The intensive research on dolphins is quite interesting. The fact that it is even possible we could mildly understand dolphins in unbelievable. The podcast goes on to speak on how intelligent dolphins are. Just as intelligent as humans, it says. Throughout the years and history, more and more interests in dolphins was piling up. Studies upon studies are drilled into dolphins but only few dedicated their life to it. Margaret decided to stay with her. To understand one, she chose to be one. To be yourself in the shoes of the dolphin was Margaret's goal and she succeeded and learned more than expected.

I am blown away that a person actually attempted to board with a dolphin in attempt to make it learn English. I have never heard of an experiment where they were actually trying to teach it an actual language. You would think since they have occupied the earth with us so long that they would've picked up on it by now. Dolphins are extremely intelligent creatures but the likelihood of them actually learning a language is next to nothing. They can make signals, blow whistles or hold up signs. But teaching them English would have an extremely difficult considering they have a blowhole instead of other dominant species. If they do get this dolphin to obey them and "learn.

The fact that dolphins can learn a human language to any significant degree is extremely interesting. However, the fact that no results were able to be published from this study doesn't surprise me much. Trying to teach a dolphin English seems like it would be too abstract of a way to get any sort of useful data. Testing something more specific about the dolphin's brain, such as its memory, how quickly it learns new behavior, or even its ability to solve puzzles would measure the dolphin's intelligence on a scale more comparable to a human's.

It's very interesting how a human can communicate efficiently with a Bottle-nose Dolphin. However, this was taken to a new degree. This women was part of an experiment to become roommates with a Dolphin, and to teach him English. Dolphins have huge brains, very similar to the structure of humans, so they tried to examine the extent of their "smartness." I am blown away by how smart they really are, and that they actually tried to communicate back to her. Just like humans, their tones and pitch replicate their moods, and Peter the Dolphin would practice in a mirror the lesson he was taught that day. This was very interesting to learn about and way too much information to type about.

This was a very intriguing episode about communicating with dolphins. The background sounds of the dolphin interacts was very useful for imagery. The whole concept of living in that environment with a dolphin and trying to teach it English is remarkable. It definitely sounds like a hard job.

Although it is usual, I find it unusual that any person would "room" with a dolphin. Also, it is very strange that she would do a project on how to teach a dolphin to speak English. Dolphins have very different brains than us, but they are very intelligent animals. It is an interesting thought that maybe they could speak our language, but it is nearly impossible. They understand the sounds we make but not the actual words itself. Peter, the dolphin, was a very good "student" and seemed committed to wanting to learn the language because he did practice on his own, surprisingly. This podcast was very interesting and inspiring towards what animals could possibly learn our language.

I echo the last commenter: "like, like, like." She even sucked Jad into the habit as well. Please, please--teenagers are pushing us in that direction quickly enough. Be a last holdout of intelligent discourse as we've come to expect.

This was a really interesting episode but I was shocked at the reporter's zealous overuse of the word "like"...she sounded like a 19 year old and it was very hard for me to take her seriously even though she clearly put a lot of thought and time into this story. Don't you guys edit this stuff??!!

wow.....so interesting....

Several sources indicate that Peter, the dolphin, committed suicide by ceasing to breathe after this experiment lost its funding and he was moved to a less ideal tank in Miami (without Margaret, of course). If an animal bonds with a particular person during an experiment, is there any ethical obligation to follow up with its well being after the experiment is over?

Has anyone tried using pictures or symbols to communicate with dolphins? Know they have been trained to do things like finding something and such with symbols. Or maybe how they do with monkeys where there are shapes on a board that they could touch with their beaks and get the image on a screen. Guess it wouldn't be so good with wild dolphins perhaps... Great program though and thank you. Now how apologize for having slaughtered these amazing creatures to ‘eat’. Humans are a blight on this planet.

I was stunned by the fact that Radiolab allowed a full minute of (almost) silence during this episode to illustrate the dolphin being affectionate and falling to the floor then coming up to breathe. Incredibly effective use of silence that painted a vivid picture in my mind. Wonderful episode.

Do most of the commenters realize the Lilly experiment took place 50 years ago? It's not like this happened last week. The story is interesting because of the era in which it occurred. We've come a long way since then, both scientifically and ethically. A lot of strange things happened in the 50s and 60s in the name of science. This is one of those stories.

As an aside, the reason that Lilly was doing the language experiments, in the first place, was to try to convince the world that dolphins were sentient beings in order to prevent their slaughter. While he may have been severely misguided in his attempts, he was actually trying to find a way to protect the species.

Those complaining about Dolphins learning English, is the episode TL;DL ? The third segment of the show talks about a researcher who is trying to communicate with Dolphins using the Dolphin's own squeaks and whistles. Maybe listen to the whole episode before sparying venom on us all.

Sure, teaching a Dolphin English is perhaps not the most inspired idea, but it is a starting point and remember that this chapter takes place way back in the 60s. On the cosmic scale 50+ years is a stupid small blip, but in terms how much our little species is starting to understand the world, it might as well have been the dark ages.

Sheesh, I should have never read the comments first. It almost ruined a delightful episode of RL for me.

Why is it that we try to teach an animal without vocal words and a tongue/mouth like ours to try and speak our language? Why not approach it from the idea of - what sounds can we BOTH make? Then attempt to create a rudimentary language with that?

Really wish to know what happened to the dolphin of the first show. Captivity of these noble creatures is abusive. Anyone working on learning their language rather than forcing these creatures to learn ours?

Agreed, the idea of trying to get a dolphin to speak human words, especially the English language is utter stupidity. If anything, dolphin communication is far more interesting than our dialect.

