Regarded as an authority on the subject of dolphin and whale communication, Joan Ocean developed the remarkable methodologies for this pioneering work and authored two books translated into four languages: Dolphin Connection and Dolphins into the Future.

For nearly two decades, Joan has led thousands the world over into the waters to swim and communicate with the dolphins, to discover the wondrous, often mystical world of these intelligent beings with abilities that continue to amaze and baffle us all.

PJP: How did your work with dolphins and whales begin?

JO: It was surprise to me! I didn?t even know how to swim when I first met the dolphins. It was back in the early eighties and people were not as aware of dolphins back then. The dolphins first came to me while I was in meditation and gave me a beautiful message of having much to share with humanity. The energy felt very good. But, I was a little embarrassed to tell anyone that I was receiving messages from dolphins. So, I kept it secret. I wondered, how could I work with dolphins and whales when I don?t even swim or go into the ocean at all?

Finally, I shared the dolphin?s message in a newsletter that circulated throughout the United States. There was a great response to it. Many people wrote in making statements like, ?I felt all along that one could communicate with dolphins. Thank you for sharing the dolphin's message.?

This encouraged me to talk more openly about it and I continued to have more experiences. Then as fate would have it, I was invited on a trip to the Amazon River in Peru to meet the river dolphins. Since I already had contact with them in meditation, I agreed right away.

It was a beautiful experience. I still didn?t know how to swim. But I wore a lifejacket and the water was quite calm, so I felt okay with it. After that, I began traveling to other countries sharing stories about my experiences with the dolphins. That's how it all began.

PJP: Did you also have experiences with the whales at that time?

JO: The whales affected my vibrational frequency right in the beginning. Around this same time, I met Jean-Luc Bozzoli, an incredible dolphin and visionary artist whose art touched my heart. We began traveling together: I would tell stories about dolphins and he would show his art. As a result, we were invited all over the world to meet and swim with dolphins.

One time, we were involved with an environmental group in a month-long project off the coast of British Columbia. We lived in tents: and at night, we sat around the fire on this beautiful, uninhabited island where eagles, Orcas and whales lived. The experience was wonderful.

One day, we were standing on the shore when a California Grey Whale came in really close. He seemed to be rolling on the pebbles beneath the water, scratching his back to remove barnacles. When he came in even closer, there was eye contact. As I looked into that eye, and as he returned my gaze, I felt all this love and wisdom pouring into me in vibrational waves. I felt as though he understood and knew me. It was powerful.

There came a point where I couldn?t take any more of those waves of love: I thought I might melt or disappear! The moment I had this thought, the whale stopped sending those "love" waves. It was then that I realized that whales could communicate with us: he had received my thoughts and knew to stop sending those waves of love.

From then on, my interest has always been in communicating with dolphins and whales, and to share my experiences with others.

One of the ways most animals communicate is with sound, they may neigh, bark, purr or quack; we speak.  These auditory messages convey meaning for the species concerned.  We understand words, horses understand neighs, dogs understand barks and so on.  

Quacks don?t correspond with words, neighs mean little to cats, but what is universal is body language.  Animals can understand the body language of their species and of others.  They usually recognize an aggressive or submissive posture.  

This picture shows a seriously submissive small dog.  She is trying to make herself very small.  Her body is hunched, her head is down and she is looking at the floor.  The young cat is striding purposely across the floor with a look of determination on her eyes.  She is not going to be sidetracked by the dog.  From this picture, it is very likely that the cat has previously demonstrated and confirmed her rank with the dog.  The duck just seems to be looking on and assessing the situation.

Remember these two words: aggressive - to be ready to fight. submissive - to try to avoid a fight, to cower

The above article can be originaly found in http://poniesonline.co.uk/animalLanguage.htm