Unfurling and becoming my full size

too niche?

This is a form of backdoor bigotry from both normative facts (there are more straight than gay relationships) and well represented bigoted beliefs (men are superior to women).

It can almost certainly tell different species apart based on the shape of those air bladders. And it can tell if a fish has something weird inside it, like a metal hook. In Hawaii, false killer whales often pluck tuna off fishing lines, and “they’ll know where the hook is inside that fish,” Aude Pacini, who studies these animals, tells me. “They can ‘see’ things that you and I would never consider unless we had an X-ray machine or an MRI scanner.”

This penetrating perception is so unusual that scientists have barely begun to consider its implications. The beaked whales, for example, are odontocetes that look dolphin-esque on the outside—but on the inside, their skulls bear a strange assortment of crests, ridges, and bumps, many of which are only found in males.

Pavel Gol’din has suggested that these structures might be the equivalent of deer antlers—showy ornaments that are used to attract mates. Such ornaments would normally protrude from the body in a visible and conspicuous way, but that’s unnecessary for animals that are living medical scanners.’

I'm not sure if I ever shared this story before here, but in Curacao, when I was allowed to assist in a guest interaction programme, there was suddenly consternation in the pool behind us. A guest had entered the water and the dolphins were going crazy, paying no heed to the trainers anymore. The lead trainer that was with me gave the dolphins to me to watch over while she went to help. When she came back she told me what had happened. The guest that had caused so much uproar had left the water again and was asked if he had done anything to upset the dolphins. He hadn't, and he couldn't imagine what was wrong... until he mentioned he had a pacemaker. The younger dolphins in the pool had never seen someone with a pacemaker before and apparently it rocked their world.

as someone trying and fighting against going non-verbal this week, may I offer some of one of my non-verbal Shane stories that I plan to post this week.

The mass of people is filtering back inside, a sea of bodies that has Shane taking an aborted step back instead of forward, when Hayden places a hand on Shane’s shoulder once more, ducking his head until only his face is in Shane’s immediate line of vision. “You can hear me, right?” Hayden asks, quiet enough that no one can hear them. Shane gives a small, jerky nod. “Okay. Good. Then I want you to go and wait by my car.” Shane’s eyes widen a fraction but Hayden shakes his head. “No. I’m not letting you be alone like this, Shane. I’m going to go in and grab our stuff. There’s nothing else to do, okay? Practice is done. Everyone is just going to be joking about the false alarm. It’s okay for you to not be there.” A small, pained whine escapes Shane’s throat and his fingers reach out, curling into the hem of Hayden’s shirt. “It’s okay.” Hayden repeats, voice calm and even. “You don’t have to be captain right now. Just be my best friend, Shane. Can you do that?” Shane nods, blinking away the tears. He wants to reassure Hayden that he’s okay. That he’s fine. That he can go home. But there’s no words. Just an overwhelming pressure of too much too much too much.