Animal News...

Friday, August 11, 2006

Maybe, just maybe, you're a total loser like me and imagined that someday people would be extinct and the Earth would be a utopic land of hedonism and luxury run by dolphins. My hopes have been shattered thanks to shocking new research that shows that dolphins talk behind each others' backs.

...Dolphins are not to be trusted. They gossip. We know this because we know their names. Each bottlenose individual identifies itself by a unique pattern of whistles and clicks along the lines of woo-woo-wee-wee, or even woo-wee-woo-woo-wee-woo. What was not known until the Scottish research, however, is that a pair of dolphins use the name of a third dolphin when that third dolphin isn't present. In other words, dolphins gossip.

We had a chance for a dolphin encounter when we went on the cruise and now I'm glad we didn't take it. Hard telling what those bitches would've said about us as soon as we left.

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On a more serious note, my local zoo has just experienced a tragedy. Unfortunately, 4 penguins that were in the process of being transferred to another zoo were involved in a car accident and died. Poor little fellas. I thought as a tribute, that I would include some fun facts about penguins, that I found here.

Male and female penguins can be distinguished by their beak size. Not exactly unlike humans.
Penguins wings are actually called "flippers" and they do more closely resemble the flippers of fish rather than the wings of other birds.
Penguins secrete an oil from their uropygial gland, which waterproofs their feathers.
Penguins were the movie stars that were able to set a record for second highest grossing theatrical documentary
Penguins are mostly monogamous, and both parents take an active role in caring for the chicks.