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The dolphinitive history of the world (History)
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aurelius



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Harbour ones are among the smaller but not the smallest:


Vaquitas are the smallest and most endangered species of the infraorder Cetacea and are endemic to the northern end of the Gulf of California. The vaquita is somewhat stocky and has a characteristic porpoise shape. The species is distinguishable by the dark rings surrounding their eyes, patches on their lips, and a line that extends from their dorsal fins to their mouths. Their backs are a dark grey that fades to white undersides. As vaquitas mature, the shades of grey lighten.[17] Female vaquitas tend to grow larger than males.[17] On average, females mature to a length of 140.6 cm (55.4 in), compared to 134.9 cm (53.1 in) for males. The lifespan, pattern of growth, seasonal reproduction, and testes size of the vaquita are all similar to that of the harbour porpoise.[18] The flippers are proportionately larger than those of other porpoises, and the fin is taller and more falcated. The skull is smaller and the rostrum is shorter and broader than in other members of the genus.


and

Like other Phocoena, vaquitas are usually seen singly. If they are seen together, it is usually in small groups of two or three individuals.[17] Less often, groups around ten have been observed, with the most ever seen at once being 40 individuals.


and

Vaquitas tend to forage near lagoons.[17] All of the 17 fish species found in vaquita stomachs can be classified as demersal and or benthic species inhabiting relatively shallow water in the upper Gulf of California. Vaquitas appear to be rather non-selective feeders on crustaceans, small fish, octopuses and squid in this area.[1][19] Some of the most common prey are teleosts (fish with bony skeletons) such as grunts, croakers, and sea trout.[24] Like other cetaceans, vaquitas may use echolocation to locate prey,[25]particularly as their habitat is often turbid.[1]


(Wiki)
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Mick Harper
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So porpoises are the smallest cetaceans. If they got round the bottom of Baija California, why not the world? Look out for albinos.
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Mick Harper
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A skim of the rest of the very dense (and to me, mainly incomprehensible) paper gave the following points, for what they're worth

To determine whether, and at what distance, short duration anthropogenic noises are audible to harbor porpoises and may disturb them during activities such as foraging, predator avoidance, communication and navigation, information on the harbor porpoise’s hearing sensitivity for short duration signals is also needed.

So abilities navigation-wise are not known and apparently excite little interest.

The porpoise was trained to place the tip of its rostrum at the station and its body axis in line with the beam of the transducer.

Are Megalithic boats and/or any other bits of Megalithia capable of producing transducer-style effects?

Pre-tests showed that the animal did not need warm-up trials before the actual session began.

Oh no, it's back on the job.
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Ishmael


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The harbor porpoise Phocoena phocoena


Jeeze. But that looks like Phoenicia.
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Hatty
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The official etymology of porpoise is pig-fish, porc(us) + pisc(us). They may be right in this instance. If so, it sounds like a domesticated name. Farmed animals such as pigs and sheep are regarded as intelligent, whether innately or because of long association with humans isn't clear.

Either way, porpoise 'farming' would presumably be further north than Phoenicians are wont to be found but in places that demand food and blubber such as the coasts and islands of Scandinavia and Scotland, plenty of people and not much else.

There is a military marine animal programme in the US where the navy trains mainly dolphins and sea lions, also porpoises, to do tasks like detect mines and retrieve lost objects. They're due to be replaced soon by robots.
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Wile E. Coyote


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Hatty wrote:
The official etymology of porpoise is pig-fish, porc(us) + pisc(us).


Pig iron? Oblong grave like shapes??
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Mick Harper
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Is sea water the coldest quenching agent around?
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Hatty
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Opportunely, I've just been reading a post about a mermaid and a bell and a severed head at Marden, Herefordshire, in the Welsh borderland.

“In former times Marden church stood close to the river, and by some mischance one of the bells was allowed to fall into it, it was immediately seized by a mermaid who carried it to the bottom and held it there so fast that any number of horses could move it.”

Complete secrecy surrounded the procedure, as we flagged up in the book, in this case the bell is lost because of someone disobeys the rule

“The bell was to be drawn out in perfect silence it was successfully raised to the edge of the river with the mermaid inside fast asleep. In the excitement a driver, forgetting that silence was all important called out

“In spite of the Devils in hell, now well land Marden’s great bell”

This woke the mermaid, who darted back into the river, taking the bell with her ringing.”

https://insearchofholywellsandhealingsprings.com/2017/10/19/a-severed-head-a-mermaid-and-a-bell-the-curious-waterlore-of-marden-herefordshire-part-two/

I wonder if the 'mar' in Marden accounts for the mermaid element.
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aurelius



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Hatty wrote:

Opportunely, I've just been reading a post about a mermaid and a bell and a severed head at Marden, Herefordshire, in the Welsh borderland.


