Dolphins and Us
“So long, and thanks for all the fish!”
Dolphins and UsPart One: The Smartest of Us All? “So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish!” Amazing Abilities of Dolphins Dolphins or Humans: Who’s Smarter? Dolphin Society and Culture They’re Super-Brainy, Too More Fascinating Stuff The Great Researcher A Society that Works Are Dolphins “Persons” Life and Culture How Smart is a Dolphin? Experimenting on Dolphins My Visit to the Dolphins Other Links & Videos Mirror Self-Recognition Test The Herman Investigation The Minds of Whales |
“So long, and thanks for all the fish!” It’s the famous message left by the dolphins when they depart Planet Earth in the sci-fi classic Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy just before the planet is demolished to make room for a galactic expressway. On a visit back to Earth, interstellar hitchhiker Arthur Dent discovers an audio message explaining that the dolphins, aware of the impending destruction of Earth, have left the planet for an alternate dimension. They’ve also gone to the trouble of saving the human species by replacing the destroyed Earth with a new version and transporting everyone there.
(This was especially nice of the dolphins, considering that the rather bone-headed humans had consistently ignored their warnings, believing that their squeaks, whistles and clicks were nothing more than mindless play, rather than the complex language of a super-intelligent species.)
Complex language? Super-intelligence? The truth about dolphins may turn out to be just as remarkable as the sci-fi version.
So just how smart are they in real life?
What are we learning about them and from them?
How do they treat us?
And how do we treat them in return?
We explore all this and more in this Big Story about the animals who may just possibly be the most advanced life form on Planet Earth. Enjoy!
. . . oh, and here’s the opening sequence from the movie version of the Hitchhiker’s Guide. It does quite a good job of summing up our relationship to dolphins.
(If it doesn’t play, try this.)