The Roundhouse Aquarium presents The Dolphin Triad

by Sebastian Summer

The Roundhouse Aquarium earlier this year launched the Dolphin Project, which aims to spread awareness about the bottlenose dolphin population that lives in local waters part of each year. On July 24, the Roundhouse will launch a new presentation called The Dolphin Triad, a trio of educational experiences that explore the anatomy, feeding habits, and breakthroughs in our own understanding of bottlenose dolphins. 

“We love getting people excited about the ocean, and dolphins are one of those great ambassador species,” said Valerie Hill, the Roundhouse’s Development and Science Director.

Everybody is welcome to the event, but spaces are limited. The presentation will include dolphin information that will appeal to all ages. 

 “We are gearing it for middle schoolers through adults,” Hill said. “It should be some scientific information, but not so much that the general public is not going to be able to understand.”

The Roundhouse Aquarium, located at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier, strives to educate the public on ocean conservation efforts and the various animals native to the region. The aquarium has partnered with the Los Angeles Unified School District to educate children throughout Los Angeles via both in-person visits and field trips. In recent years, the Roundhouse Aquarium has also expanded its education efforts nationwide and beyond using Zoom.

The Dolphin Triad presentation is the Roundhouse’s newest in-house educational opportunity. The aquarium is closing one hour before the usual time. It is recommended to start lining up at the entrance around 6:00 to 6:15 p.m. to secure your spot due to the first-come first-serve policy and the anticipated draw of free entrance and parking for the event, which runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. 

“We’re going to divide people into three groups, and they’re going to get little colored-label cards so that they know where they’re going… At the end, we’re going to do a big group Q&A session,” Hill said, “We’re excited to have the opportunity to be at the aquarium, and in order to fit that many people, we sort of had to do it in this three-part rotation way.”

Each section is focused on a different aspect of the bottlenose dolphin and its ecosystem. 

The first event is a look at the similarities between dolphins and humans. 

“If you’ve never seen the way that a dolphin skeleton looks and lined it up with a human skeleton, you might be surprised about how much we have in common… When you see it in front of you, it’s really striking,” Hill said. 

The second topic looks at how marine biologists have greatly increased their understanding of dolphin social behavior through the use of airborne drone cameras, which has exponentially increased how much the animals can be observed in their wild habitat. 

“Hopefully people are going to learn more about how different groups of scientists are studying dolphins, and how drones and this technology have really increased not only our knowledge at the aquarium but the knowledge of scientists worldwide,” Hill said. 

The final subject of the Dolphin Triad Presentation is one that Hill holds close.

“My background is actually in plankton and algae,” Hill said, “I’m going to talk a little bit about how tiny algae called phytoplankton and dolphins are connected through the food web.”

After an introduction to the topic, Hill plans to delve a little deeper into the importance of the role that algae plays in the ecosystem of the ocean as a whole.

Both the dolphin and the algae presentations are going to take place inside of the aquarium itself, but the presentation of drones takes place outside, where the dolphins are most likely to be seen. If you were to see dolphins at any time during the Dolphin Triad, it would most likely be in the drone presentation.

“Hopefully the dolphins will be there and we’ll be able to see what [the presenter] sees with the drone,” Hill said.

Although the dolphins may not make an appearance at the event itself, they’re common on just about any whale watching trip that you go on. 

Though it may initially be seen as a disappointment for whale enjoyers, the dolphins more than make up for it with their theatrics.

I can attest to this myself, as I was lucky enough to see around half of the entire regional offshore bottlenose population, some 200 dolphins, on a recent whale watching trip.

The captain, Kyle Baca, informed me afterwards that, “You definitely don’t see them in those numbers very often. You’ll be lucky to see maybe 10 to 20 of them at most.”

What’s more is that the dolphins were a mere seven miles from shore.

As Baca put it, “Those guys are found in deeper waters for sure. They don’t really make their way too far in very often.”

At first, the dolphins swam at the front of the boat as it continued leisurely along our route. Then, Baca decided to speed up the boat, “That’s when the theatrics started,” Baca said. 

The dolphins sped up and matched the speed of the boat, jumping into the air and twirling before plunging back into the water with a splash.

Even the largest of the adults got in on the action, racing well ahead of the rest before making their jumps and landing in splashes so large that the mist reached my seat.

The show wasn’t short, either, with the dolphins keeping up with the speeding boat for minutes before finally swimming back to their respective pods.

“They’re super intelligent,” Baca said, “That is play for them. There’s no other reason than just to have a good time.”

Writing back on the experience now, I am reminded about how these wondrous creatures are only a small part of the great ecosystem that is the ocean.

While the ocean is grand and beautiful, it is this beauty that the Roundhouse Aquarium uses to inform others about how they can best preserve the ocean.

The ocean has so much to explore and offer, and a lot that needs to be protected. Dolphins serve as a great introduction to highlight both the beauty and fragility of the ocean.

“If you don’t know [how to protect the ocean], you might not do it,” Hill said. “If you’re not excited about the ocean, you might not care. Dolphins are a great way to get people to care about the whole ocean habitat.”