Dr. Hani Miletski Asks DelphiGirl, "How Do You Cope?"

Happy New Year everyone! :)  I hope you and your loved ones have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2013.

For this first entry of 2013, I will be sharing an excerpt from correspondence with Dr. Hani Miletski, Ph.D., MSW,  author of "Understanding Bestiality and Zoophilia" ( www.drmiletski.com ).

I initially wrote to Dr. Miletski to thank her for her research on bestiality and zoophilia (namely, the differences thereof and the assertion that zoosexuality is a legitimate sexual orientation rather than a paraphilia), and for writing her book.  I also indicated that if she ever conducted further research, I'd be happy to participate.  I also asked her if she's spoken with many female zoophiles, to which she replied that she had, but only very few.  This is not surprising to me at all.  It's lonely and difficult for us all, I imagine, but definitely more so for females.  One of the questions she asked of me really got me thinking, not only about myself, but about others like me:
"How do you cope?"
This is an important question for every zoosexual, given the rarity of our sexuality (at least in terms of those of us who acknowledge this part of ourselves) and the nearly-universal prejudice and condemnation we face.  While much of my answer is specific to delphisexuals, I do think some of it applies to zoosexuals in general.  After much thought and reflection, I replied with the following:

"As for your question, this is something that is difficult for myself and others who share my primary attraction.  You're right, there are no wild dolphins here (obviously!) and the proposed captive marine park facility never opened (thankfully! I am passionately opposed to captive cetacea, as are all similarly-inclined zoosexuals I've spoken with).  My first exposure to dolphins occurred in different places (visits to California and living in the Bay Area for a time; beautiful pictures from a marine biology teacher and an organized visit from this class to a marine research facility in Mexico).  The sad truth is that most delphinic zoos will never be able to have a relationship for obvious reasons.  There is very limited access to captive cetacea and only a small number of animals in such facilities; all of whom can be easily identified, so contact with them is extremely unlikely for most, and very risky for those who work with them. As for wild dolphins, one faces a difficult situation due to the Marine Mammal Protection Act here in the U.S., similar laws in other coastal places in the world, and other issues prohibiting interaction with these animals.  Despite these obstacles, though, some people have had relationships with wild dolphins, and several trainers over the years have shared photos and video of their beloved companions with the DZ community.  It's obviously much harder to find this material and it passes primarily from word of mouth.
How do I deal?  I deal like most DZ's. No matter where one lives, access is limited to most people (as I shared above).  It is therefore extremely painful and awful to know that myself and others with similar sexualities will most likely never have an opportunity to have such a relationship.  I cope primarily by celebrating the species I love and doing all I can to advocate for them.  I am a passionate anti-captivity activist and my love for dolphins compels me to fight for their welfare.  At the moment, the worst issues are the dolphin drives in Taiji, Japan; the pilot whale grinds in the Faroes; captive cetacea in miserable situations and the dolphin serial mutilations/grisly murders happening here in the US.  It positively devastates me.  I'm far from alone.  Like many zoosexuals (and plenty of "normal" people!), animal rights in general is a huge issue for me.
I cope by writing, collecting precious images, stories and artwork; talking with others.  Finding the online community has helped me in a big way; to find that I'm not alone and to find you and others who have investigated this issue much further than Kinsey."


So, what about you?  How do you cope?  I would be interested in hearing from any other zoos (male or female, regardless of which nonhuman animals you're attracted to, but especially female delphisexuals) who feel like sharing how they cope with their sexuality.  You are welcome to comment here or respond privately.

Australia condemns Japan for whale hunt - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

Australia condemns Japan for whale hunt - Asia-Pacific - Al Jazeera English

I AM SO HAPPY TO READ THIS!
 GO AUSTRALIA!  Sea Shepherd's methodologies might sometimes elicit an unpleasant response within for various reasons, but their message is 100% valid.  WHALING NEEDS TO STOP! PERIOD!  Thank you to SSCS for bringing attention to this cause and for directly intervening with the Japanese whaling fleet.  IT'S RIDICULOUS!  I did my research. I've been to the Japanese site, www.icrwhale.org (Japan's faux-scientific "Institute for Cetacean Research", the figurehead which attempts (and fails miserably) to justify whaling in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary (SOWS).  The IWC Moratorium exists for a reason and this pathetic attempt to justify the murder of our oceanic counterparts is sick and wrong.
The "scientific research" argument is a farce.  With the exception of a vast minority of proposed reasons, almost all of the reasons Japan gives for needing to "harvest" whales in the SOWS could be accomplished without killing the animals!  It is such bullshit, just like the circus act of the IWC in general.  *facepalm*   This shit is so tired.  I hate this and there is NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THE KILLING OF GREAT WHALES -- OR ANY CETACEAN FOR THAT MATTER!

RE: Dr. Ridgway's Talking Whale - Malcolm Brenner's Blog Entry 10/26/12

I received permission from Malcolm Brenner to share this entry.  Please visit his blog and share support.  He is an amazing advocate for cetaceans and zoophiles alike: Visit Malcolm Brenner's Wet Goddess Blog

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Dr. Ridgway’s talking whale

This is either Bella or Lugosi, the two beluga whales at the Vancouver Public Aquarium when I visited in the early 1970′s.

