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01
Kelly's story
We'll start by showing how smart and amazing dolphins are by telling the story of Kelly, one of the most well-known, talented, and intelligent dolphins in America. She's a 44-year-old bottle-nosed dolphin living in Dolphin Cay in the Bahamas. She's had a big life, going from Florida to Oklahoma to being rescued from Hurricane Katrina and eventually to Dolphin Cay, and even at her advanced age she's still sharp as a tack and a great performer.
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02
Kelly's Story
When it came to learning tricks, Kelly was always one of the first dolphins to "get it". She could leap up many feet up in the air and do flips like it was nothing. But that's not what makes Kelly so impressive--she actually figured out ways to game the training rewards system and "train" her trainers to give her more fish…
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03
Kelly's story
Unfortunately, dolphin enclosures sometimes get litter and trash blown into them from the area. So the dolphins are trained to bring litter that they find to the trainers in return for fish. Kelly figured out that if no trainers were around, she could stash her trash and bring it to the trainers later. Not only did she show she understood delayed gratification, she actually hoarded trash that she found to bring up whenever she saw a trainer--and showed she understood that she was "cheating" and should hide the stash.
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04
Kelly's story
Once, Kelly caught a seagull and received lots of fish for it. So, wanting to maximize her rewards, Kelly started saving her last fish to lure in more gulls--giving herself an endlessly renewable source of fish. Not only that, but she taught her calf to do it too--and the calves taught other calves! Soon, all the dolphins were were playing catch-the-gull. But soon, Kelly's cunning and bravery would be put to the ultimate test.
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05
Kelly's story
When Hurricane Katrina hit, Kelly's dolphin enclosure was damaged beyond repair and all the dolphins were carried off by the flood. Rescuers were unable to search for them for almost two weeks, but when they did, they found all eight dolphins had stuck together and were just fine, and had stayed close to home! How did that happen? The trainers think Kelly and her co-pod-leader had kept all the dolphins in line and kept a lookout for sharks. Thanks to Kelly's leadership, the dolphins gave hope for repair and the possibility to bounce back in a dark time!
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06
Dolphins form valuable friendships, and have emotional reactions to hearing the calls of dolphins they've met, even those they haven't seen for decades.
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07
Dolphin babies can identify themselves in a mirror at just seven months old--human babies take 18 months!
Read more: Whale Scientists
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Dolphins use unique whistles to call to each other--basically, dolphins have names!
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09
In several fishing villages, dolphins and humans have learned to help each other fish. In Laguna, Brazil, this symbiosis is 120 years old.
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Some dolphins chase fish into trapping themselves in shells, then tip the shells so the fish slides into their mouths. The behavior can be learned from peers!
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Dolphins have complex, multi-leveled social structures--the most complex of any animal that researchers know besides humans.
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Dolphins can work together in teams or pairs to complete a task or fish more effectively.
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