When a dolphin kills another, how should we punish it? Is it morally okay to imprison dolphins who've murdered other dolphins in amusement parks?
Killer Dolphins
Jul 9, 1999 - © Matt Villano
Scientists, following a trail of bloody clues, have discovered that dolphins are far from the happy, peaceful creatures that humans think they know. In an article published this week, New York Times reporters cited growing evidence showing that the big animals, up to 12 feet long, are killing fellow mammals in droves, wielding their beaks as clubs and slashing away with rows of sharp teeth.
Dolphins have been found to bludgeon porpoises to death by the hundreds. Unlike most animal killers, who eat their prey, dolphins seem to have murderous urges unrelated to the need for food. They have even been observed in recurring acts of infanticide. Off Scotland, a scientist watched in shock for nearly an hour as an adult dolphin repeatedly picked up a baby in its mouth and smacked it against the water, over and over, until it sank from view. Off Virginia, researchers found at least nine baby dolphins killed, their ribs broken, their skulls and vertebrae smashed. One small body bore puncture marks matching the pattern of adult dolphin teeth. "We have such a benign image of dolphins," said Dr. Dale J. Dunn, a veterinary pathologist at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, who aided the Virginia study. "So finding evidence of violence is disturbing."
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