> Dolphin
Individual images served from our catalog are copyright by their respective owners and used with permission.
GREAT BIG CANVAS is a registered trademark of Circle Graphics, Inc.
- Dolphins Playground
- Morning Dolphin
- The Family
- Pair Of Bottle Nose Dolphins Jumping At Sunset, Roatan, Honduras
- Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) pair, Caribbean
- Bottle-nosed dolphins leaping in front of a sunset
- Bottlenose Dolphin trio underwater, Waikoloa Hyatt, Hawaii
- Spirit Of Atlantis III
- Marine Panorama
- Early Exploration
- Bottlenose Dolphin
- Dolphin jumping in unison, Honduras
- Bottlenose Dolphin pair
- Day Of The Dolphin Midnight
- Arctic Harmony
- Dolphin Duo II
- Dolphin With A Baby Breeching In The Water
- Dolphin Family Panorama
- Riding The Wave
- Dolphin Sunset Design
- Dolphins
- Day Of The Dolphin – Sunset
- Dolphin
- Pair of Bottle Nose Dolphins Jumping Roatan Honduras Summer
- Out Of The Blue
- Beautiful Dolphin Jumping From Shining Water
- Pair of Bottle Nose Dolphins Jumping @ Sunset Roatan Honduras Summer Backlit
- Dolphin
- Hide And Seek
- Bottle Nosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) and Gray angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus) on coral reef in the sea
- Dolphin
- Hawaii, Big Island, Underwater view of Spinner Dolphins
- Dolphin, Bottle Nose Dolphin
- Seahorse Dolphins
- Pearl Princess I
- Hide And Seek Dolphins
- Spirit Of Atlantis
- Beautiful sunset with dolphins jumping out of the water
- Smiling dolphins
- Common dolphins breaching in the sea
- Wood Sea Animals Dolphins II
- Day Of The Dolphin – Sunset I
- Silhouette Of Bottlenose Dolphin Leaping Over Ocean At Sunset, Caribbean Sea
- Common Bottlenose Dolphins Jumping In Sea At Sunset, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
- Bottle Nosed dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in the sea
- Ocean Harmony
- Adult Striped Dolphin Leaping Near La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain, Atlantic
- Two Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) Jumping At Sunset, Roatan, Honduras
Artistic representations of dolphins in flight
Gill Margaret A. V. Some observations on representations of marine animals in Minoan art, and their identification. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. Supplément 11, 1985. pp. 63-81.
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON REPRESENTATIONS
OF MARINE ANIMALS IN MINOAN ART, AND THEIR IDENTIFICATION
Natural historians are sometimes reluctant to admit that Minoan représentations of marine life are capable of identification, especially in those média that give no indication of relative size or colouration, on the grounds that such représentations are too generalized or inaccurate. In some cases it would appear that the Bronze Age craftsman himself had no particular species in mind, basing his design on a gênerai idea; but elsewhere, though the resuit may not measure up to modem scientifïc standards, the ancient artist clearly did intend to portray a particular species and, taking his limitations into account, it is often possible to guess at his intention and suggest the probable identity of his subject.
The degree of accuracy with which marine motifs are depicted varies according to the compétence of the artist and whether his design was based on direct observation of Nature or derived from other works of art, and to the restrictions imposed by the décorative requirements of the article, the médium used and the contemporary style. When the trend was towards naturalism, some artists obviously did return to Nature for a model rather than rely on traditional methods of illustration or adapt designs from other média. Although observation of Nature may at thèse times hâve been the idéal, study of marine life had its problems. Shells and other shore débris were easily corne by, some marine animais could be watched on and from the shore, and the fisherman’s catch might be examined when brought to land dead or dying, but créatures of the open sea and the underwater habits of those nearer the shore were more difïîcult to observe; then the artist would hâve had to dépend on chance sightings or on sailors’ and travellers’ taies. Nevertheless, though rare, there are représentations revealing such realism and sympathy for the subject as could only be based on the artist’s personal knowledge of the creature’s habits.
In gênerai, the motifs on frescoes are more recognisable than in other média, the larger scale allowing greater précision of drawing and the colour, when used by the artist to reflect the natural pigmentation of his image, providing an additional clue to identity. Whether it was the client (as seems most probable) or the artist himself who suggested the subject of the frescoes in the West House at Akrotiri, the latter’s debt to local fîshermen is apparent in the drawing; the bundles of dead fish in Room 5 were drawn from life! There is no mistaking the identity of those
This Is How Dolphins ‘See’ Humans With Echolocation
Scientists may finally be able to ‘see’ through the ears of a dolphin.
A group of researchers recorded and analyzed the echolocation sounds used by a dolphin when it came face to face with a number of objects (including a human male), reconstructing a series of 2-D and 3-D images that show how dolphins ‘see’ objects underwater.
“When a dolphin scans an object with its high-frequency sound beam, each short click captures a still image, similar to a camera taking photographs,” Jack Kassewitz of the Speak Dolphin research organization said in a statement.
But making these images much more difficult than printing a two-dimensional photo. Dolphins use echolocation to create an impression of the world around them. These pictures hold a wealth of three-dimensional information like depth, making it difficult to translate into flat images.
To make these shapshots, Kassewitz and his colleagues used specialized audio equipment to capture the signals. The team then used a device called a CymaScope to translate the clicks and squeaks a female dolphin named Amaya made while she explored several objects in her tank, Jennifer Viegas reports for Discovery News.
The objects Amaya investigated included a flowerpot, cube and the diver Jim McDonough. The CymaScope translated her sounds into both a 2-D image and a 3-D-printed model. The model demonstrates the almost-holographic information that dolphins get from echolocation, Devin Coldewey writes for NBC News.
“Seeing the 3-D print of a human being left us all speechless,” Kassewitz said in a statement. “For the first time ever, we may be holding in our hands a glimpse into what cetaceans see with sound.”
The CymaScope captured “what-the-dolphin-saw images” of not only objects’ full silhouettes, but many more details than expected, Kassewitz said in a statement. The researchers could just make out the diver’s weight belt in the fuzzy depictions.
There is still much to learn about the level of detail dolphins can decipher. The scientists are also eager to investigate if and how dolphins communicate with each other using this sono-pictorial language.
“The dolphin has had around fifty million years to evolve its echolocation sense, whereas marine biologists have studied the physiology of cetaceans for only around five decades, and I have worked with John Stuart Reid for barely five years,” Kassewitz said in a statement.
UPDATE: After the release of these images, there has been some doubt brewing in the scientific community about how these images were captured and processed and the idea of truly ‘seeing’ what a dolphin would see. It is important to note that the methods are not published in a peer-reviewed journal—the usual mechanism scientists use to vet each other’s research—so the study should be viewed as preliminary work. Even so, the idea of capturing the resolution at which a dolphin can discern is an intriguing idea, and the important conversations these captivating images started could hopefully inspire further research into dolphin intelligence.
Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.
Danny Lewis is a multimedia journalist working in print, radio, and illustration. He focuses on stories with a health/science bent and has reported some of his favorite pieces from the prow of a canoe. Danny is based in Brooklyn, NY.
