Star Trek: 10 Biggest Differences Between Kirk's Enterprise And Picard's

In Kirk's time, whales were extinct and humanity did not yet know of theirs and the dolphins' highly advanced intelligence. When the whales were brought back from the past to repopulate in Star Trek: The Voyage Home, and Starfleet discovered that they were sentient, they learned to communicate with them and formed an alliance.

Many whales and dolphins (cetaceans) would even join Starfleet and, in The Next Generation, some starships, such as the Enterprise-D had an area onboard known as Cetacean Ops, huge water-tanks where cetaceans would use their advanced brains and unique physiologies to assist the ship with navigation, greatly improving efficiency.

We never got to see cetacean ops on the Enterprise-D, but, in the Lower Decks episode First First Contact, the crew of the Cerritos pays a visit and is greeted by two adorable beluga whales in Starfleet uniforms. We do know that this facility was on Picard's ship, though, due to it appearing in the official Enterprise-D blueprints, in addition to Geordi asking someone if they've "seen the dolphins yet" in the Next Generation episode The Perfect Mate.