Marine Animal Consciousness 1

Running Head: MARINE ANIMAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Determining Consciousness in Marine Animals

Vivian Slye

Glen Allen High School

I. Introduction

The ocean has always been an elusive figure to human kind in the past, it’s vastness and

depth are difficult to comprehend. Even though the planet is composed of more water than

land, the creatures that live beneath the surface have always seemed unusual compared to the

furry, feathered, and well known land animals. But why is that? Why does humanity seem to

hold a higher respect for landlocked animals, choosing to more heavily protect them with

various rights, laws, and policies, and believe aquatic life forms to be inferior? Do humans

have more of a connection with land animals simply due to proximity, or is it actually because

they see a likeness within them, a conscious awareness of themselves and their surroundings

that is hard to perceive in the creatures of the deep? Many scientists have dedicated their lives

to discovering these answers and with their research comes numerous studies that touch on

countless related topics. But yet all have the common goal of determining how consciousness

can be seen in animals, and if that consciousness extends to animals of the marine variety.

Through the research and studies showcased, consciousness and sentience can be determined

in specific species of fish and marine invertebrate if they share certain anatomical and

behavioral characteristic as seen in both mammals and humans.

II. Defining Consciousness

Ever since humanity started walking the earth there have been questions asked that seem

unanswerable. Are humans inherently good or evil? Is time merely just a concept? What

happens after death? But the question of consciousness and if it is only something obtainable
 Marine Animal Consciousness 3

by humans has recently been contemplated by the scientific community, specifically those

who study animals. While the philosophical ponderings of Plato, Socrates, and various other

ancient Greeks is an alluring past time, what makes the theory of consciousness stand out is

that it might actually be something measurable, or at least observable.

However, consciousness and sentience have been notoriously difficult to define. Are they

the same as personality? Does having consciousness equal to have a soul? Or is it not a

singular identity, but instead a complex system of traits and behaviors enclosed under the

umbrella term of ‘consciousness’?

According to the Oxford dictionary, consciousness has two definitions: “the state of being

aware of and responsive to one's surroundings” and “The fact of awareness by the mind of

itself and the world” (Consciousness, n.d.). And the Oxford dictionary also describes the term

sentient as “able to perceive or feel things” (Sentient, n.d.) While humanity unquestionably

follows all three definitions, what of animals? Undoubtedly animals are aware and responsive

to their surroundings, otherwise they would be unable to differentiate between food, water,

shelter, and danger. And they certainly have the ability to physically feel and respond to

stimuli as shown through their response to pain – as will be further explained later on in the

paper. But are animals, and specifically marine animals, aware of their own minds? Is this

simply only a trait of humans? Or is it obtainable by mammals too? And if so, why hasn’t it

been developed in other species such as bony fish, cephalopods, or other marine creatures?

And how exactly can it be decided if a marine animal has consciousness? While there

may not be an easy checklist of traits one must have to be labeled ‘conscious’, the most

universally held belief by scientists is that the marine animal in question must, at the very
 Marine Animal Consciousness 4

least, be able to feel pain (Allen, C., & Trestman, M., 2017). However, other traits biologists

and philosophers together feel may be important for the distinguishing of consciousness

would be memory recall, communication, and of course, the proper anatomy required for all

of these processes.

III. Brain Structure

While there is no denying that marine animals in total have a startling different anatomy

than terrestrial animals, there are a few significant similarities among these species that could

preclude a form of sentience and consciousness. For example, the brains of land mammals,

marine mammals, and the majority bony fish are divided into three regions: the forebrain,

midbrain, and hindbrain. While the hindbrain controls most automatic functions like heart

rate, breathing, and digestion, the midbrain deals most with vision (Kotrschal, Van Staaden, &

Huber 1998). But the most relevant part of the brain in regards to the establishment of

consciousness is the forebrain. This section of the brain manages voluntary movement,

physical feeling and pain, and even includes a hypothalamus and pituitary gland which is the

central location for hormone release and emotional activity (Kotrschal et al, 1998).

Octopuses, while having very different brain structure, have been found to have both an

endocrine and nervous system, which is beneficial for those with the belief of marine animal

consciousness (Godfrey-Smith, 2017).