I will admit, right off the bat, that I have not read the original, peer-reviewed article “Spontaneous human speech mimicry by a cetacean” in the latest issue of Current Biology.  The magazine wants $31.50 to buy just that one story, and while I am all for supporting such worthy efforts it is not within my modest means to do so.  So at least for the time being, I must rely on the accounts in the popular press.  The first one I read, by  Jennifer Viegas in Discovery News, concluded with the following lines:
The findings open up the possibility of teaching white whales how to speak, but that effort might not be worthwhile, Ridgway suggests.
“They readily learn,” he said. “I think they could be taught many sounds. I do not know that teaching speech would be scientifically worthwhile.”
As I read that last sentence, a series of strange feelings passed over me in rapid succession.  One was anger.  Another was sheer astonishment at the lack of imagination displayed.  And finally, a pervasive and disheartening sense of futility.
I think the anger came from seeing something of profound value to me tossed aside by someone who was in a position to exploit it but chose not to essentially because of a prejudice.  The prejudice being, of course, against the whale; that the whale had nothing to say and was simply making human noises to amuse itself and startle the occasional innocent diver in its tank.
Dolly, the dolphin who courted me, worked very hard to get me to mimic her for just a few minutes.  When I finally mastered the sound she’d been trying to teach me all along, she went nuts, splashing around her pen and throwing water into the air.  Ridgway had a beluga who TRIED TO COMMUNICATE WITH HIM FOR FOUR YEARS, and aside from recording its sounds on a sonograph to prove his “fish story,” Ridgway didn’t investigate further.
From my point of view, infuriating.

At the New York City Aquarium in the early 1970′s.

It’s funny, but one of the accusations leveled against zoosexuals like me is that we “can’t get consent from our partners.”  Of course, this is utter bilge, because female animals in estrus have many ways of showing consent, the most obvious and last of which is letting the males successfully mount them!  But our intentions aren’t to harm or even discomfort our partners.  I think I can honestly say most zoosexuals I’m aware of are at least as concerned with their non-human partners’ pleasure as most normally sexed humans are.
You know who else really can’t get consent from their partners?  SCIENTISTS.  In fact, the whole idea of getting consent from experimental animals is preposterous… white rats signing release forms?… EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF CETACEANS.  Apparently whatever kind of science Ridgway wants to practice is independent of the cooperation of the research subject.  Or the research subject is coerced into performing.  Don’t think a captive dolphin or whale (a beluga is actually a large white dolphin species) doesn’t know which side its fish are buttered on!
How could Ridgway’s science NOT benefit from being able to talk to a whale?  Think about the kind of experiments that would be possible from a cooperative, informed subject!  I have heard it said that the foundations of the process for scientific inquiry into a subject were laid largely by William of Occam, based on the principles of interrogation established by the Spanish Inquisition.  I do not know if this is true, but Ridgway’s uninformed, unimaginative and narrow-minded comment makes me afraid it is.
Furthermore, I wonder why Ridgway waited almost 30 years to publish.  (OK, I admit that’s like the pot calling the kettle black but he was publishing a scientific paper, not a tell-all autobiographical novel. I wrote, and threw away, several drafts of Wet Goddess before I found one that worked.)
Viegas writes, At the time, Ridgway presented the news at a scientific conference, but the work was not funded and became lost in the research shuffle until more recently, when colleagues encouraged him to publish the data.
Is this the crux of the matter, then?  Did Ridgway actually want to study the vocalizations of NOC (as the whale was known) but find himself frustrated by a lack of funding?  What does “became lost in the research shuffle” mean?  Who’s to blame for this shortcoming of science?  Could it be… JOHN C. LILLY, M.D.?
What, I ask myself, is unique about Ridgway’s observations?  Didn’t Lilly (and his often uncredited research assistant Margaret Howe) record hours of tape and miles of sonograph paper charting subjects like Elvar and Peter Dolphin trying to learn English?
Maybe several things it turns out.   First, NOC’s vocalizations were spontaneous.  Lilly’s dolphins were conditioned, rewarded for vocalizing by getting to socialize with the trainer, not with fish.  Second, Ridgway is a recognized marine biologist; Lilly was an M.D. specializing in neurochemistry and brain probing before getting into human-dolphin communication.  Third, Ridgway got published in Current Biology; because he wasn’t a marine biologist, Lilly had to publish the reports of  his attempted language acquisition studies in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, where they were easily overlooked by mainstream biologists.
And finally, I feel a sense of futility because I remember how fast I progressed with Dolly and I think about Ridgway having NOC for the four years that he tried to speak to us and, and I feel envious.  I wonder what I could have accomplished in that time, and whether it would even have meant anything to scientists like Ridgway.

At the Vancouver Public Aquarium, early 1970′s.

Tags: beluga, Discovery, dolphins, interspecies communications, John C. Lilly, Ridgway, whale, white

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 at 11:51 am.

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Okay, now on to my thoughts. In short? I agree with Mr. Brenner. I will elaborate on my sentiments when I am better able to articulate them.  Today has been a difficult day.
To Mr. Brenner:  Thank you for continuing to raise awareness about these very important issues. I am grateful for your courage and tenacity; wisdom and works.