Sunday 17 October 2021

Cetacean Ops!!!

 It's happened! It's finally happened!!  After over 30 years since its first mention in televised Star Trek (TNG's "Yesterday's Enterprise" in 1990), cetacean ops (operations) has made it on screen in Lower Decks' final episode of season two, "First First Contact"!

 Cetacean ops is an area aboard Federation starships (and spacestations as well as planet-based facilities, I shouldn't wonder) for crew who prefer a certain moistness, i.e. being submerged.  In the Star Trek universe, whales and dolphins are sapient (as I'm sure they are in our universe, but getting the majority of humans to recognise that is a topic for another place & time) and seem to enjoy the same privileges as other sapient beings, including joining Starfleet and serving on a starship.

 In Lower Decks (LDS), as with the Star Trek The Next Generation Technical Manual, and the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D Blueprints, the cetaceans (beluga whales in LDS, and dolphins & Takaya's whales (a type of Orca] in the TNG tech manual and blueprints) are navigation specialists. 

 Here are some screenshots I took of USS Cerritos' cetacean ops from "First First Contact" (owner/creator ViacomCBS) - minor spoilers ahead for the episode:

The Lower Deckers - Rutherford, Mariner, Tendi, and Boimler - enter Cetacean Ops.
The logo on the floor seems to be inspired by the Cetacean Institute logo (from ST IV: The Voyage Home) which was itself just the logo of the Monterey Bay Aquarium where the Cetacean Institute scenes were filmed.
Note the balls, foam swimming noodle, and buckets of fish on the left.  Those whacking great rocks on the edge seem to be a nod towards a more natural work space.

Lieutenants (junior grade) Kimolu and Matt - beluga whales - greet the Lower Deckers
 
Graphic of Cetacean Ops showing the vertical main tank and adjoining hydrotubes.
Rutherford looks a little glum because he doesn't have time to go skinny-dipping with Kimolu and Matt (more further down).
I'm guessing that this isn't the full exent of cet.ops, and that we're only seeing the 'ops' bit. Those tunnels that branch off the main tank probably lead to stellar cartography & navigation labs, communal spaces, plus Kimolu's & Matt's (and any other cetacean crewmembers) living quarters.

Matt and Kimolu take Boimler down to the bottom of the main tank.
The interface consoles have large LCARS displays suitable for manipulation with pectoral fins and/or beaks.

Cetacean ops seems to span quite a few decks.  As the lower levels seem to be bereft of any interfaces or other features, I imagine that it can serve as a holographic environment for navigational research purposes (a bit like stellar cartography aboard the Enterprise-D in the movie Generations).

Access point for the lower hydrotube

At the end of the hydrotube is the filter nodule which, amongst other things, contains the control node for the manual access clamps (that enable exterior hull plates to be jettisoned).

Power's out, but this is a nice overhead view of cet.ops.

oOo

 Just like with certain other cetaceans, Kimolu and Matt are all for some fun sex play, and Rutherford is a particular favourite of theirs it would appear (and who can blame them!):






oOo

 As we didn't get to see it in the episode (due to heroics and timing), here's my interpretation of how the fun times could have started:



18 comments:

  1. We all have our special topics of interest. The games you mentioned before in a previous comment are nothing like the ones I play. I play open-world role playing games (RPG) where friends, enemies, romances and major plot points are all driven by your dialog choices. Bioware games (Dragon Age & Mass Effect franchises) have had Gay,BI, Hetero, Pan options for decades. They set the standard for story based games with sex and romance. For me, it all started with this guy! He had all the best dialog and scenes! You would love him too! https://i.pinimg.com/originals/21/c2/08/21c2088475d2ce2b5575ce170c774bf4.jpg

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    1. Oh, dear... I'm rubbish with virtual & online gaming as I haven't played a computer game in decades. However, I'm aware of some of them through various fanart pieces that crop up when searching for other stuff. So, with that in mind, I did a fanart search for your Zevran and found this delightful piece - Adorable!

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    2. Aaah, That is adorable!!! Sadly I couldn't find my favorite fanart of him. It was a long time ago.

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  2. Very glad to see budgy smugglers inhabit your mind as well. 🐓

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    1. I was going to give him something with a little more leg, but I wanted to see as much of Rutherford as possible without having to slap an 'adult content' warning up!

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  3. Nothing worse than having to see the doctor regarding a broken blowhole.
    Sx

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  4. Looks like an easy "Duke" level, Hanky & Panky should be splattered in no time.

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  5. Replies
    1. Which just goes to show that they're just like us!

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  6. Huh. So... smutty dolphins in uniform? Porn goes where no man has gone before... well, not on purpose. Thanks for sharing, dear. Wonders never cease.

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    1. You know, I started thinking about this - but not too much, of course.
      In Star Trek, interspecies sex (for fun or procreation) between humans and the various aliens (or just between the aliens) seems to be a relatively normal thing. As long as the subjects are sapient, that is. (Of course, it helps that the aliens are [mostly] humans with bits of rubber stuck to their foreheads ;D )

      So, if a sapient Earth being, be they human, beluga, dolphin, whatever, consents to the act, then surely that's okay and not a horrible case of zoophilia/bestiality? However, to my knowledge, the sapience of certain Earth lifeforms has not yet been proven, but who knows what the future will hold?

      Anyway, I think that's enough of that. And you missed a trick there: "Porn goes where no man has gone before... well, not on porpoise."

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  7. You asked us to "note the balls." When are we NOT noting balls?

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    1. If the wonder and excitement of seeing Cetacean Ops on screen for the first time doesn't complete your life Mitzi, then yes, you must be wired wrong. You monster!

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Tickle my fancy, why don't you?