Unfortunately, though, for both of these animals, in regards to brain size to body mass or

even the size of the brain in comparison to the size of the brain cavity, results do not look
 Marine Animal Consciousness 5

promising. Both fish and octopuses have a significantly smaller brain in comparison to their

bodies, and some fish have even been found to have brains that only take up 6% of their brain

cavity (Kotrschal et al, 1998). And even though brain size in no way directly correlates to

intelligence or emotional capacity, these findings are less than favorable. Other aquatic

creatures, like crustaceans, also have endocrine systems, however, they do not release any sort

of hormone related to reward or pain. Also, their brain and brain stem are combined into

organ called a ganglion (Gordon & Green, 2018). However, findings are even more

unsatisfactory in relation to consciousness when it comes to species like jellyfish and coral.

These creatures are more related to protists and plankton than other nektonic animals because

they don’t have brains and primarily just drift with the tides (D'mello, 2016).

As far as determining consciousness through anatomy is concerned, there are various

elements that are shared between humans, mammals, and marine life, but the most likely

precursors for sentience would be a sign of a forebrain and within it a hypothalamus and

endocrine and nervous system.

IV. Pain

Suffering is not an experience any animal enjoys, however, pain does have a practical

purpose. Because pain is an effect of damage to the body, it informs the animal that

something is wrong and needs to be fixed or is used as a punishment for the prior behavior.

And some scientists believe that the ability to feel agony, or at least discomfort, may be a

precursor to sentience. While pain is often considered to be a physical symptom, it is actually

only processed in the brain. The damage itself may be physical, but pain itself is more

psychological, as the signal for the damage processes in the thalamus. Then a new signal is

released with the inclusion of pain into the rest of the forebrain (Kotrschal et al, 1998). The

anatomy for this effect is the same in both land mammals and bony fish, yet the question

remains: do the fish feel this pain physiologically or is this simply just an unconscious

negative reaction to a stimulus?

While all animals can respond to a dangerous or damaging stimulus, usually by quickly

maneuvering away or limited movement of the injured area, that does not correspond to

feeling pain. The ability to understand that damage has been made is known as nociception,

which differentiates from pain as pain is solely a physiological effect that takes place in the

brain while nociception is a nerve response at the scene of the injury (Yue, 2008).

“If one were given local anesthesia before a dentist extracted a tooth, one’s nociceptors—

nerve fibers that produce the sensation of pain when they are stimulated by tissue-damaging

or noxious stimuli—would respond to the tissue damage, yet the feeling of pain would be

blocked” (Yue, 2008).

So how can it be determined that fish do in fact feel pain? Well according to Balcombe,

and well known marine biologist who wrote an extensive book on the consciousness of fish,

the neuroendocrine system is “virtually identical in bony fish and in mammals” (2016) thus

meaning that the same anatomy that proves to us that land mammals can feel pain is also

present in bony fish as well as other marine creatures. However, much more compelling

evidence for the proof of pain are the various studies that not only measure a fish’s pain
 Marine Animal Consciousness 7

response, but also prove that these animals remember the experience in later trials and thus try

to avoid the negative stimulus; therefore, meaning that they could experience long term

memory as well.

V. Memory

Fish are notoriously known for having a “three second memory”, but this is surprisingly

incredibly inaccurate. In humans, memory is mainly controlled by the hippocampus, but this

is only one stop on the neutral network called the Papez circuit which also includes

mammillary gland, the thalamus, and the basal forebrain which all have to do with higher

functioning and cognition (Pressman, 2017). In relation, the brain of a fish does not contain

all of these individual aspects, however, they do have a somewhat condensed version located

in their forebrain which allows them to form new memories as well as recall old ones

(Balcombe, 2016).

In a study done by the University of Michigan, snappers were fed both normal and dyed

sardines (Balcombe, 2016). At first the only difference in the sardines was their color, and the

snappers did not seem to have a preference between the two. However, then, some of the red

dyed sardines were laced with stinging medusa tentacles which caused the snappers pain

(Balcombe, 2016). Very quickly, the snapper learned to avoid all of the red sardines, and

continued to shun them for weeks after, even though they were no longer laced (Balcombe

2016). This study not only highlights the snapper’s ability to feel pain, but they also

remembered events from weeks previous and acted on those memories, creating a learned
 Marine Animal Consciousness 8

behavior and proving that they can be conditioned much like a dog can learn to sit on

command.

