I thought this was the right forum to put this in....
Turn to the TNG tech manual, p. 45, right colum, bottom paragraph:
"In the Galaxy class starship, ongoing G&D system research tasks are handled by a mixed consultation crew of twelve Tursiops and T. truncatus gilli, Atlantic and Pacific bottlenose dolphins, respectively. This crew is overseen by two additional cetaceans, Orcinus orca takayai, or Takaya's Whale. All theorectical topis in navigation are studied by these eltie specialists, and their recomendations for system upgrades are implemented by Starfleet."
So, the humans in star trek used universal translators to talk to dolphins, and thse olph9ins supsequently operated on starfleet ships. I;ve never heard of the takaya's Whale, perhaps they're supposed to be from a planet orther than Earth. Are dolphins federation members? Seperate members from humans? Or are they independent? Is there a dolphin captain out there in starfleet who just finished commanding their ship while fighting in the dominion war? Are their starfleet dolphins "boldy going where no cetacean has gone before?" Just thought this was interesting....
------------------ Obviously you refuse to cooperate with me. Obviously you have no discipline to kepp the mouth shut. Obviously you don't. Let's try it that way, then you might get the hint. How many more minutes are we going to waste asking you not to talk? How many more!?!
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
This is weird!
------------------ "Si vis pacem, para bellum." (If you want peace, prepare for war) - Vegetius Prakesh's Star Trek Site
Posted by Justin_Timberland (Member # 236) on :
I've always wondered about those fish tanks near sickbay when I looked at the E-D blueprints. Now I know that it's not there for no reason...
------------------ Sometimes I run Sometimes I hide Sometimes I'm scared of you But all I really want is to hold you tight Treat you right, be with you day and night Baby all I need is time
-Britney Spears
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Er, yes. Sternbach and Okuda thought it up, and managed to get it onscreen in, er, the episode with Famke J.
------------------ "20th Century, go to sleep." -- R.E.M.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I didn't see no dolphins or fishtanks in "The Perfect Mate".
It was just a verbal in-joke of sorts: Geordi tries to lure the dignitary away by enthusiatically going "Have you seen the dolphins yet? You've got to see the dolphins!". Could be anything from a holoshow to the personal pets of a crew member...
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Montgomery (Member # 23) on :
I felt the comments were tongue-in-cheek and did nt imply actual communication with dolphins. Despite what SeaQuest or Douglas Adams say to the contrary, I don't think dolphins are particularly intelligent.
The dolphins are there party as pets, but also as part of research programs into aquatic life. Non-dangerous research one would assume. (Pop them in space suits and train them to lay torpedoes! )
------------------ "You don't need eyes to see; you need VISION" - Faithless / Reverence
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I'd like to know what happened to the dolphins and such when the Ent D crashed in Generations. I saw the dolphin tanks on the blueprints when I got them and immediately thought of "The Perfect Mate" I thought it was a nice tie in...
------------------ "A gathering of Angels appeared above my head. They sang to me this song of hope, and this is what they said..." -Styx
Well, it's been there for, oh, 9 years or so. Sorry.
Personally, I imagine that those tanks can also support other aquatic species that happen to find themselves on a Galaxy. The Mermen from Namoria IV, and so on.
------------------ "20th Century, go to sleep." -- R.E.M.
Posted by grb on :
Well, actually, scientifically doplphins are consdiered very intelligent. They are the only other species besdies humans that have sex for pleasure. They actually baby sit for each toehr's children. They are also the only other psecies besodes humans that helps members outside of thier immediate family. They have been seen luring fish into fisherman's nets, and apparently nice chesture consdiering what humans have done to dolphins. It is believed the only real reason why dolphins have not estyablished a civilization comparbale to humankind's is that under water, dolphins can not create a written language nessacary to transmit accumulated knowledge from one generation to another possible. For all we know, civilation may just be a fluke for humanity. Afterall, its only been around for about 8,000 years, while humans have been around for two million years.
------------------ Obviously you refuse to cooperate with me. Obviously you have no discipline to kepp the mouth shut. Obviously you don't. Let's try it that way, then you might get the hint. How many more minutes are we going to waste asking you not to talk? How many more!?!
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
I'm surprised. I thought everybody knew there were dolphins and whales on the E-D who did navigational research...
There was even a novel that had a dolphin who had a sort of rectangular bubble of water that he stayed in and flew around the ship. A ship, anyway; I forget which. I don't even remember the book. For some reason, I'm thinking it was the one where Picard's old Stargazer crew comes back together. Reunion, or something?
------------------ Lisa: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Bart: "Not if you called them 'stench blossoms'..." -The Simpsons
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Actually, human beings are the only species that has sex for reasons of reproduction. We're the only ones that have figured out that sex=babies. (And even that isn't a universal cultural truth. Many cultures have been blissfully ignorant of that fact.)
Animals have sex because sex feels darn good. They are not aware that it has any connection to reproduction. If they DID, then there wouldn't be any reason for sex to feel good, as creatures would not need any extra incentive to, shall we say, get it on.
------------------ "20th Century, go to sleep." -- R.E.M.
Posted by grb on :
No. Animals have sex cause its an instinct, which they continue to do cause it feels good. However, they only mate for eventual reproducrtvie purposes. Human have sex even when they don't want kids. Dolphins are the onyl other species that do that.
