Bloody hell, anthropomorphism gone mad I tell you.

And bloody Stephen Fry talking like we’re all thick children.

As you were.

we could learn a lot from them (was very humbling to watch the end,where the whales were being friendly to people,even after what humans have done to their species (amongst others).apologies for bad grammar 😳

Any excuse to use a big word eh?

I used to eat a lot of marmalade…. that’s a big word too

I’m not sure it’s anthropomorphising when the species is as obviously intelligent as the cetacea are. I thought it was an awe-inspiring program, you however, seem to have some unresolved issues.

Pretty pictures but very light on facts and presented in a one-sided manner. Typical nature documentary really.

was very humbling to watch the end,where the whales were being friendly to people

Yep, and it seemed totally genuine.

I thought it was nice to see nature documentary with a “human” and emotional angle to it, rather than the usual just churning out the facts. Very different I thought.

I was transfixed, very good programme. 5 years until we can talk to them. How long before they start trolling and flaming pointlessly like **** on dolphin.net?

EDIT: I think they used Mr Fry because of his association with ‘The Guide’, you know, “so long and thanks for all the fish etc…”

How long before they start trolling and flaming pointlessly like **** on dolphin.net?

Didn’t Fry mention something about whales having 3 times the amount of cells which deal with emotions such as empathy, in their brains, compared to humans ?

Humans are a pretty nasty species, it’s unlikely imo that other highly intelligent species would share simular traits, Chimpanzees (apart from Bonobos) being the obvious exception.

I agree that alot of people use anthropomorphic reasoning for why an animal acts the way it does even though there could be other reasons ie elephants mourning by gently touching the remains could be that they ARE mourning or as is far more likely, that they recognise the smell of the individual and are confused. But on the other hand, where did we get our human emotions and what causes them? Hormones that have evolved over a millennia, an evolutionary time span that many animals have been subjected to too. Most people will agree that animals can appear angry, distressed, have bonds with other individuals etc so why couldn’t they feel empathy as well?

Humans are a pretty nasty species, it’s unlikely imo that other highly intelligent species would share simular traits, Chimpanzees (apart from Bonobos) being the obvious exception

they have found evidence of dolphins committing gang rape…

I’m a zoology nerd 8)

Ah, but is there evidence that gang raping in the dolphin world has the same connotation as it does in ours ? Or are we perhaps guilty of applying human revulsion inappropriately ? After all, on the face of it having a bunk-up appears to be a thoroughly unpleasant experience for a female cat, it certainly appears to be extremely painful, and yet it is obviously a perfectly natural and appropriate experience for a female cat.