UCI's Library

Reversible Bending of the Dorsal Fins of Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena Phocoena) and a Striped Dolphin (Stenella Coeruleoalba) in Captivity.

Kastelein, Ronald A., et al. “Reversible Bending of the Dorsal Fins of Harbor Porpoises (Phocoena Phocoena) and a Striped Dolphin (Stenella Coeruleoalba) in Captivity.” Aquatic Mammals, vol. 42, no. 2, 2016, pp. 218–226., doi:10.1578/am.42.2.2016.218.

To begin I was having some extreme technical difficulties with installing the VPN, but it got done with the help of mom. Now that I had installed the VPN I could now navigate myself to UCI’s library and use their tool for research called Academic Search Complete engine and began my search for some very informative articles. I typed in the search bar “dolphins in captivity” and got many articles regarding this matter, but chose this one because it caught my attention. These researchers were conducting experiments on two different types of dolphins called the harbor porpoises and the striped dolphin, they were studying why do their dorsal fins move and what degree of the angle they move to. One method they conducted was placing 13 harbor dolphins and one stripe dolphin and estimating their ages by using the length-to-age study. The overall results showed that the reasons why their dorsal fins move could be caused by many reasons, one being they are healing from an illness. This research can be used to describe why exactly it could be animals in captivity specifically these dolphins could have a folded dorsal fin.

Dolphin Communication and Cognition: Past, Present, and Future.

Herzing, Denise L., and Christine M. Johnson. Dolphin Communication and Cognition: Past, Present, and Future. The MIT Press, 2015.

Just like I found my first article I then typed in one of my favorite researches yet that I have discovered Denise Herzing and as expected received many research studies that she has participated in with dolphins and books she has written. In this book she talks about many things that involve dolphins with their cognitive abilities and their way of living. It also covers the future to dolphin research which could be great to read about. I specifically chose this book because it talks about their ways of communicating within each other and their intelligent capacity these mammals have. I believe it is key to understand the animal greatly before going on and diving into bigger issues such as these beauties being in captivity can damage their well being or knowing how they are fond of human beings.

Overall, I have learned that I am not a technology person at all and I could never figure things out without help, but that’s okay. At the end of the day I got to where I needed to be and that’s all that matters. I got to learn how to navigate through this search engine and learned how to find the information I will be needing in my future research paper. It will definitely benefit us all and will make our papers have great credible sources. The most valuable thing I learned is that each mammal is different and we all suffer in different ways and react a certain way when we are sad or ill. Such that their dorsal fin bends when they are sick, we are low on energy. Can’t wait to keep learning.