Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists
The Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists enjoyed a January Nature Talk entitled “What a Fish Knows”. The speaker was Dr. Jonathan Balcombe, who holds a PhD in ethology, the study of animal behaviour, and has spent most of his career working in animal protection. Jonathan is an expert in the field of non-human sentience. This refers to the capacity of an individual, including humans and animals, to experience feelings and have cognitive abilities, such as awareness and emotional reactions. It encompasses the ability to evaluate actions, remember consequences, assess risks and benefits, and have a degree of awareness. Jonathan has authored aver 60 scientific papers and books, including a book entitled “What a Fish Knows”, upon which this talk was based.
Jonathan hopes to have his audiences think of fish in ways other than providing food or recreation. To this end he showed photos of numerous unique and interesting fish, of which there are over 33,000 species. They are the most diverse group of vertebrates on earth. He displayed examples, such as the Greenland shark, which is the oldest known living vertebrate, and the flounders, whose eye migrates from one side of the head to the other.
Jonathan then went on to describe various scientific studies which have been conducted to demonstrate the feelings and cognitive abilities exhibited by fishes. He explained how one such study demonstrated that fish experience pain, have the wherewithal to do something about it and are willing to pay a cost to get relief from pain. He described how scientists have studied the intelligence and perception of fish, including their use of tools. Jonathan also gave an account of the different ways fishes communicate, and gave examples of how symbiotic relationships exist. He noted that there has been some evidence of virtue and aesthetic sympathies in fishes. He explained that there are indications of emotions among fishes but that at this point they are largely anecdotal. Likewise, there appear to be displays of play and boredom which have not yet been proven through rigorous scientific studies.
Jonathan ended his talk with a mention of the Anthropocene and how there is now a troubled relationship between humans and fishes. He quoted a statistic showing that there was a 50% decline in marine life populations between 1970 and 2012. This is due to climate change, ocean acidification, coral bleachings, plastic waste and microplastics, overfishing, bycatch and aquaculture. He ended with a plea to be kind to fishes and other animals.
The next MVFN Nature Talk in February will feature some of our members sharing their experiences at our annual Members’ Night.
Submitted by Chris Baburek