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Teachers From the Deep
| Article
# : |
16948 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
Date : |
4 / 1990 |
2,756 Words |
| Author
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Hazel Krantz
Hazel Krantz's most recent novel, For Love of Jeremy, set in
the Dolphin Research Center, will be published in the fall of
1990 by E.P. Dutton. |
Next to Mile Marker 59 on Highway 1, the narrow road that crosses the Florida Keys, there's a tall green statue of a dolphin mother and baby. Just behind it, among rusty-leaved sea grapes and palmettos, is the Dolphin Research Center, where Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphins help to heal neurologically damaged children and adults.
A boardwalk heads out toward the placid waters of the Gulf of Mexico, bisecting pools separated by wire fences decorated with windblown seaweed. There, a few elderly sea lions and fifteen lively dolphins frolic.
As the dolphins shoot through the water or erupt in mighty, glittering silver arcs, the fences seem absurd. The dolphins can easily leap out into the open sea, and sometimes they do. But invariably they return. Unfortunately, captive dolphins lose the ability to hunt for food. There's another, happier, reason they stay. Dolphins like humans and seek us out.
Richard O'Barry, former trainer for the famous dolphin Flipper, describes dolphins' uncannily human characteristics. "Dolphins are not little windup toys. There're complex individuals with likes and dislikes, fears, moods, and dispositions, good days and bad."
Neuropsychologist David Nathanson, director of dolphin child research at the center, knew that he wanted to use animals in his work with children with learning disabilities and neurological problems. The benefits of animal therapy have long been known. Colorado psychiatrist James Kagan says: "People feel comfortable with animals. Animals seem capable of unconditional love. They don't pull
... (1998 of 16060 Characters)
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