This post introduces Dolphin Dance Project’s Ask Chloe campaign. Below is my original invitation for our audience to submit questions about dolphins. We received all kinds of questions about dolphins, and then I did the research to find some answers. In the process I learned an enormous and diverse amount of information about dolphin behavior. I also learned a bit about humans and how we think about other beings in our interconnected world. All the questions I received were beautiful for their curiosity and made me enjoy the process of imagining what life is like for another species. Below are the posts answering the questions I received.
Deciphering Dolphin Dialects
In this post, I cover three questions regarding dolphin communication that were submitted to our Ask Chloe blog series.
Shark!
In this second post of our Ask Chloe series, I talk about some interspecies relationships dolphins have with sharks and humans.
Deep Bonds
This third post in the Ask Chloe series gives us an overview of dolphin sexuality and the social dynamics of pod relationships.
Dolphins in Danger
This post in our Ask Chloe series takes a look at a more depressing reality of dolphin life--captivity and death caused by us humans.
Dolphins in the Anthropocene
This final installment of our Ask Chloe series considers perhaps the most pressing question for dolphins and the rest of us: how will we fare in the face of global warming?
More About Me:
I’m Chloe, a twenty-one year old studying dance at Bennington College, a beginning freediver, and most recently an intern for Dolphin Dance Project. Last year I began my freediving journey in the South Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans. This winter, I decided to spend some time learning about how Dolphin Dance Project merges the skills of dance and freediving with an added bonus–wild dolphins!
My first order of business when I showed up for work with Chisa and Ben was to get introduced to a stack of books covering research about dolphins. I’ve already learned so much (dolphins are crazy)! And one goal for the next month is to expand my knowledge of dolphins, the important role they play in our oceans, and the threats they face.
If you’re interested in helping me with this process, I invite you to send any and all dolphin-related questions using the form below, and I will do my best to research and find answers for as many questions as I can. Keep an eye out for future blog posts from me as I respond to your submissions!
I like questions from children and from adults. Whether your question is silly or serious, about dolphin biology or cognition, or their ecology and our relationship to them – I encourage you to challenge me. Ask me for the facts about dolphins, but also don’t be afraid to ask more theoretical questions! Like, why should I care about dolphins in my everyday life as I ride the subway? What does the food I buy, prepare, and eat have to do with the health of dolphins? What is the biggest threat I pose to dolphins and why does it matter?
I’m eager to work through these tough questions and research current opinions in marine conservation. But more strictly fact-based questions are fun too (ask me how many decibels dolphins can reach with the clicking noises they make)!
I’m curious to hear your thoughts.
