Dolphin High Jump
Most sources I've looked at maintain their capacity is five meters, or sixteen feet.
The performance in the video below is posted twice on YouTube, by different folks. And one poster claimed the rope was set at twenty meters. That would be over sixty feet, or as high as a five-story building.
I don't think so. They might have meant twenty feet.
But if we look at the photo to the right (from the Life archives of a Marineland performance from 1958), we see that the dolphin has jumped about three body-lengths out of the water for its treat. (Unless of course it's been lifted up there by humans and nailed by the snout to the pole.) According to Wikipedia, dolphin species vary from four feet to thirty feet long. If we assume this dolphin is ten feet long, then it's jumped thirty feet straight up!
Amazing!
Comments
Like you say, Paul, that shot at the top is 20ft not 20 meters. The dolphin would have to be about 30ft long otherwise.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/18/09 at 11:16 AM
Some impressive math, Dumbfounded! Thanks!
Posted by Paul on 03/18/09 at 12:46 PM
Hey, that could be the elusive Pacific Dolphin-Whale in the top photo. Very rare. :roll:
Posted by Madd Maxx on 03/18/09 at 12:50 PM
Dumbfounded, would that be an unladen European marlin, or an African marlin? And would there be significant drag created if one tied some coconut shells to it?
Posted by kingmonkey in Athens, Ontario on 03/18/09 at 01:04 PM
Kingmokey - I was thinking exactly the same thing, you beat me to it! LOL
Posted by Jules in Connecticut on 03/18/09 at 01:30 PM
I was hoping to see a dolphin on a zip line in the video. Man was I let down.
I was just about to correct you Dumbfounded on the title, but I figured before I made a spectacle of myself I would check it out, Glad I did.
Dolphins are one of the few animals that, like humans, have sex for enjoyment, not just procreation. And without paternity suits and unwanted teen pregnancies and Maury Povich DNA test shows proving "you my baby fahta!"
"For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons." - Douglas Adams, <u>The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy</u>
Did I mention before I really miss Douglas Adams?
I was just about to correct you Dumbfounded on the title, but I figured before I made a spectacle of myself I would check it out, Glad I did.
Dolphins are one of the few animals that, like humans, have sex for enjoyment, not just procreation. And without paternity suits and unwanted teen pregnancies and Maury Povich DNA test shows proving "you my baby fahta!"
"For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much - the wheel, New York, wars and so on - whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man - for precisely the same reasons." - Douglas Adams, <u>The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy</u>
Did I mention before I really miss Douglas Adams?
Posted by DownCrisis on 03/19/09 at 12:09 AM
Hey Patty, are Dolphin Shows anything like Donkey Shows?
😏
😏
Posted by DownCrisis on 03/19/09 at 12:10 AM
I'm with you DownCrisis. So long, and thanks for all the fish 😊
Posted by Nethie on 03/19/09 at 01:46 AM
came to this story just to write 'pretty f'n high'.
I read the first two posts then skimmed to the last one.
I don't even want to read any in between now, it would ruin the fun!
thanks patty!
I read the first two posts then skimmed to the last one.
I don't even want to read any in between now, it would ruin the fun!
thanks patty!
Posted by mrjazz on 03/19/09 at 12:52 PM
probably, since neither is a fish.
Posted by Madd Maxx on 03/19/09 at 12:55 PM
As a San Diego resident and frequent visitor to Sea World I can attest to the fact that that jump is only 20'.
I'll have to ask the trainers how high Dolly the Dolphin can really jump next time I'm there.
I'll have to ask the trainers how high Dolly the Dolphin can really jump next time I'm there.
Posted by Freddie Freelance on 03/19/09 at 01:40 PM
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Category: Animals | Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts | 1950s | Natural Wonders