According to studies,
dolphins are the second most intelligent species
on earth, right after humans.
Scientists have been amazed
to find that dolphins have a high brain level, not only in intelligence,
but in emotion as
well. Research has shown that, just like humans, dolphins experience
emotions such as joy, sorrow, happiness, and suffering, and just like
humans, these are caused by experiences.
Dolphins
have similar abilities to humans such as being able to recognize
certain things such as objects, patterns, and even themselves in
mirrors, things we thought only we could do. Dolphins communicate to
other dolphins similar to how humans interact.
Studies
of emotional levels have
shown that dolphins have had heart attacks due
to stress. This shows the capacities of dolphins, and how intelligent
they truly are.
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![dolphin jumping](images/dolphinjumping.png) |
![three dolphins doing tricks](images/dolphinsdoingtricks.png)
Click the
following image of Lori Marino to learn more about her movement.
![picture of lori marino](images/lorimarino.png) |
The only times we usually
see dolphins are during shows at aquarium parks or other recreational
sights.
Often, we see them do
amazing shows for us, with trainers guiding them. Of course, all of
this is for our entertainment.
What
many don't realize is that although some are kept in these parks due to
injuries and loss of natural ability, many are healthy to go back into
the wild, but are kept because they are intelligent animals that
understand the commands of their trainers.
Researchers
have found that many dolphins are natural at the what they do, because
they are playful in the wild too. Being held in these captive
environments doesn't help them when it comes to both their physical and
emotional stress. A top neuroscientist at Emory University, Lori
Marino, has studied the behaviors of dolphins closely and says that, if
they are healthy, it is better for their mental state to be be freed,
because all the tricks they do in an aquarium they do out in the wild,
without the stress and commands of others.
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