Last month, Adam Barringer, 29, and his pregnant wife Heather, 27, boarded a plane for Hawaii. The couple traveled over 4,500 miles in the hopes of welcoming baby Bodhi into the world during a dolphin-assisted birth in Pohoa, Hawaii.

The couple will stay and study with Star Newland, founder of The Sirius Institute, a consortium with the purpose of “dolphinizing” the planet.

Heather and Adam’s idea to welcome their first child into the world via water and hopefully dolphins, was inspired by the book, “The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life” by Drunvalo Melchizedek.

Before they learned they were pregnant, the idea of a water-and-dolphin birth appealed to Heather and Adam and they say they have experienced signs along the way, pointing them to Hawaii and the institute. Preparations for a dolphin-assisted birth began as soon as they arrived, long before Heather’s July due date.

At the institute, the couple will spend time in the water, forming a connection with a dolphin pod they hope will bond with them and ultimately their newborn.

“It is about reconnecting as humans with the dolphins so we can coexist in this world together and learn from one another,” says Heather.

The couple hopes to find this connection during prenatal and postnatal swims with the dolphins.

“Having that connection with the pod of dolphins anytime – even if the birth doesn’t happen in the water – still brings peace, comfort and strength to the mother and baby during labor,” says Heather.

They believe a dolphin-assisted birth will be calming experience and beneficial.

“It’s total relaxation for the mother,” says Adam. “Dolphins are very intelligent and healing which in turn calms mother and baby for the whole process,” adds Heather.

If the birthing process doesn’t happen in the water, Heather will be accompanied by midwife, Mala, on a family/community farm in Akaka Falls, about 35 miles from Pahoa.

Traveling and living in harmony with the earth is a way of life for this couple. They’ve traveled across the country, staying with friends, living in and out of their car and picking up odd jobs or doing trades when they need money, food or supplies.

“We are all about living off the earth,” says Adam. The couple has been together 11 years and married for four.

Even if their birth plan is unconventional, they have the same hopes and fears as most new parents.

“I’m excited about doing all the things I didn’t get to do as a child,” says Adam.

Heather smiles at Adam, “I’ve always wanted to be a mom, I was just waiting for this guy,” she says. After the baby arrives, the family will stay in Hawaii for a while until they figure out where they want to go and do next.

They say friends have been supportive but admit the soon-to-be grandparents are concerned, “because we always do things on a whim,” laughs Heather.

With a few more months to go, they know they are off on another adventure this time as a family of three.

“Showing him or her all the love possible is what matters,” smiles Heather.

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/28/4061962/heading-to-hawaii-for-dolphin.html#storylink=cpy

Click to expand...

“It is about reconnecting as humans with the dolphins so we can coexist in this world together and learn from one another,” says Heather.

Click to expand...

Fudgepuppy said:

Where is that study where a woman lived with a dolphin? You know the one where she gave him a hand-job or something?

Click to expand...

EmCeeGramr said:

that dolphin is going to eat that baby

Click to expand...

BertramCooper said:

I don't see the porpoise.

Click to expand...

Ripclawe said:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/05/29/dolphin-assisted-births-are-a-thing/

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/05/28/4061962/heading-to-hawaii-for-dolphin.html

Click to expand...

Fudgepuppy said:

Where is that study where a woman lived with a dolphin? You know the one where she gave him a hand-job or something?

Click to expand...

EmCeeGramr said:

that dolphin is going to eat that baby

Click to expand...

ThoseDeafMutes said:

What exactly is a baby supposed to learn from a dolphin? How to get killed by plastic bags?

Click to expand...

Perhaps the most troubling experiment in recent history is the dolphin-intelligence study conducted by neuroscientist John C. Lilly in 1958. While working at the Communication Research Institute, a state-of-the-art laboratory in the Virgin Islands, Lilly wanted to find out if dolphins could talk to people. At the time, the dominant theory of human language development posited that children learn to talk through constant, close contact with their mothers. So, Lilly tried to apply the same idea to dolphins.

