A Friendly Moray Eel Provides Proof of Emotion

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Seems I’m a bit taken with sea animals lately. Here’s another video, this one of a moray eel who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a diver over the course of several years. You’ll see an amazing display of cuddling by this eel. To me, this provides further evidence that all species of animals are capable of feeling and expressing emotion.

 

Have you ever felt emotion from an animal that surprised you?

 

 

 

8 thoughts on “A Friendly Moray Eel Provides Proof of Emotion”

  2. that is one unique animal friendship. I don’t guess I’ve thought too much about animal emotion. I’ve certainly noticed dogs that I’ve owned showing what seemed like emotion. Then again I sometimes wonder if it’s merely expressions of dependency on their human for food or a certain sense of pleasure they derive from human contact that is more Pavlovian than emotionally based.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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    • You should maybe educate yourself before posting such a redundant comment. Dogs obviously feel emotion, so do a lot of animals. It’s part of our chemistry which allows us to act and respond to certain stimuli.

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  3. Oh Lee, I could talk for hours about animal emotions! They definitely do feel as they are sentient beings. I had a dog who greatly mourned the loss of his “brother” — he mourned for nearly 3 weeks before he came out of the depression. Elephants are also very well known for displaying emotion. There have been documented tears! They even have elaborate funerals when they lose a herd member (they cover them with dirt and branches and stand vigil throughout the night with the fallen). As you know, I’ve been hanging out with dogs for almost 15 years now and I can confidently say that they experience all kinds of emotions! Definitely happiness and excitement –that’s a given. But I’ve also seen them show signs of remorse, shame, sadness and a host of others. It’s really quite remarkable. We humans don’t give animals enough credit. There is so much more to them that many of us don’t even know. The other thing that I always say is that communing with animals is the closest one can get to God because it is there where you find pure and absolute unconditional love –something that I think we humans are incapable of. I think we trick ourselves into believing we can love unconditionally but in relationships, there are always conditions. Not so with animals, especially dogs. They just love, period. I’m glad you read my post and have had some thought about animal emotion. It’s certainly rewarding to experience, that’s for sure! Thanks for stopping by! Good to see you here. Hope you’re summer is going great. 🙂

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  4. I do believe that animals have emotions and feelings but, was surprised to see it so pronounced with sea creatures and humans. What an incredible video! We used to have two little mixed breed dogs, only a few months apart in age. When the older, more dominant one passed away prematurely (from cancer, age 8), the younger, shy one went into visible mourning for about 6 months. It was really sad to see! 😦 She spent most of her time hiding under the bed, only coming out for food and walks, etc. Slowly, she started interacting with us again and what was really interesting, was that she had suddenly become more outgoing and assertive, like her sister had been. It was as if she knew she had to be strong and take care of us now. Fortunately, she lived to be almost 17! 🙂

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    • Oh that had to be heartbreaking to see her mourn for that long! And there’s nothing you can really do about it. Like people, they just have to move through the grief at their own pace. I’m glad she came out stronger and more assertive and that she lived a long happy life!

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      • Yes, it really was hard, especially since we were mourning the unexpected loss as well. We were on the floor a lot, trying to get her to come out and she did, for brief periods, but always went back. It was her “safe place”.

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  5. I believe we have not even scratched the surface as to how complex and feeling other animals and life forms are. So many people simply see them as “things” rather than as sentient beings – but they have complex family relationships, they grieve, they love, they are compassionate, they are playful – they show a huge range of emotions and behaviors, and I believe there is much more there than we can imagine. Great post! ❤

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