Intensive scientific research is not relegated to sterile white rooms and lab coats, but can occur wherever intellectual curiosity thrives, including the lagoons of the Dolphin Research Center (DRC). As part of an extended study offered by the neuroscience and biology departments, I traveled to Grassy Key, Fla., with 12 other Colgate students to participate in a two-week immersive Dolphin Lab program at the DRC. The first week consisted of the Basic Dolphin Lab. We attended seminars on dolphin care, behavior, and conservation. We observed training sessions, medical care, and dolphin husbandry. Most importantly, Basic Dolphin Lab allowed us to begin to build real and reciprocal relationships with each of the 26 dolphins at the facility, through interactions both in the water and on the docks. By the end of the first week, we could identify each dolphin based on its dorsal fin and tail flukes.
The second week emphasized the research aspects of the DRC through the Research Dolphin Lab. The research team focuses on the cognitive and behavioral activities of their dolphins, designing experiments to test dolphin intelligence. Specifically, they are investigating how dolphins are intelligent, not quantifying their intelligence. Participating in both observational and experimental research, we watched the dolphins at a distance from the research tower and assisted in conducting tests on dolphin cognition using thinking games from the docks. Throughout the week, we worked in small groups to develop a research proposal concerning dolphin cognition, which we presented to the head of the research department.
At the end of the two weeks, it was difficult to bid our new finned friends farewell. The DRC is more than an organization; it is a family consisting of both the people and dolphins who call it home. Each day began with greeting the dolphins with a good morning and ended with wishing them a good night. As we walked along the boardwalks of the lagoons on that final morning at the DRC, we felt like part of the family. As we departed, we knew it wasn’t forever, but only for now.
Gillian Schutt ’20 (pictured), from Sutton, Mass., is a member of the cross country and track and field teams and is interested in photography. Her future plans include pursuing a graduate degree in neuroscience and continuing to work with animals.