In Honor of Deaf Dolphin and Memory of Its Calf

Here is the movie clips of Castaway and its calf to remember the calf:

http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/fv.htm??g=ce155baf-024d-4ce8-a49c-3cb7f261a64f&f=05&fg=rss

http://player.clipsyndicate.com/main/player?playlist_id=7&wpid=47&clip_id=811368&cpt=8&

I tried to make post after posting the movie clips on Saturday but as soon as I was about to post, my internet was down.

From my observation of the movie clips, I am disturbed by the fact there is too much involvement by different people since the birth of the calf, Wilson. It led me to believe that too much of human interference is a potentially contributing factor.

First, knowing deaf animals, their sense of smell is sharper than their hearing animal counterpart due to their loss of another sense. I can only imagine it is the same for the mammals. Castaway would have sensed it and feels she is not valued as a mother and being allowed to do it her way. It was reported that Wilson was born healthy and doing well for several days, so what's the point of human interference?

Secondly, what struck me as odd is all the fuss these people did with this calf and the sound machines that imitated the vocalizations when in fact Castaway did alright without people involved or without any vocalization ability when it was born in the wild. It was cared for by its mother and it's obvious that Castaway managed to survive into adulthood. If Castaway did, Wilson would have and even if he failed to properly vocalize, he'll always be safe in the sanctuary like his mother. It bothered me a great deal in one of the pictures or movie clips that the humans would bring Wilson closer to other hearing dolphins to be exposed for vocalization purpose. All different things humans did to Wilson and away from its mother in short 4 days must be too much. I wish Castaway and Wilson are allowed to bond and progress naturally without any interference from humans. It is reported that the calf was born healthy. One of the

Lastly, no one knows for sure, but it is possible that Castaway stayed close with a group of dolphins for as long as she can until she got distracted or something happened in the ocean that separated them.