Tales of the mysteries of the ocean primarily feature one “good” guy besides the human race that audiences identify with. This “good” guy is almost never the shark, and ideas of the squid/octopus are shrouded in horror as to the wonder of the great squid (rumored to take down sperm whales with the swipe of a tentacle). While fish are looked at sometimes (I’m looking at you Finding Nemo!), they’re too commonplace to stand out as an underwater role model. Lastly, that leaves us with whales and dolphins (sorry sting rays, coral, and all the crabs and lobsters out there!). While whales are seen as a “good guy” of the ocean, they also seem to be very passive and majestic—they’re viewed as a sense of stability in the ocean, but don’t actually stand out as the heroes of the water. In popular culture, they may be shown to be hunted by giant squids or by the mysteries of the depths, but they don’t carry the same moral qualities of the dolphin. Instead, whales are usually big, slow moving, and are regarded as a sign that life underwater is continuing just fine. Consequently, the absence of whales is worrisome and a sign that something is wrong.
This brings us to the idea of dolphins as the species that humans relate to most in the underwater world. It seems that in popular culture, dolphins are regarded as majestic creatures who can do no wrong. While humans can be morally corruptible, dolphins in stories are the pinnacle of being morally good—they battle off evil sharks, save humans from destruction and are typically killed off as a result of the evil humans destroying the environment. In real life, they also carry over this majesty as humans are able to ‘swim with the dolphins’ (without the inclusion of a safety cage) and there have been various reports of people stating that dolphins were communicating to them.
I believe that dolphins have become the hero of the ocean because they seem to be overly friendly toward humans without being too afraid. Whereas fish disperse at human interaction and sharks (although rarely) seem to go after humans as predators, dolphins submit themselves to the world of humans as being observed and observing us. Upon doing a very quick Google search on “how are dolphins like humans,” a number of hits popped up stating that dolphins can process emotion, see the world as we do, and use different sound patterns to communicate as we do. This allows humans to perceive the mysterious world of the ocean and the deep sea through the eyes of our allies down below—the dolphins. Therefore, dolphins become a conduit of being morally fair into which humans can traverse the depths of the ocean.
Dolphin’s Way brings up the interesting question of what if dolphins are the superior being to humans? In the story, the scientist hypothesizes that aliens would only communicate with humans if they were able to establish contact with something on earth—dolphins. However, at the end of the story, it seems that dolphins are the ones who have been tested to establish contact with humans and the aliens choose them over humanity. This story brings up a really great point, what if the future of Earth isn’t located in humanity, but rather through the ocean? The ocean is vastly unexplored and deep sea still holds many of the mysteries that it’s retained since Earth’s introduction into the universe. With global warming melting the ice caps and the sea level rising, what’s to say that the ocean isn’t the next destination for all of life on Earth? What’s stopping dolphins and other sea creatures from being the dominant force on the food chain in hundreds of years? To be cynical, if humanity manages to extinguish itself through polluting technologies and politics, maybe dolphins will reign as supreme.
Finally, it’s interesting to note that a couple of years ago, there was an extreme backlash against dolphins as there were a number of reports that came out stating that dolphins tried to rape people. Yes, I’m serious. In fact, this idea of dolphins partaking in rape and sexual assault became so extreme that an idea of ‘Dolphin Rape Caves’ formed where dolphins are said to bring female dolphins and female humans for the purposes of sexual assault. While it seems to be founded as a myth, many people have attached to an idea that dolphins are predatory animals that seek to rape females. There’s even a google maps page on the issue: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zPcDdAyKQpI4.kJ3mBKIr1JfU
However, the general consensus of the whole issue is that while dolphins can indeed ‘rape’ (is rape possible in the world of dolphins, do they have that level of emotional understanding, is the act seen as rape or sexual reproduction?) it is done so out of a base animal instinct of sexual pleasure. So maybe dolphins aren’t so pure. Or is it that they get a textual pass in American popular culture because they are animals and that an existence of a moral compass is questionable?
