Artist credit: Labrynith's Eye by Polygame
In honor of today being World Cetacean Day, today's post will simply be a tribute to these amazing sentient beings.
"Man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much .. the wheel, New York, wars and so on ... while all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man ... for precisely the same reason." ~ Douglas Adams ~
"It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English - up to fifty words used in correct context - no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese." ~ Carl Sagan ~
"Listen to the voice of a dolphin and you shall learn the secret to mankind's survival: Peace." ~ Mallory Watson ~
"Pushing through green waters ... symbol of joy ... you leap from the depths ... to touch the sky ... scattering spray ... like handfuls of jewels ... " ~ Horace Dobbs ~
"For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love." ~ Pythagoras, Greek Mathematician and Philosopher ~
"To the dolphin alone, nature has given that which the best philosophers seek: Friendship for no advantage. Though it has no need of help from any man, it is a genial friend to all and has helped mankind." ~ Plutarch ~
"No aquarium, no tank in any marine land, however spacious it may be, can begin to duplicate the conditions of the sea. And no dolphin who inhabits one of those aquariums or one of those marine lands can be considered normal." ~ Jacques Yves Cousteau ~
"The happiness of the bee and the dolphin is to exist. For man it is to know that and to wonder at it." ~ Jacques Yves Cousteau ~
"The Cetecea hold an important lesson for us. The lesson is not about whales and dolphins, but about ourselves. There is at least moderately convincing evidence that there is another class of intelligent beings on Earth beside ourselves. They have behaved benignly and in many cases affectionately towards us. We have systematically slaughtered them. Little reverence for life is evident in the whaling industry - underscoring a deep human failing...In warfare, man against man, it is common for each side to dehumanize the other so that there will be none of the natural misgivings that a human being has at slaughtering another ..." ~ Carl Sagan ~
"When Earth is sick, the animals will begin to disappear. When that happens the Warriors of the Rainbow will come to save them." ~ Chief Seattle ~
"If you talk with the animals, they will talk with you. And you will know each other. If you do not talk to them, you will not know them. And what you do not know, you will fear. What one fears one destroys." ~ Chief Dan George ~
Video: John Denver's "Ancient Rhymes"
(Direct link to video: Ancient Rhymes)
Lyrics to Ancient Rhymes:
Two days before the moon was round
You felt the urge of sun's light beams
The muffled world of dolphin sounds
Slipped down and back into your dreams
For nine full months that passed before
You learned of all of life's Ancient Rhymes
Then mother sensed a farther shore
And brought you forth into these times
So taste the air of your new world
And gently guide us to your mind
It knows the winds and sails unfurled
And holds to heart the dolphin kind
Welcome precious earth made child
We met you first in your father's songs
And mother's smile and waters wild
It's in this place you now belong
I know you know of all these things
And feel the faith of a dolphin's sigh
For you were born on silver wings
To taste the high blown crystal sky
So sing one day to all of us
The songs you learned in dolphin lair
Giving hope to life as all we must
And teach us how their grace to share
"So long and thanks for all the fish!" ~ Douglas Adams ~
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