The question posed is:
I'm Dolphin friendly, that means I'm helping, right?
Before I start it is important for me to say that I hold an extensive admiration for everyone who tries to help dolphins in their own way. Unfortunately, in recent years it has almost become "cool" to be "dolphin friendly" and to be honest, I see this as more of a hindrance than a blessing. People are like sheep and will follow along with the crowd in an effort to fit in. Unfortunately the result is often a cult-like following of people working towards a cause they don't fully comprehend, nor do they really care about.I know I sound pesimistic, but there are too many cases to ignore. Take the bottlenose dolphin for example. It could be easily called the stereotypical dolphin. When the average person thinks of a dolphin they picture a grey mammal with fins for arms and on its back, a rounded bulb for a forehead, a small rounded nuzzle, and a long slim mouth lined with little teeth and which always appears to be smiling. Tell me if I am wrong, but I don't think I'll hear many arguments. The truth is that dolphins don't all look alike and many species of dolphins look nothing like the others. Even if we just consider a very superficial characteristic like color. How many people know that the Pacific White sided Dolphin doesn't have a very large white spot on its side? It does, however, have a very prominant bright yellow patch just behind its fins.
Now people would argue that knowing the colors of specific species isn't necessary when you are working to protect dolphins in general. But I ask this question: How are you supposed to understand the problems facing dolphins when most problems are species specific, while you don't know one species from the other?
The simple answer: you can't.
Now don't get me wrong, I think the effort made is remarkable and no amount of funding or good will could ever replace the tangible efforts made. Ask any advertiser and they'd be the first to tell you that the best way to make progress is for the topic to be passed along by 'word of mouth'.
The problems result when the quality of what is being said through word of mouth deteriorates. A situation develops where the general public becomes tired of hearing about the same problems all the time, with no new information. The topic is always on people's minds, but there are no details. I like to use the analogy of government. People talk about it all the time. They complain about how things are handled. They say that if they were in power, things would different. The topics are discussed over and over again but new information is rarely ever added. Eventually people get tired of hearing about it and it becomes one of those accepted situations that the average person doesn't see any way of changing. When the topic is brought up in conversation, it is shyed away from and avoided at any cost.
Now put this anology in the perspective of the plight of dolphins. The last thing I wish to see happen is the topic of dolphin conservation turned into an annoying coffee shop topic. You'll hear people talking about it all the time, but the conversation is full of generalities and no hardcore facts. The people are often rantly and complaining, but its getting them nowhere because they've given no thought towards a solution.
It's only when these same people educate themselves on dolphins can they truely help.
When a person understands the differences between kinds of dolphins, different dolphin habitats, etc, then the heart-felt anger is put to good use. The anger then becomes a driving force which fuels solutions. Without the knowledge, viable solutions are impossible.
My point, therefor, is that all the good intentions are nice, but they're not truely going to help until people educate themselves so they are able to comprehend and formulate the necessary solutions that will protect our dolphin friends for generations to come.
Copyright 1999-2003 - By Norma Ranieri
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