canon sources show that whales are intelligent and can have conversations (through mind melds if nothing else), and that there are dolphins on the Ent-D (the episode that had the actress that plays Jean Grey has Geordi distracting the ferengi by asking if they'd seen the dolphins)
on the non-canon side, Star Charts lists Cetaceans and humans as the dominent species on Earth and on one of the newsgroups there was once a discussion of one of the tech manuals which supposedly mentioned the dolphin tanks and showed them on a blue print of the Ent-D
Thoughts?

edit: I have the Next Gen Tech Manual and found a reference on page 44-45. 12 dolphins and 2 whales are on board as crew members but no info that I can find on location of where they live

Dolphins are just fish, except they amuse us.

Are you serious about the Tech manual showing 12 dolphins and 2 whatles on board as crew members? What a load of shit. Why would they have that when it was never something in the series? Are we to beleive that evolution made some huge leap and they went from doing flips to mastering physics?

I think we're to believe that they've already mastered physics and we (humans) have simply mastered how to communicate with them.

Silly, I agree. But kinda fun too.

?

Neither do plants.

and I found out the Blueprints actually show the location and size of the tank, so I ordered that off amazon.
They help with navigation, or at least they're listed in the navigation system section. Considering the events in ST4 and Geordi's comment about the dolphins, it's not that far fetched

(the episode that had the actress that plays Jean Grey has Geordi distracting the ferengi by asking if they'd seen the dolphins)

So they are crew members that double as sideshow amusement?

Are you sure they're not just poking fun at Seaquest DSV? Weren't they on at roughly the same time?

So what were the ranks of the dolphins and whales in that ST manual? Could we potentially see Captain Flipper on the Enterprise?

I suppose by the 23rd and 24th century, these creatures have evolved quite a bit. Remember one speicies of whales travelled interstellar distances to come to Earth to see why they lost contact with their kind on Earth in Star Trek 4. They may not be building buildings now, but in the future, at least Trek future, they will be flying in space.

According to the blueprints they're on decks 13 and 14, and called Cetacean Ops.

From the tech manual

"In the Galaxy class starship, ongoing G&N [Guidance and Navigation] research tasks are handled by a mixed consultation crew of twelve Tursiops truncatus and T. truncatus gilli, Atlantic and Pacific bottlenose dolphins, repsectively. This crew is overseen by two additional cetaceans, Orcinus orca takayai , or Takaya's Whale. All theoretical topics in navigation are studied by these elite specialtists, and their recommendations for systems upgrades are implemented by Starfleet."

So nothing definitive, so probably just consultants like The Traveler (Kosinski's assistant) in Where No One Has Gone Before that later taught Wesley how to be a Jedi.

I used to read a lot of the TNG novels, and I can't recall a one where they used the cetacean crew.

As for the Probe in ST4 TVH, I don't think it was other humpback whales piloting it, but just some unknown species that had decided them worthy checking up on.

You'd think they would check a little more often, but ah well. Drama.


A friend of the family got me the blueprints a few years ago. They had never heard of them until they saw them sitting on a clearance table at a bookstore and said they could only think of one person that would like them. They're incredibly detailed, and really give a you better perception about how big the Ent D really is.

I heard they really show off the hanger for the main shuttle bay
had to get it used from amazon and it might take a while for it to be shipped. can't wait since I'm a trek nerd

You're way off if you think any noticable evolutionary changes can occur in a few hundred years. The logic in your post would imply that we should be flying around and communicating telepathically since we've evolved from the lowly pedestrians that founded the United States in the 18th century.

P.S.
This thread is way too nerdy.

P.P.S.
I actually own that Star Trek: TNG tech manual; I got it for Christmas when I was 12. Some of the stuff is ridiculously detailed, but it's still pretty interesting

Wow, those dolphins really got screwed when the Enterprise crashed into the planet or whenever the ship needed to be evacuated. I just don't see people running for their lives remembering to push the tanks of water with dolphins in it throught the ships.

I think I actually worried about that when I saw the crash in Generations. They are in the saucer section, so they may have survived.

The novel "Dark Mirror"(ST:TNG) has a dolphin as a main character, I can't remember specifics but he was the leading scientist involved in hyper string theory. He could talk, float through the ship(in some kind of suit), manipulate things with two robotic arms. Generally smarter than everyone else too.

Just on a side note, haven't scientists proven that Pigs are some of the smartest creatures around? Why don't we see Lt.J.G. Babe working the OPS station?


Ian

There was a ST comic book that had a race of squirrel like aliens serving on the Ent-A under Kirk. I've always wanted to see them on a series, and have even tried to write a fanfic with them.

And besides, Data wasn't an Ops officer, he was the science officer plain and simple. The station was called Ops because GR redid the whole senior crew thing for TNG to avoid direct comparision to TOS crewmembers. He didn't realize that those positions are pretty basic and that's why we've seen all the rest of the shows pretty much return to the norm. If you'll recall, there wasn't a set Chief Engineer for most of the first season of TNG.

they had at least 2 if not 3 chief engineers before geordi
don't forget the cat communications office in TAS, I think she was communications. plus the 3 armed navigator

When I first saw this thread I thought maybe they were crew members, like a drug/bomb dog is a police officer. But after reading all the nerdiness in here I do not know, and am slowly backing out of this thread.

As long as they don't start showing up in the adult fanfic, I don't see where this is such a bad thing.

WTF? man, that's nuts.

I always could accept that Spock could talk to the whales, because whales are pretty smart, and could "understand" basic things like they were saying to Spock.

But I sure as hell can't picture Miles O'Brien going to ask the dolphins for help.

I believe M'Ress and Arex were aliens. They used Arex instead of Chekov because they couldn't afford to pay Walter Koenig to do Chekov's voice (one of the other actors doubled up and voiced him).

For help? No. But for an afternoon of kyacking? Absolutely.

Probably James Doohan. He did tons of voices on both the animated and TOS.

I believe Koenig also contributed a script for TAS, don't remember.

I think I just heard "Lt (missed the name) report to cetacean ops" in the background of 10 Foreward in Yesterday's Enterprise

"Having the whales and dolphins around for navigation theories" Yeah, that is what they told them. The real reason they are there is if the crew gets hungry for a fish fry and the replicators are broken. Mmmm....dolphin.