Marden is quite a common village name, there is one in Kent and I have personally visited all four in West Sussex: East Marden, North Marden, West Marden and Up Marden. Needless to say the one that is highest on the Downs, Up Marden, has its church dedicated to St Michael. East Marden has a pond but I don't know how old it is.

Strangely enough

The name Marden is an English baby name. In English the meaning of the name Marden is: From the valley with the pool.


This has all the markings of a "yah boo sucks" tale aimed at Christendom, which in olden times had a much more tenuous hold over the local population than the Church would have us think. Green men, dragon and sheela sculptures all bear witness to this. both the Herefordshire and the Kentish rejoinder draw from a common well of counter-culture, I think. Ultimately the Church was more alarmed by dissension (heresies) in its own ranks.

I note that the river-spirit/mermaid cheekily sneers that they would have lost the bullocks as well if it hadn't been for the 'sacred Yew' yoking them together, implying it wasn't for the grace of the Christian God which saved them, but the Pagan.
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aurelius



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Mick Harper wrote:

By the way my lecture on all this (rather than a ten-minute trailer) has just been put on YouTube by Megalithomania. In four days it has got 4,500 views and thirty reviews and comments. (How do you look at the comments, it won't let me).


Somehow I managed to see the full lecture last year but this time the visual quality is much better. In it you mention you hadn't researched St Malo. This was taken several years ago of course so you may already know, but St Malo has at least two tidal islands, surprise surprise: one is Fort National, which is implicated as man-made though I am not clear if it existed before the C17th, the other is Petit Be which from the Wiki description does allow for a potentially megalithic construction.

In 1667 the French government built a small fort on the island of Petit Bé. Construction on the present fort began in 1689.


I don't know why you can't see the comments; they are generally good e.g.

Great presentation, mind expanding and entertaining.

or non-critical at least. Total comments so far: 22. 86 thumbs up, 9 thumbs down. 5,360 views to date.
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Mick Harper
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I can now see the comments and the comments on the comments (I was pushing the wrong button) and they are gratifying in the sense that, before this relative tidal wave of relative adulation, the lecture had received a couple of good reviews, a few so-so ones and a dozen or so witheringly dismissive ones. About average in fact.

I am pleased but not surprised by the St Malo tidal islands. Do not assume that modern fortifications denote modern tidal islands. No modern engineer would go to the trouble. We would still like to hear of St Malo Venus pools, either extant or suspected.
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Hatty
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Marden is quite a common village name, there is one in Kent and I have personally visited all four in West Sussex: East Marden, North Marden, West Marden and Up Marden.

Sussex was an industrialised area. Could these Mardens, 'villages with pools', signal specialist metalworking sites?
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Wile E. Coyote


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aurelius wrote:
Not clear how the archaeologists can be sure it is C14th, either.



Quite.... you find a prehistoric stone tool, C14th sherds, a porpoise, in a err... E-W grave.

You date on the pottery.

If the porpoise was C19th you would date to the C19th...and you have a time capsule.
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aurelius



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Hatty wrote:

Sussex was an industrialised area. Could these Mardens, 'villages with pools', signal specialist metalworking sites?


Possibly. It was very industrial in prehistory yet West Sussex is still one of the most wooded counties there is. Once you head north from the coastal plain the population of many of the villages has hardly changed in the last hundred years.

The area around the Mardens towards the northern edge of the South Downs, is rich in ancient sites of which Bow Hill (earthworks & tumuli) and The Devil's Jumps are associated with the Bronze Age. There are plenty of other tumuli and earthworks, sites of a Roman villa (other than Fishbourne & Bignor) and other unidentified Roman remains, a dyke (not Devil's), Bevis's Thumb, a hill fort at Beacon Hill, Goosehill Camp, Kingley Vale Yew reserve, chalk pits & flint mines all within a few miles of the Mardens.

When you go east of Chichester it tends to be Neolithic remains that predominate on the Downs, and there are fewer trees.

If you use Sabre Maps and choose the old 1:25000 series you will see all this detail,

https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/maps/

The Weald & Downland Museum at Singleton is interesting, I remember among the buildings there is a recreation of a charcoal burner's hut.

I used to do a lot of rambling on the South Downs in the 70s and early 80s and I miss them. Must go back while I still have the capability!
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Mick Harper
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It was very industrial in prehistory yet West Sussex is still one of the most wooded counties there is.

This is crucial in understanding why other 'industrialised' areas like Dartmoor are no longer wooded. The explanation might be simple (no ponies) or it might be complex (geology, supervision of land use, altitude) but it's worth finding out.
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