My two cents on the Dolphin Killer

by Albert Nuel Navarrete

I was supposed to make a blog in response to a post by Rand Fishkin about whether or not you are pushing your team too hard. But I just couldn't collect my thoughts because of this news I got about a person/people killing dolphins off the U.S. Gulf Coast. This is a barbaric act, one that has no end other than the pleasure of a crazed and deranged person. Dolphins usually interact peacefully with humans. I tried searching the internet for cases wherein dolphin attacks have actually killed people, but I found myself empty handed in the end. Yes, they do attack people occasionally, but never in such a manner that one has actually endangered the life of a human being. Which leads me to question the sanity of the person committing these crimes. According to the Hare Psychopathy Checklist Revised, a diagnostic tool used to assess psychopathy, here are some of the symptoms of psychotic behavior:

Factor 1: Personality "Aggressive narcissism"

• Glibness/superficial charm
• Grandiose sense of self-worth
• Pathological lying
• Cunning/manipulative
• Lack of remorse or guilt
• Shallow affect (genuine emotion is short-lived and egocentric)
• Callousness; lack of empathy
• Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

Of the symptoms listed, I would like to point out two that are particularly relevant in this matter: (a) lack of remorse or guilt; and (b) callousness or lack of empathy. From what we have seen so far, it is quite clear that the perpetrator of these crimes is capable of inflicting great harm against animals without remorse. Some dolphins were found with multiple gunshot wounds. Others were found in worse conditions. One was found cut repeatedly and severely. One got washed up at Perdido Bay, Florida, with a screwdriver driven deep into its head. Another was found at Dauphin Island, Alabama missing its tail. There was even one that had its jaw cut off. According to investigators, none of the parts that have been taken from these dolphins are of any value whatsoever.

 

A victim of the 'dolphin killer.'

Photo lifted from the Huffington Post.

Authorities are considering the theory that the perpetrator might be a 'thrill seeker' who is getting a 'kick' out of killing dolphins. If that is the case, they better act fast. As of the latest reports, a total of seven dolphins have been found dead. It is highly plausible that the thrill of killing dolphins is wearing off for the criminal by now. The perpetrator might look for other means to satiate the hunger to kill, at which point, it becomes a much more fatal situation because he or she might turn to objects that are at a closer proximity: humans. There is reason to believe such a proposition based on the components of the Macdonald Triad, which consists of three behavioral traits often exhibited by violent offenders. As proposed in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the three behavioral traits are animal cruelty, obsessive behavior towards fire-setting, and frequent bedwetting beyond five years old. Although studies have failed to find enough proof connecting serial killers to this set of traits, some serial killers have exhibited at least one or two of these behaviors.

If the authorities don't find a way to resolve the matter in a timely manner, there are only two scenarios that are likely to surface: (a) the criminal continues to kill dolphins, thus endangering the fragile marine ecology along the Gulf Coast; or (b) the criminal turns his/her attention towards other objects that are in closer proximity, thus endangering the local community. Either way, he/she is a threat that must be put to justice soon.

Lt. Col. Claude Pittman, an officer of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources who patrols the area of the killings, said in an interview with CNN that he had not witnessed a case where a dolphin had been shot in his 22 years of service. This recent spate of killings are worrying, he says.

"You don't know what type of person is doing this," he said to CNN. "Would they carry it any further? I have no idea."