For 10 weeks in 1965, Lilly’s young, female research associate, Margaret Howe, live with a dolphin named Peter. The two shared a partially flooded, two-room house. The water was just shallow enough for Margaret to wade through the rooms and just deep enough for Peter to swim. Margaret and Peter were constantly interacting with each other, eating, sleeping, working, and playing together. Margaret slept on a bed soaked in saltwater and worked on a floating desk, so that her dolphin roommate could interrupt her whenever he wanted. She also spent hours playing ball with Peter, encouraging his more “humanoid” noises and trying to teach him simple words.

As time passed, it became clear that Peter didn’t want a mom; he wanted a girlfriend. The dolphin became uninterested in his lessons, and he started wooing Margaret by nibbling at her feet and legs. When his advances weren’t reciprocated, Peter got violent. He started using his nose and flippers to hit Margaret’s shins, which quickly became bruised. For a while, she wore rubber boots and carried a broom to fight off Peter’s advances. When that didn’t work, she started sending him out for conjugal visits with other dolphins. But the research team grew worried that if Peter spent too much time with his kind, he’d forget what he’d learned about being human.

Before long, Peter was back in the house with Margaret, still attempting to woo her. But this time, he changed his tactics. Instead of biting his lady friend, he started courting her by gently rubbing his teeth up and down her leg and showing off his genitals. Shockingly, this final strategy worked, and Margaret began rubbing the dolphin’s erection. Unsurprisingly, he became a lot more cooperative with his language lessons.

Discovering that a human could satisfy a dolphin’s sexual needs was the experiment’s biggest interspecies breakthrough. Dr. Lilly still believed that dolphins could learn to talk if given enough time, and he hoped to conduct a year-long study with Margaret and another dolphin. When the plans turned out to be too expensive, Lilly tried to get the dolphins to talk another way—by giving them LSD. And although Lilly reported that they all had “very good trips,” the scientist’s reputation in the academic community deteriorated. Before long, he’d lost federal funding for his research.

Click to expand...

JBourne said:

They always have dreadlocks. Always.

Click to expand...

Dragoon En Regalia said:

They will name their child Dolph and have him play Ecco when he turns 5. This is a good thing.

—Oh wait, that isn't happening.

Click to expand...

Fudgepuppy said:

Found it:

Click to expand...

“It is about reconnecting as humans with the dolphins so we can coexist in this world together and learn from one another,” says Heather.

Click to expand...

Fudgepuppy said:

Found it:

Click to expand...

Fudgepuppy said:

Found it:

Click to expand...

he hoped to conduct a year-long study with Margaret and another dolphin. When the plans turned out to be too expensive, Lilly tried to get the dolphins to talk another way—by giving them LSD. And although Lilly reported that they all had “very good trips,” the scientist’s reputation in the academic community deteriorated.

Click to expand...

Fudgepuppy said:

Found it:

Click to expand...

Alucrid said:

For anyone that asks.

Click to expand...

i-Lo said:

Obligatory:

Click to expand...

Ryaaan14 said:

Honestly I bet a dolphin would devour the afterbirth

Click to expand...

Look at how their treat their women. Male dolphins are aggressive, horny devils. Males will kidnap and gang-rape females with their prehensile penises, using alliances of several males to keep females isolated from the rest of the group. As Miriam Goldstein once explained to Slate, “To keep her in line, they make aggressive noises, threatening movements, and even smack her around with their tails. And if she tries to swim away, they chase her down.” Male dolphins don’t just rape their females — they’ve also been known to assert authority by forcibly mounting other males.

They also get a kick out of beating on and killing other animals. Dolphins will toss, beat, and kill small porpoises or baby sharks for no apparent reason other than they enjoy it, though some have suggested the poor porpoises serve as practice for killing the infants of rival males. That’s right, not only do dolphins kill other animals, they kill baby dolphins using the same brutal tactics. No matter how cute they might appear, dolphins are not cuddly companions; they are real, large, ocean predators with a track record for violence — even when it comes to humans.

Click to expand...