cover image Pictures in the Dolphin Mind

Pictures in the Dolphin Mind

Frank Robson. Sheridan House, $14.95 (0pp) ISBN 978-0-911378-78-8

``I've always had an affinity for animals,'' New Zealander Robson opens with understatement. The author of Thinking Dolphins, Talking Whales has cared for, learned from and studied whales and dolphins for some 25 years. His friendly memoir of a lifetime spent often in the company of large, water-dwelling mammals describes his friendship with Horace, a ``wild and wayward'' young dolphin, his years as a dolphin trainer, his experiences saving and attempting to save schools of stranded Cetacea and his trips to Monkey Mia, Australia (where dolphins are protected) and to Iki Island, Japan (where they are slaughtered). Unfortunately, chapters devoted to ``interspecies thought transference'' and ``telepathic image portrayal'' (Robson thinks ``go'' and a dolphin starts moving in the direction he's thinking of) require credibility from even the mildest skeptic and blemish an otherwise enjoyable autobiography. Photos. (July)