The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 51

SATURDAY, JUNE 1, 1991 -THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR- E-5 Your favorite, least favorite comics Comics Whales X' Favorite comics When asked which comic strip was their favorite, the readers responded: 3500 r- f- i 1 "ft 3000 1 Topliva Bottom live 2500 -j- 1 I 2000 1500 1000 --IT-n soo I 0 LU -mmm mmm I 1 3 3 8 1 Jo j2 -2 Continued from Page I naturally. We don't teach strange behaviors, like jumping through flaming hoops." The whales have different personalities and learning styles. Tsukl, Drerup says, Is more gregarious than Hoshl, Douglass says Tsukl, the whale she works with most of the time, tends to be a more conceptual learner than Hoshl. As a student, Hoshl Is a bit slower and more deliberate. Douglass says that's not a reflection on Hoshl's intelligence whales learn differently, Just as people do.

Mammals set the pace "Hoshl Is a little bit behind, but she may end up being stronger In demonstrations than Tsukl. It's not how quickly you learn, but how well you learn," Douglass says. "They set the pace. Going too fast will Just upset them." Hoshl has learned some things Just by Imitating Tsukl. ''A lot of times," Drerup says, "when they learn something new, they do It Just for fun." Douglass says the work Is all-consuming not only for her but for the others who work with her.

"There's so much In the field that we don't know. You're constantly thinking about the next step what you're going to learn. But still, you get emotionally Involved In It. You get very close to these animals. "I'd like people to appreciate them for what they really are.

I'd like to demystify them, so people will see them as part of the real world and see that they need to be taken care of. Whales are a very powerful symbol of nature, but yet they're just flesh and blood. They need all the help they can get right now." Saved from slaughter How does she respond to those who believe whales don't belong In a zoo, and that they shouldn't be trained? "1 think you have to look at the particular circumstances. Not every group that wants these animals should be able to go out and get them. These Least favorite comics When asked which comic strip was their least favorite, the readers responded: 4500 STAR STAFF PHOTO FRANK ESPICH Senior marine mammal trainer, Allison Douglass, signals for Tsuki to leap from the water.

whales were In a migratory pattern in which they'd be captured for slaughter In the Sea of Japan. And we do have to show people, especially people In the Midwest, what it Is that they need to be concerned about." Douglass, who grew up on the Maine coast, has an associate degree In animal science and a bachelor's degree In behavioral psychology and mammalogy, all from Orange Coast College In California. She also has worked In rescue and rehabilitation of stranded marine mammals on the New England coast. Drerup. a Hoosler.

has a bachelor's degree In biology and psychology from Indiana University. Douglass says the animals' presence at the zoo Indianapolis has two of the seven false killer whales In captivity in the United States provides opportunities for close study. "If we're going to take any practical measures to save them, all the good Intentions in the world won't help If you don't know what you're doing." 4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Continued from Page 1 Any change in comics will upset some group of readers. Take Doonesbury, for example. It Is the comic that received the most passionate comments In the written notes that accompanied so many surveys.

From one reader: "Thank you for the opportunity to sound off about garbage like Doonesbury. Get rid of Junk like that." From still another: "We like Doonesbury. If you drop It, there won't be much reason to continue subscribing to the paper." Fewer, but devoted On the overall score, Doonesbury ranked next to last. It was always or usually read by only 32 percent of those responding. Yet It Is read by 56 percent of male respondents 35 to 44 years old.

Doonesbury Inspires unusual loyalty In Its readers. Across many age groups In both sexes, a higher percentage of regulars than is normal for comics would be very or moderately upset If It were dropped. Only one other comic, The Stanley Family, approached Doonesbury in negative comments. That comic was dropped Immediately after the survey, when It was discontinued by Its syndicate. Only a handful of readers complained about its passing.

New strip coming Monday Effective Monday, we will make one other change. A new strip, Fox Trot, will replace Funky Wlnkerbean. Funky had low readership and evpn lower loyalty among all age groups and both sexes. No other specific changes are planned Immediately, but the survey results will be helpful in coming months as we consider other changes in the daily and Sunday lineups. Readers also asked that we make the comics easier to find.

We have done so by anchoring the dally page In the Sunrise section. And, finally, 1 hope those of you who took part will accept my apology for the late response. You mailed In the survey forms six months ago. Our research department completed Its analysis on time. The delay was my fault.

Your participation has been most helpful, and your comments were a Joy to read. Many of you have long memories, as 5 Whale behaviors natural, learned Would you miss it? Percentage of readers who would be very or moderately upset if comic was dropped: 80 I nl I Topfiv. I I I I 70- ntntn 60 1 Bottom Ave 50 I 40 30 -i iniiniH 1 i 3 1 10 I I 8 I target bead, a white sphere the size of a softball, at the end of a pole. With the pole, trainers standing at poolside can make the whale positioned vertically In the water move higher in the water and backward. The re- -suit: a tailwalk, demonstrating the power of the whale's tall.

And the whales learn maneu- 1 vers necessary for their care. The whales will beach themselves on cue, sliding onto a ledge In shallow water. Beaching will make hormone-level and pregnancy testing easier when the zoo Is able to acquire mates for Hoshl and Tsuki. If a whale does something the trainers want to reinforce, they blow their whistles the sound of which has come to mean praise. Eventually, the whale will repeat that move on cue.

Captured behaviors Include the lobtall. In which a whale swims shallowly. slapping the surface of the water with Its tall, and the whlptail. In which the whale swims at high speed straight toward the poolside trainer and "slams on the brakes" as its tall swings around toward the trainer. In another kind of training, the whales are taught to follow a lsltors to the whale I fi demonstrations today I at the Indianapolis Zoo will see a variety of behaviors.

The whales' antics and the sorts of things whales naturally do are both interesting to watch. For example: Whales can bow a takeoff on a natural low leap, in which they leave the water In an arc, then re-enter head first, with hardly a splash. They can pirouette, riding high In the water, twirling at the same time, In a refined offshoot of a natural move In which whales poke their heads above the surface and rotate, Just to take a look around. How are they trained? Allison Douglass, senior trainer, says several techniques were used. Some kinds of behavior can be "captured." AT PERRY'S FREE GOODS and GREAT SAVINGS AMERICA'S FINEST LUGGAGE STAR STAFF ILLUSTRATION taking out Uncle Wlggley years ago.

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