The Ocean World of Jacques Cousteau [antikvár]

Introduction: Birth of ConsciousnessAmong the denizens of the sea the gladiator orca is about the ultimate in beauty and efficiency. The orca is the marine mammal that inspired fear in sailors and whalers and was nicknamed the "killer whale." Herbert Ponting, photographer of Scott's expedition to Antarctica (1910-1912), reported that he was standing on a large ice floe when eight big orcas, each about 25 feet long, broke through the ice and tried to throw him into the water. Captain Scott himself reported in his journal: "One after the other their huge heads shot vertically into the air through the cracks they made. . . . The fact that they could display such deliberate cunning, that they were able to break ice at least two and one-half feet thick, and they could act in unison was a revelation to us. . . . They are endowed with singular intelligence and in the future we shall treat that intelligence with every respect." Ponting, who probably had been mistaken for a seal by the orcas, spoke of them (understandably with resentment) in such inappropriate words as, "Wolves of the sea . . . their spouts had a strong fishy smell. little piglike eyes devils of the sea----"A recent, very reliable report relates that orcas killed a sea lion, played with it, threw it in the air back and forth like a volleyball. So orcas are obviously carnivorous, and they display ingenuity in procuring their food. They often play. But why should we emotionally judge their manners as "vicious" or even judge them at all? Marine animals have to be observed in their element, if possible in freedom, if we are ever to understand their behavior. This kind of in situ study was totally impossible in the past and is still extremely difficult today.In the North Pacific our divers witnessed orcas being captured to be sold to marine parks all over the world in a new kind of slave trade. When surrounded by nets, the powerful rulers of the sea quickly understood that there was no escape. They were kept for a while in semi-captivity in a bay closed by nets, where our divers repeatedly went into the water with them. From the very start they were friendly and eager for attention and caresses from the divers. Threats were only expressed if we favored one of them and the others felt neglected. Soon they were sent away to become trained clowns.Day after day at sea we watch orcas and wonder at the complexity of their individual social manners. They eat mainly fish and squid, though they also prey on seals and dolphins. Their family ties are strong and lasting. The head of the family is totally committed to at least two generations of offspring and the roving group constantly communicates extremely complex and even abstract information which could not be transmitted unless they had some form of structured language. On land no animal other than man himself displays suchlet us say intelligence. The long series of chances taken along the line of evolution that was necessary to turn out end products like orcas (and man) staggers the imagination.The roots of behavioral studies lie in the automatic responses of organisms to simple stimulation (heat or light) from their surroundings. The way an animal fulfills basic motivations constitutes its behavior. And though the essential drives are only four, they can form an infinite number of combinations, just as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen combine to form the highly intricate organic molecules which are the building blocks of life.8