1.5-minute read
Reciprocity is a deep instinct; it is the basic currency of social life.
Jonathan Haidt
Widely recognized as one of the most intelligent animals on the planet, bottlenose dolphins use their big brains to form complex social alliances that help increase their odds of survival. Much the same way that we humans look for positive characteristics in close friends like trustworthiness, loyalty, and dependability, dolphins also have make-or-break criteria for choosing BFFs (best finned friends). And what’s the number one trait they look for in an ally? Reciprocity.
According to a new study from the University of Bristol, male dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia use many of the same cognitive skills as humans to observe behavior, determine the strength of their relationships, and decide who to count on when the chips are down. They choose their long-term teammates based on experiences of mutual support and cooperation.
Caller ID for Dolphins
Because no two dolphins sound alike, the clever creatures keep track of who’s who based on signature whistles. The Bristol researchers analyzed 30 years of behavior and 40 different whistle playback experiments and determined that bottlenose dolphins recognize a true friend when they hear one. Whether an individual dolphin responds to a whistle depends on memories of past reciprocity from the whistler. To have a good dolphin friend, be a good dolphin friend—or it’s straight to voice mail.
ICYMI Nature News:
Chatty, Chatty Mushrooms
As reported in the Guardian, a scientist has theorized that fungi have something to say and 50 different “words” to say it. Who wouldn’t like chatty mushrooms?
The Bird Is Back
A bit of happy news on the bird front—the legendary ivory-billed woodpecker is not extinct after all. Although you were never truly gone, welcome back, feathery friend.
More Earth Music
To rally the music industry on behalf of organizations addressing the climate emergency, artist Brian Eno has launched the fund-raising org EarthPercent. You can learn about their critical mission here, and you can listen to some new EarthPercent music here—courtesy of the good people at Bandcamp.
Saving Bees with Sunflowers
Are you looking for a great way to pitch in on behalf of bees this summer? If you live in North America, you can join the Great Sunflower Project to help track and conserve our precious pollinators. You can learn all about it here, and you can find scads of bee-licious sunflower plants to get you started here.
Tree Read
If you’re a planet-appreciating friend of forests, we’ve got an essential read for you. Ever Green: Saving Big Forests to Save the Planet, by John W. Reid and Thomas E. Lovejoy, is a beautifully written, hopeful, and compelling call-to-action to save the Earth’s five giant forests—and a fascinating travelogue even for non-tree-geeks.
FWP Monthly Carbon Capture Report
FYI, the trees that we planted with Tree-Nation in April will capture and store over 106 tons of CO2. That’s equivalent to the emissions from over 128,000 pounds of coal burned or 14 million smartphones charged. We’re rolling on with the lovely, leafy sky vacuums.
