreadful to Whales, recalls: Had the whale read my mind, or was
confinement’ of an oceanarium. Then something happened that this just an enormous coincidence?
orcas, the largest of the world’s 42 has made me careful of my thoughts Tish saw my expression of disbelief
species of dolphins, can weigh more around whales ever since. As Tish and smiled.
than four tons and, despite their ‘killer’ walked out of the stadium, Corky (one “That’s whales for you,” she said,
moniker, they are, like most dolphins, of the orcas), rose to the surface and “they can read your mind. We trainers
well disposed towards humans and slapped her dorsal fin on the water’s see this kind of stuff all the time.”
have never been known to deliberately surface. After a moment’s hesitation, Could Corky read Morton’s or Flynn’s
kill anybody. she dove and surfaced to slap her mind? or is that an absurd suggestion?
Morton told Flynn how, in the open fin again. As Corky continued, she It is no more absurd than the
ocean, she’d watched wild orcas gained momentum and rose higher, recent finding that dolphins can pass
noisily slapping the water surface the next time sending a satisfying mental images (‘snapshots’ of what
with their huge, almost sail-like smack across the water. I stood in the they are seeing) to each other even
dorsal fins, possibly as a means of grandstands watching, mouth agape. when kilometres apart. and no more

The Villager • Issue 3 2021 • 19