Kyodo News International, 9 July 2001, from O Globo

Wild dolphins off Brazil engage in homosexual behavior

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil

Brazilian scientists have reported for the first time ever homosexual behavior among dolphins living in their natural habitat, a Brazilian daily said Monday.

A team of Brazilian marine experts was studying the behavior and reproduction habits of the stenella longirostris species [long-snouted spinner dolphin] at the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha off northeastern Brazil when they identified homosexual behavior among males and females dolphins, the O Globo said.

Scientists at the Rotator Dolphin Center have said sexual activities among dolphins outside their reproductive season have the objective of giving sexual pleasure for the species of mammals, a rare behavior among animals. “We have reported so far at least 21 dolphins in the course of homosexual behavior, including oral sex among males,” José Martins, coordinator of a local marine research center, told the daily.

Sex among males is easier to testify because their sexual organs are external, according to the head researcher of the center, which operates in partnership with federal environmentalist agency Ibama.

The researchers say sex is prevalent among dolphins because they live in big herds, which may reach as many as 1,200 dolphins.

The species studied is typical to those who live in open sea, and Fernando de Noronha is a favorable site for observation because the dolphins swim daily into a natural bay at sunrise, according to researchers.

The stenella longirostris, which may reach 2 meters in length and weigh up to 90 kilograms, may live up to 30 years in the wilderness and use the archipelago as a natural shelter from sharks, their natural predators.

The Fernando de Noronha archipelago is an isolated group of 21 volcanic islands located in the South Equatorial Atlantic, approximately 240 kilometers from the continent.

The Brazilian government has declared some 70% of the archipelago a National Marine Park with small-scaled tourist activities in order to preserve the land and marine environment and preserve the scientific activities.

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