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Warning! This page contains information regarding Star Trek: Prodigy, and thus may contain spoilers.
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Different cetaceans
Cetaceans were aquatic mammals indigenous to the planet Earth and many other worlds with large oceans, such as Zadar IV. Some cetacean species were considered sentient beings. The Blue Whale was the largest known creature ever to inhabit the Earth.
In 2286, an unidentified probe tried to make contact with the then-extinct humpback whale species, and in doing so wreaked havoc on Earth's ecosystem, before Admiral Kirk managed to transport two members of the species from the 20th century back to the 23rd. The probe, apparently satisfied, reversed its course. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)
Harry Bernard often watched a native species of dolphins on Zadar IV when his father was stationed as an oceanographer there. (TNG: "When The Bough Breaks")
In an alternate timeline created when the USS Enterprise-C disappeared from the Battle of Narendra III, Cetacean Ops was a department aboard the warship USS Enterprise-D. Shortly after the Enterprise-C emerged from the temporal rift, Joshua Kim was paged to Cetacean Ops. (TNG: "Yesterday's Enterprise")
Dolphins were present aboard the Enterprise-D in some capacity. In 2368, Geordi La Forge took the Ferengi Par Lenor to see the dolphins in order to keep him from disturbing Kriosian Ambassador Briam. (TNG: "The Perfect Mate") The dolphins may have been in the aquatics lab. (TNG: "Genesis")
The USS Cerritos had a Cetacean Ops department, staffed by two Beluga whales, Matt and Kimolu. (LD: "First First Contact")
So far, it has not been established when Humanity first became aware that the cetaceans of their homeworld (at least some of them) are sentient. At the latest, it should have happened during the whale probe incident depicted in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, set in 2286. However, the invention of the universal translator in the 22nd century could have already made Humans aware of the fact.
Cetaceans[]
- Dolphin
- Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
- Pink dolphin
- Killer whale (Orcinus orca)
- Whale
- Baird's beaked whale (Berardius bairdi)
- Beluga whale
- Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus)
- Cuvier's beaked whale (Ziphius cavirostris)
- Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
- Sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus)
Related topics[]
Appendices[]
Background information[]
The Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual gives further information about the cetaceans aboard Galaxy-class starships, stating they (a mixed group of Bottlenose dolphins and Takaya's whales) are actually crewmembers and form a guidance and navigation consultation team. These cetaceans are elite specialists in navigation, and Starfleet consults them on suggested system upgrades. The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D Blueprints also show several large cetacean tanks within the saucer section. Although the above reference to dolphins in "The Perfect Mate" was written at the request of the manual's co-author Rick Sternbach, it was never revealed in an episode whether or not the cetaceans are crewmembers as stated here.
Cetacean crew members were eventually shown aboard the USS Cerritos and USS Voyager-A.
Apocrypha[]
The early concept art for the computer game Star Trek Online includes a sketch for an aquatics lab aboard a Galaxy-class starship, which may or may not be the one mentioned in the TNG episode "Genesis".
External links[]
- Cetacean at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Cetacea at Wikipedia