In an experiment run by Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia which showcased this

phenomenon, giant pacific octopuses were handled by both a “nice” keeper who fed them and

a “mean” keeper who touched them with an uncomfortably bristled stick, both of who were

dressed in the same uniform (Godfrey-Smith, 2017). After only two weeks, the octopuses

began to reacted negatively when approached by the “mean” keeper, scooting away, shooting

ink, or spraying them with their siphon, while they would actively move towards the “nice”

keeper to receive food or to play, and continued to act differently to each one for months

following (Godfrey-Smith, 2017). This experiment concluded that octopuses not only have

the ability to remember events from months previous but they can differentiate between

humans meaning they have facial recognition.

VI. Communication

While it is fairly easy to understand the structure of the brain in many species to see if

they have the different aspects that seemed to be required for sentience. However, the matter

becomes much harder to study and prove sentience when it comes to the behaviors of these

animals, predominately including versions of communication. For the most part, fish

communicate through pheromones which are a type of hormone they can “smell” in the water.

However, interestingly, there was a study done with fathead minnows were different groups

of minnows either had a schreckstoff of a predator released in the water, or were never taught
 Marine Animal Consciousness 9

to fear that predator. When both groups were placed in a tank together, the experiment

showed that the minnows were more likely to react in fear if they saw other minnows acting

the same way than if they smell a schreckstoff, thus meaning they were more likely to trust

other minnows than simply only trust themselves in regards to fear, much like humans

(Balcombe, 2016).

While pheromones are the most common use of language in the marine world, recent

studies have found that different types of dolphins actually use their squeaks and whistles as a

basic form of language, one that has actually been recreated in part by human scientist

(Abumrad, 2014). Through the use of an electronic box, the scientists can mimic the whistles

of the dolphins perfectly and have even been able to call the dolphins names, in their native

tongue of course, and gain recognition (Abumrad, 2014). This is a major breakthrough in the

marine biology world because this could give the scientists the leg up they need to form a

bond of trust with these animals which would highly benefit future study.

VII. Conclusion

Despite the numerous evidence and sources regarded during this investigation to

determine the consciousness of marine animals, it is unequivocally decided that consciousness

is an allusive subject that is contemplated by biologists and philosophers alike, therefore any

there cannot be any concrete decision based solely on the research down above. However, it

can be deduced that the likelihood of consciousness can be enormously increased if the

species in question possesses a forebrain with various anatomical aspects that function in the
 Marine Animal Consciousness 10

same regards as a thalamus, hippocampus, and neuroendocrine system. Therefore,

simultaneously increasing the likelihood of the species portraying various behaviors such as

memory, pain, and communication.

The questioning now should turn to the outcome of this investigation. While clearly

the final verdict is still decades away and more in-depth research will be required before any

absolute decision can be made, humanity should still consider their next steps if it is

determined that animals, specifically marine animals, have consciousness and sentience. At

the very least, animals will require more protections and the food and fishing industries will

receive new regulations in order to better benefit our conscious companions. Animal safety

and wellbeing will be taken more into account and destructive human tendencies such as

overfishing and bycatch – which have a damaging effect on the environment and fish lives

alike – will be more heavily monitored. And the fish farms and aquaculture that spurns this

country will no longer have the horrifyingly unhygienic conditions and cramped ponds that

spoil the very fish they’re trying to farm.

However, a question still remains: why does humanity require for these animals to

have consciousness before they are protected? Why does an inability to feel pain excuse

humans to afflict unnecessary cruelty? Why is it only now that humanity’s motives, methods,

and morals are questioned?

The study and determination of consciousness is equal part philosophy and science,

speculation and evidence, and a true answer may never be discovered. However, the

investigations and research studied like this should at the very least open the eyes of this
 Marine Animal Consciousness 11

country to the brutal conditions we inflict onto our animals, whether they are meant for our

consumption or not. Even if it is undoubtable proven that fish cannot feel pain or that

octopuses cannot recognize individual people, that still should not be an excuse to throw out

morality when it comes to the treatment of these animals. If we can truly claim to be the only

conscious being on our planet, then it is our duty to truly be conscious of it. To treat it with

kindness and respect, even though we are aware we cannot expect the same in return.

Because if we can only be conscious of our own cravings, then unfortunately our unique gift

has been unconsciously wasted.

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