Summary
- Cetaceans assist with ship navigation, and intelligent whales are part of Cetacean Ops.
- Cetacean Ops divisions were on famous Starfleet ships in the Star Trek universe.
- The concept of Cetacean Ops was born from Rick Sternbach’s obsession with dolphins going to space.
The crews of Starfleet ships in the Star Trek universe are as diverse as they come. Humans of every nationality and ethnicity serve together alongside hundreds of other species from throughout the galaxy. But humanoid lifeforms aren’t the only lifeforms in the Star Trek universe aboard Starfleet ships. Certain ships in the fleet also have divisions staffed by intelligent animals. One such division is known as Cetacean Ops.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word Cetacean refers to “any of an order of aquatic mammals (as a whale, dolphin, or porpoise).” As the name implies, Cetacean Ops is a division on a Starfleet ship staffed and run by such aquatic mammals, usually whales or dolphins. These sea-dwelling Starfleet officers are usually housed in an aquarium aboard the ship they serve on, and work alongside a team of marine biologists responsible for their care.
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Why Are There Cetaceans on Starfleet Ships?
In short, the cetaceans aboard Starfleet ships assist the humanoid crewmembers with navigating the ship. The fourth Star Trek The Original Series movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, introduced the idea that cetaceans, specifically whales, are highly intelligent species that established contact with alien species long before humans did. But whales were extinct on Earth in the 23rd century. So, Captain James T. Kirk and his crew embarked on a mission to save the whales, and the cetaceans survived into the 24th century.
An in-universe reason why Starfleet decided to recruit cetaceans to assist with guidance and navigation is never mentioned. But by the 24th century, Cetacean Ops (sometimes referred to as Tursiops Ops) was a regular division on Galaxy Class starships, per the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual. This book states:
“In the Galaxy class starship, ongoing G&N [guidance and navigation] system research tasks are handled by a mixed consultation crew of twelve Tursiops truncatus and T. truncatus gilli, Atlantic and Pacific bottlenose dolphins, respectively. This crew is overseen by two additional cetaceans, Orcinus orca takayai, or Takaya’s Whale. All theoretical topics in navigation are studied by these elite specialists, and their recommendations for system upgrades are implemented by Starfleet.”
Several of Starfleet’s most famous ships had Cetacean Ops divisions, including the Enterprise-D, the Enterprise-C, the Cerritos, and the Voyager-A.
The Theoretical Obsession That Became Cetacean Ops
In the real world, the idea for Cetacean Ops was a collaboration between Star Trek: The Next Generation’s senior production illustrator and designer, Rick Sternbach, and the show’s scenic art supervisor, Michael Okuda, who later co-authored the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual.
In an interview with the art publication 70s Sci-Fi Art, Sternbach revealed that he was obsessed with the idea of dolphins in space. Sternbach grew up loving science fiction and art, and when he began college at UConn, he decided to pursue a degree in fine arts. At the same time, he discovered a passion for marine biology. His love of sci-fi, aquatic creatures, and art culminated in one of his best-known projects: an illustration of a dolphin in a space suit. Sternbach explained that the illustration was his way of answering a question he’d become obsessed with — how could dolphins safely go into space with humans?
This question stayed with Sternbach for several years. When he found himself working on TNG, he decided to make his fantasy of dolphins in space part of Star Trek canon. He slipped subtle references to the “Tursiops Crew Facility” in the first season episode “We’ll Always Have Paris.” Later, the third season episode “Yesterday’s Enterprise,” and the fifth season episode “The Perfect Mate” contained brief references to Cetacean Ops.
Though Sternbach desperately wanted to show Cetacean Ops onscreen, the production limitations of the late 1980s and early 1990s meant Sternbach never got to see his brainchild in action while he worked on TNG, or later on Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
Cetacean Ops in Action
However, Sternbach finally got to see his dream of Cetacean Ops onscreen in the season 2 finale of Star Trek: Lower Decks. Though Cetacean Ops was referenced frequently throughout the first and second seasons of Lower Decks, that section of the ship and its crew members weren’t actually shown until the episode “First First Contact.”
In the episode, Ensign Brad Boimler had to swim down to the bottom of the dolphin tank in Cetacean Ops to manually release a lever that was crucial to saving the Cerritos. When he arrived in Cetacean Ops, fans met Lieutenants Matt and Kimolu, two Beluga whales who played a crucial role in guiding the Cerritos when it traveled at warp speed. The episode explained that without them, the ship wouldn’t be able to go to warp. After their first appearance, Lieutenants Matt and Kimolu appeared in five more episodes of Lower Decks, and assisted in saving the Cerritos on multiple occasions.
Cetacean Ops also played a major role in Star Trek: Prodigy. The Voyager-A was equipped with an enormous Cetacean Ops division that housed a Humpback whale named Gillian. Without Gillian, the Voyager-A and its crew wouldn’t have survived. When all the navigation systems on the ship went down, Gillian and Rok-Tahk guided the ship through the Loom and a wormhole.
Because of Sternbach’s dream and Mike McMahan’s fascination with every obscure detail of the Trekverse, Cetacean Ops lives on as an essential part of Starfleet. What started as one man’s obsession with dolphin space travel has become a fundamental part of Star Trek canon, which is perhaps the most Trekkie thing that’s ever happened.
Star Trek
- Created by
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Gene Roddenberry
- First Film
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Star Trek: The Motion Picture
- Latest Film
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Star Trek Beyond
- First TV Show
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Star Trek: The Original Series
- Latest TV Show
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Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Creation Year
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1966
Sources: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual, 70s Sci-Fi Art interview