Pauls's Thoughts

Paul Komanski

In order to be a dolphin trainer have two college degrees: a bachelor degree in zoology, and an associate’s degree in animal management. I’m a scuba diver and a certified lifeguard. I have experience in swimming and in public speaking. I have had first aid and CPR training and a lot of animal experience. At Discovery Cove the bottom line criteria to become a trainer includes: a degree, certification in scuba diving and life guarding, prior animal experience through internships and volunteering at different facilities.

I went to two colleges and have a degree in zoology from Empire State University and an animal management degree from Niagara Community College.

Stay in school!  It is such a competitive field and a degree is your strongest way to get in, also experience working with animals. Anywhere that you can work with animals including places like horse stables, vet clinics, volunteering and getting an internship: that's the key.

I have been training for 15 years. I was offered my first job right out of high school.

We have a term for that called "anthropomorphic." We can’t tell you if a dolphin is happy or sad. The same thing is true with dogs or cats. Happy and sad are human characteristics. No one knows for certain whether an animal is happy or sad. What we like to use is behaviors. People associate behaviors as feelings, but no one is 100% certain what an animal is feeling. 

Do dolphins react differently to different people or trainers? Oh, no doubt about it. It's like teaching. Each year you have your shy ones, outspoken ones, and your crazy ones. That's just how it is with dolphins. Every dolphin is different. Some like men, some like women. That's what's so good about it.

What is the difference between dolphins in captivity and dolphins in the wild behavior wise? We try our best to mimic wild behaviors as much as we can. Probably the biggest difference is in survival skills. A dolphin that has been at Discovery Cove for several years would never be takes back into the wild and let go. Their chances of survival aren't very strong, because the skills that they need to survive out in the open ocean verses the skills that they need in captivity are completely different. At Discovery Cove, we take care of their medical concerns, food and provide a safe clean environment for them. A lot of times dolphins in the ocean spend their days trying to seek these things out, so we have the opportunity to enrich them in other aspects by spending time with them making their world as enjoyable as we can for the most part. It's very similar, we just have the opportunity to spend more time with these guys and give them the opportunity to do things that they would never have the opportunity to do in the open ocean.

Do they pick a leader for the Pod? And if so, How? Usually the bigger and stronger dolphins tend to be the most dominant in the group.

Do dolphins get attached to different trainers? We try our best not to have that happen. If a dolphin got attached to a particular trainer, what would happen on their days off or what if they got a career move? The dolphin's life would be very different, so we try not to do that. We want them to experience a lot of different trainers and interactions. So one trainer doesn't do everything with one animal.

Are dolphins sometimes aggressive in the water when a researcher into the water to find out about them? They have the potential to be aggressive. Especially big males during breeding season, when they are trying to court. Also, there is the possibility for aggressive behavior when a foreign visitor (such as a human) is caught between a mother and her baby. Dolphins, for the most part aren't aggressive, but when put into certain situations or under potentially threatening circumstances, they will do whatever they feel they need to do to defend their territory or to defend others in their group.

What kind of cleaning do fish go through before they are fed to the dolphins? The fish we feed to the dolphins go through a vigorous cleaning process. They are checked carefully. They are certified to be better than restaurant quality. We order them. If we get an order that's not up to standard, we send it back. They only get the best. If it's not the best, they don't get it. I wouldn't feed the dolphins any thing I wouldn't eat myself.

Do you think dolphins should be trained to find hidden explosives in the ocean? Well, the navy's done some work and I've seen some specials. I've also seen some information about marine mammals assisting in some fashions. Unfortunately, I don't know enough to comment on this, but one thing that's really interesting is that things that may not seem ordinary to your eye may be quite fun and stimulating for these animals. I've seen some incredible footage where they had sea lions who went down to  find torpedoes, because they could echo-locate them.  It can almost be like a hide and seek game. These guys have incredible abilities with their echo-location capabilities. Under properly trained conditions these may be fun and enriching situations for these animals.

How long does it take dolphins to learn stunts and tricks? We refer to them as behaviors and it depends on what behavior you want to train. Very simple behaviors can be trained in a day or two. Other complicated jumps or flips are very sophisticated behaviors and can take a year to train.

Is there a difference between a male and female life span in the wild and/or in captivity? Yes, for the most part. With bottlenose dolphins, the average life span is 25 years for both male and female. We are very proud of what we do at Discovery Cove, because we have several animals that are way above the average life span.

The ones that are 30, are they male? It varies. We have a dolphin named Capricorn and he is the oldest and the largest. He is 37. Down in the lagoon there are a couple of 30 year olds. I don't know the specific age of them, but approx. 5-6 dolphins at Discovery Cove are in their 30's.

Is there any reason why that's happening? I cant say the specific reason, why or why not. One of the biggest behavior reasons is simply feeding abilities. What I mean is that you and I need our teeth in order to eat. In today's society w/ grocery stores and fast food services you can get high nutrition without necessarily having to forage or find your food. If you're a dolphin you get one set of teeth. Your teeth are used to grasp and hold on to slippery fish. As you grow, your teeth naturally wear down, so older dolphins don't have any teeth left, or very dull teeth. If you have dull teeth, you cant catch fish. If you can't catch fish you become weaker. You become weaker the less chance you have to catch fish and eventually you get weak enough that something catches you. And that is mother nature's cycle. In our pool, for example, Capricorn is 37, because of his age and just the normal wear of his teeth, he doesn't have all his teeth left, but as long as he can open his mouth we can feed him. An animal like Capricorn would have a very difficult time hunting, finding fish in the wild. Here he doesn't have to. Also animals that are older can be potentially more prone to illness. Here even if you're an old animal, we have modern medicine on our side. We can diagnose and treat illnesses they may contract. That wouldn't happen in the open ocean. Also, clean environment is a factor. The ocean is not always clean. It's sometimes polluted depending on where you are. We have a whole staff that's devoted to keeping this water clean. There is nothing trying to eat them. There are no sharks or other predators. There are no boats here to run them over. These things that go on the places like Sea World and Discovery Cove help these animals out in the open ocean. There are just the day to day survival traits and for these animals that just doesn't exist.

How do places like Discovery Cove help with protecting the dolphin? We're still working on specific programs and ideas. But by getting people who may have never swam w/ a dolphin before, putting them in the water and allowing them to realize the power the majesty of the dolphin and just how incredible animal that it really is. Hopefully, that experience alone will help them walk out the door with a better understanding about dolphins and in turn will make them more conscious about dolphin protection.