Civilized Dolphins and their Record Keeping

On the Life Ball of my fantasy stories, a particular species of delphinidae- I call them black dolphins- have evolved and advanced at least as much as humans and other intelligent races.

A prior question gives additional details about the black dolphins, but the answers and comments also exposed a gap in my development of them¹- civilized society leads to bureaucracy, and bureaucracy to so-called paper work. How does this sophisticated society store, retrieve, and disseminate information?

Here are a few examples of things that black dolphins might wish to record (items edited for brevity):

• The following modification to the standard bubble-net strategy had proven highly effective in hunting anchovie bait-balls .....

• Once upon a time in a sea far way, lived a very special porpoise ..... basket of goodies ..... porridge was just right ..... only through true love's first kiss ..... realized the evil lord was his father ..... and they lived happily ever after.

• Sharks frequent the northeast corner of the reef during the third moon following the winter solstice. It is best to avoid this area at that time of year, or .....

• The Grand High Council of the Yellow Reef Pod has decreed that no dolphin shall ..... violations shall be considered a Class 1 Misdemeanor, and subject to a penalty of .....

• IT'S A BOY! That's right, Joanne in accounting has delivered a swift stream-lined son, 125cm and 18kg. Come meet the calf and celebrate with us. We will gather adjacent to the central fan coral at 1345 hours on Flukeday the 6th, for a special feast of mackerel and squid.

I can see two possibilities. First is a written language, the other is an extremely rich oral language relying heavily on very good- even eidetic- memory.

The last half-million to two-million years have given natural selection plenty of time for Real World(TM) homo sapiens to go from cave paintings and petroglyphs, to quipu and papyrus, to slate and chalk, to ink and paper, to digital media, to whatever lies beyond. The same amount of time can allow my black dolphins to adapt either the dexterity to write, or the memory to keep all stories and records without the need to write. Those dolphins that are best able to pass along knowledge will be the healthiest and most likely to survive to pass on their genes. Do those genes prefer the ability to hold a piece of coral and scratch marks on a rock², or do they prefer the ability to perfectly recall and repeat a series of clicks, hums, and whistles?

I can see pros and cons both ways, thus my question boils down to - which scenario is more likely, and why?

¹Despite the clear relationship, all questions and their answers should remain independent of each other.

²Optional Extra Credit: If you decide writing is more likely- is the writing utensil held in a fin or the snout? How does this impact other dolphin abilities?

posted about 8 years ago

cobaltduck‭

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