Spoilers The Strange New Worlds Starship Thread™

[Manticore]

So treating them as if they are an Intelligent Alien Species that happens to be located on Earth is beyond your ken?

Pelia must give you horrendous heart palpitations then.

...I find the concept goofy and don't like it. I don't see why it's worthy of derision.

And no, I don't mind Pelia's race at all. I don't like the character but that's not the same thing.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It’s a holdover from the idea that dolphins are as smart as humans that was popularized last century. It’s not a particularly goofy concept. Though I’m unsure if science bears it out.

 

[Manticore]

It’s not a particularly goofy concept.

I mean, I watched SeaQuest. It kinda is.

 

[Tuskin38]

Iirc the concept behind the TNG version was that they would help with navigating in space, as they were said more adept to moving in 3D.

Which is how prodigy uses it IIRC

 

[Lakenheath 72]

The concept of dolphins serving on Federation starships dates back to the first season episode "We'll Always Have Paris", where door signage said "Tursiops crew facility". Tursiops are bottlenose dolphins. Later, in the series, we heard two mentions to Cetacean Ops on the Enterprise - "Yesterday's Enterprise" and "The Perfect Mate".

 

[Tomalak]

But presumably it was influenced by The Voyage Home, which established that humpback whales are considerably more intelligent than 20th century humans.

 

[137th Gebirg]

As far as astrogation goes, having a Medusan console on board might be a more efficient use of space than massive water tanks. Just make sure you wear those groovy red disco shades!

 

[NCC-73515]

"Belugas are toothed whales, and are not part of the oceanic dolphin family. They are classified under the Monodontidae family, which only consists of two species: belugas and narwhals."

Species Guide: Most Exploited Dolphins | Dolphin Project

Understanding how different dolphin species behave, think and feel in the wild help us understand why they are so poorly suited for captivity.

www.dolphinproject.com

They are Delphinoidea though

If I remember the TNG TM correctly, they are orcas and bottlenose dolphins of a specific type, not our common ones from today.
Gracie also understood the plan in TVH and communicated with Spock and with the alien probe.
The idea that whales might be superior to us in terms of brains and just lack opposable thumbs to build and use tools as well as we can is based on their cerebral cortices being more folded than ours.

 

[drt]

As far as astrogation goes, having a Medusan console on board might be a more efficient use of space than massive water tanks. Just make sure you wear those groovy red disco shades!

I vaguely remember a fan-made tech manual from the 80s featuring Medusan navigators in a special facility (or maybe it was FASA).

 

[137th Gebirg]

I remember a similar thing.

 

[Donald G]

I vaguely remember a fan-made tech manual from the 80s featuring Medusan navigators in a special facility (or maybe it was FASA).

I think it was in FASA's TNG OFFICER'S MANUAL supplement, the one that got FASA in so much trouble with the Star Trek production office. My copy is, unfortunately, long since boxed away and inaccessible so I can't check my memories for accuracy.

 

[Tuskin38]

There's a copy of it on cygnus-x1

 

[Donald G]

There's a copy of it on cygnus-x1

Thanks.