The strength of a behavior conditioned on a one-reward-for-one-response basis was compared with that conditioned on several types of schedules in which more than one response was required for a reward. All schedules provided good control, but a variable-ratio schedule produced a larger amount of work over a longer period and at a greater rate for the same amount of reward.
Describes successive reversal training and discrimination learning set experiments with two bottlenosed dolphins.
Describes experiments to determine the relative efficacies of various food- reinforcement schedules in a paddle-press task.
Two California sea lions and one Atlantic bottlenosed dolphin were tested over 19 reversals of a spatial problem. All performed well.
Two-dimensional geometric shapes of various configurations were presented. Large differences in perimeter lengths between any two shapes generally resulted in better performance. Other form parameters may be involved in the discriminative process. Evidence indicated problem-specific rather than conceptual learning.
A total of 821 gray whales were seen during aerial surveys. Monthly abundance was highest in July and lowest in October. Whales were usually seen feeding in open water and seldom in association with heavy ice. Calf abundance was highest in July.
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describes how such collateral behaviors pertain to training and can be used -to facili- tate transfer of an animai from one trainer to another.
Ventilation intervals are estimated from video images of Delphinus and Stenella swimming near boats. Results used to support speculations on behavioral and bioenergetic consequences of dolphins surfacing to breathe at different swimming speeds.
Sluggish and unresponsive behavior was observed in dolphins when they were first moved from tanks to lagoon pens. Similar behavior was noted in animals that escaped from their pens or wandered away frorn the trainer during early training. It is suggested that this was a response to a strange environment.
Presents data on movements, numbers, and distance from offshore, with details as to cows with calves and yearling animals observed.
Porpoises of a number of species were observed riding the pressure waves of the whales. Whales were also observed riding large swells in a manner similar to that seen in smaller cetaceans.
Seven distinct feeding behaviors, in which a variety of prey species are taken by various means, are identified and discussed.
The dolphin, radio-tracked from shipboard for 13 consecutive hours, covered 100.5 km at estimated speeds of 2.3 to 10.7 knots, with burst speeds exceeding
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12 knots. The animal dived for from 1 to 204 seconds, exhibiting three diving modes tentatively identified as running, traveling, and feeding.Behaviors observed when 16 killer whales approached and chased feeding gray whales. No whale sounds were picked up by a sonobuoy although widely spaced killer whales exhibited apparently coordinated movements.
Results from four field experiments support the conclusion that short-term behav- ioral changes occur when bowhead whales are exposed to airgun blasts from vessels within 10 km. The effects of airgun disturbance wane within an hour.
To evaluate the effectiveness of procedures other than food reward in establishing behavioral control, the use of an aversive stimulus was investigated. The animal was successfully conditioned to approach an emitting hydrophone in order to terminate the presentation of a moderately intense sound delivered underwater.
Tursiops responds to differential reward magnitudes (four smelt versus one smelt) in a manner characteristic of other animals similarly studied.
A presentation summarizing echolocation samenes s-difference and delayed matching-to-sample experiments that demonstrated concept formation by echolocat- ing dolphins.
Details the training and testing for an undenvater masked hearings threshold study using a false killer whale (Pseudorca crassidens). Also discussed training problems related to this type of testing.
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Dolphin behavior in a simple automated task was found to be responsive to controlled variations in food reinforcement.
Tactile reinforcement, gradually substituted for fish in a paddle-press task, at first maintained good response. After extensive testing, behavioral breakdown occurred. Aggressive behavior directed toward the trainer was interpreted as sexual frustra- tion .
A handbook of information and guidance for dolphin trainers.
A male white whale nearing the attainment of sexual maturity, spontaneously began to vocalize in a way that sounded like human speech heard at a distance. This phenomenon of white whale vocalization had been noted twice previously by others, but the physical characteristics of the sounds had not been presented. The spectral characteristics of distinctive phonations were measured and are described.
A bottlenosed dolphin's clicks were monitored in a three-alternative, delayed matching-to-sample experiment. Analysis showed a complex decision-making process combining stereotypic and contingent behavior to produce accurate performance.
Compares behavioral/sensory capabilities of otariids (fur seals and sea lions) and phocids (earless seals).
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Experiments showed that two sea lions demonstrated nearly complete forgetting when irrelevant comparison stimuli were shown during the delay intervals in'a two- choice delayed conditional discrimination task. Simple delays of 1 sec. to 2 min. in one animal did not affect performance and the other animal showed some forget- ting when the delay was from 1 to 45 sec.
Sometimes porpoises attack sharks, sometimes sharks attack (and eat) porpoises, and sometimes mutual tolerance is exhibited. The relationship of porpoises and sharks is still inadequately understood.
Dolphin social and feeding behaviors, first observed in oceanariums, have now been studied in free-ranging animals. While conditions of captivity may distort narural patterns, observations of behavior of captive animals can be useful in interpreting that of free-living dolphins. Captive conditions appear to stimulate dolphin propensities for play and the invention of games.
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