------------------ Obviously you refuse to cooperate with me. Obviously you have no discipline to kepp the mouth shut. Obviously you don't. Let's try it that way, then you might get the hint. How many more minutes are we going to waste asking you not to talk? How many more!?!
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
I don't follow. If animals only have sex when it feels good, then how can they be having sex for reproductive purposes? How can they even grasp the connection between the two when many human societies failed to? And your system fails to account for the vast amount of non-reproductive sex in the animal kingdom. Gay giraffes, that one species of monkey that uses sex where other species use combat to determine who's who on the totem pole... I don't think your claim holds up.
------------------ "20th Century, go to sleep." -- R.E.M.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I think what he means is that they only get an urge to mate during the mating-season, not all the time, like humans or dolphins. But their motives can still be to do it because it feels good.
Also, you have to compare 'intelligence' to 'religious "beliefs"' when talking about the sex=babies thing.
Oh I want to know if the cetateans have uniforms or communicators...
*communicator beep* La Forge: "Excuse me Counsellor" "La Forge here" Dolphin Lt.: "Eeee e e e eeeeee e e eeeee e eeeeeeeeeee e e e?" La Forge: "No, try jefferies tube 11, access shaft 24. Then try using an inverse anti-lepton decoupler instead of an pre-forced soliton degauser... - that should fix your salinity problem... La Forge Out"
;o)
------------------ "...it might be easier to study ancient societies from distant orbit than it might be to sit next to the Guardian of Forever with a tricorder." - Baloo, January 2000
Posted by TerraZ on :
Well, the hump-back whales from ST IV were at least partly sentient, since aliens took the trouble of sending a very powerful probe just to contact them... Personaly, I don't care if it's realistic or not, but I think it would be nice if some species of cetaceans were recognized as sentient by the Federation, kind off like in the Ringworld Saga, were they were given mechanical arms to help them further develop their society...
In ST, they wouldn't really be Starfleet officers as such and would be confined to water tanks, but might act as consultant on some topics or even philosophers... Think what a whale would have to say on the purpose of the human race, knowing what it did to them?
------------------ -If you ask me, I think continuity is highly overrated... *Brannon Braga*
-So, you do it out of hate! Good! That's an emotion I can trust... *Megatron - Beast Wars*
Posted by Black Knight (Member # 134) on :
They also appeared sentient when Spock mind-melded with Gracie.
Perhaps they comunicate telepahicaly, with some of the crew members say counselor troi.
------------------ I am not responsible for the stupidity of other people.
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
TSN: You're thinking of Dark Mirror. In it, a dolphin is on the Enterprise to study cosmic strings or something like that. His species isn't from Earth, and this guy is in tune with his surroundings. He's the only one that notices when they slip into the mirror universe.
------------------ Ross: "Inter arma, enim silent leges." Bashir: "'In the time of war the law falls silent.' Cicero. Have we become a 24th-century Rome, driven by the fact that Caesar can do no wrong?!" -Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
was there an "evil bisexual dolphin" too
Well what if a cetacean WANTED to become an officer in starfleet!?!
"eeee eeeeeeeee eeeeee e ee e eeee" translation "Starfleet has become a Human's only club... present company excepted."
------------------ "...it might be easier to study ancient societies from distant orbit than it might be to sit next to the Guardian of Forever with a tricorder." - Baloo, January 2000
Posted by D-S on :
Nothing to do with dolphins but has anyone noticed that on Page 23 of the TNG tech manual it says that the Ent-D has Ablative armour
Posted by TerraZ on :
Isn't it supposed to be some kind of "ablative hull coating"? I'm not sure, haven't read the thing in at least 3 months... It's probably meant to be some kind of hull protection against space hazard like micro-meteorites or the like...
------------------ -If you ask me, I think continuity is highly overrated... *Brannon Braga*
-Let the Fates land where they may! *Megatron - Beast Machines*
Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
This is why I objected to taking the Tech manual's mention of the Nova class as canon.
------------------ "Nobody knows this, but I'm scared all the time... of what I might do, if I ever let go." -- Michael Garibaldi
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
Ablative hull coating is similar to accusative hull coating, but only used w/ certain prepositions. :-)
------------------ Lisa: "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Bart: "Not if you called them 'stench blossoms'..." -The Simpsons
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
Don't take that accusative tone - remember that canonically, only the Enterprises can have pre- or postpositions... Or just possibly the new Defiant as well (although mobile position is more common, at least against the Borg). Hmm.. Perhaps pre-and postpositions are indicative of ablative armor? I must still say that ablative armor was first introduced in Past Tense.
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
That sound you hear is one thousand hands hitting one thousand foreheads.
------------------ "You are stupid and evil and do not know you are stupid and evil." -- Gene Ray, Cubic
Posted by Dane Simri (Member # 272) on :
Perhaps the sentient dolphins in the ST universe were not sentient to begin with, but were raised to sentience by human genetic engineers, a la the "Uplift" series by David Brin (especially "Startide Rising")?
------------------ Dane
"...and there was war in heaven..." The Bible, Revelation 12:7
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Possibly, but given the Federation's general reluctance to engage in that sort of behavior, it seems unlikely.
------------------ "You are stupid and evil and do not know you are stupid and evil." -- Gene Ray, Cubic
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