What a travesty this episode was. A dolphin, learning english, crammed in an apartment. Did the producers think about what sort of myopic self-indulgent view one must have to think they could teach a dolphin to speak english? Forgetting what maybe construed as cruelty for a second, was any real actual science done?

OMG i am SOOOOOO happy to hear this episode .... i have always been in LOVE with dolphins and i have recently discovered radiolab ... i wasn't able to listen yesterday and really was looking forward to the podcast ...but now that i am listening to this amazing story ... and i know a bit of it from the movie "day of the dolphin"??? but i am in heaven ... Thanks for this episode and ur gr8 work !!! back to listening ... : )))))

My biggest question after listening to this is where did the dolphin semen go? Is she living with every sticky thing that comes out of that dolphin around her ankles or did they have some kind of filtration system in the apartment?

Has anyone tried magnetic imaging of dolphin brains to find out what might be occuring while speech is going on?

Oh my God. Absolutely crazy story. Thank you so much for sharing, radiolab.

no way, lily, ofcourse u top it off robert

I disagree with trying to teach animals our langauge. It feels arrogant that humans would try to make a animal (with thier own unique way of communicating) speak English. Attempting to speak another animals language seems mor approperate and kinder. i also in general disagree with the whole concept of Zoos and animals on display for enertainment. If you want to see wild animals, visit a national park. Thanks for letting us comment! I usually love the show!

Poor Peter. This episode reminds me of Lucy. The cruelty of "scientists" is mind blowing. You guys sound a little too excited when talking about this case. Please consider reflecting on the ethics of that... not on the surface, or for the sake of "science."

Fascinating, BUT! We HAVE a Dr Dolittle; we HAVE had 2-way communication with wild animals (albeit, not in "the wild.") We HAVE had this species breakthrough for some 40 YEARS!!!! Where is mention of ALEX!!!!! the African Gray PARROT who was taught to speak meaningfully by Irene Pepperberg, PhD HARVARD UNIVERSITY [Theoretical Chemistry]. It amazes me that people don't know ABOUT ALEX; let alone many "bird people haven't heard of him; let alone "animal language" researchers. It ASTOUNDS ME when ALEX and Dr. Pepperberg's incredible achievements are not even recognized. Many parrots can mimic human sounds with ease; why make it difficult by using dolphins, charming as they are?. Pepperberg devised a model-rival system to teach Alex MEANINGFUL human speech and used his vocabulary to test his intelligence. Check it out! If you find this dolphin broadcast interesting, you will be stunned by ALEX. ALEX was so famous that when he died his obit appeared in national and international!! newspapers and magazines: NYTimes, Wall St Journal, you get the picture. Pepperberg had an uphill battle proving that parrots are not just mimics, not virtual tape recorders. She succeeded MAGNIFICENTLY, SCIENTIFICALLY. PLEASE, HOW CAN WE/YOU FORGET ALEX????? He already did it.

A really disappointing episode. No factual, science-based balance to frame these so-called experiments for what they really were – pseudo-scientific claptrap.

Oh man, you guys missed your chance. During the closing answering machine acknowledgment/introductions, you should have had one or more of the boat crew identify themselves with their dolphin squeak names. I would have liked to have heard that. (And if any dolphins were listening in to the podcast...; come on, get inclusive!)

First, thank you for treating Ms. Lovatt and her prior work with dignity and focus on her larger effort. Even in these comments, where one might least expect it, there is juvenile snark, misplaced indignation and outright misappropriation.
Second, this is a fascinating area of research and I hope that you will at some point do a follow-up to see what progress may have been made even if it is likely to be 'none' or 'incremental'.

Denise Herzig should contact animal communicator Anna Breytenbach.

That was a wonderful one, and as always brilliantly made.
I was smiling all the way through the 2nd story.

Very happy to hear this story tonight. In retort to Ben Rogers from Australia, I'm not sure that we are desperate as much as curious. This type of communication could provide a great understanding to the evolution of language and the barriers we have to understanding how to actually coexist with other cohabitants of this planet. I think this research is clunky but wonderful and inspiring.

Depressing to think that some people are so desperate to communicate that they turn to animals to anthropomorphize their way of life.

Be thankful that dolphins don't talk and tell you to "get a life"

Is it just me or did anyone else have Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in the back of their mind while listening to this?

"So long and thanks for all the fish!"

Could we have more information about what happened to Peter? Thank you so much. I loved the story.

I would have liked a warning that some content may not be appropriate for children. I was listening with my 6 year old and was surprised by the sudden discussion of sex with dolphins.

this was painful to listen to...no awareness of the rights of intelligent sentient beings. I had to stop listening to this unacknowledged, completely clueless ANIMAL ABUSE

Hi radiolabrians,
I am not entirely certain but I read some of lily's writings on cetacians and most all of his psychedelic adventure writing about 25 yrs ago. As I recall the dolphins had a much more room than just the small apartment. The apartment was connected to the an enclosed part of the ocean. In lilys defense, he did come to realize the cruelty of captivity and he did release the dolphins his program was holding.

There is another issue I really want to raise though. I may have received this idea from someone else, but it appears to be if not original, at least greatly underappreciated: Dolphins communicate and, in a very real sense, see with sound. This being the case, a representational use of sound would be clunky and unlikely. It is more likely that their vocalizations create imagery in a less mediated way. They may manifest thoughts and feelings as sensory objects of perception in a way that is very hard for us to even imagine. This is what I would guess they use their vocal abilities and massive brains for. Also, I believe their very large cortical regions are much more dedicated to processing emotional experience. This would also argue for a very different kind of "language". One thing seems certain. Evolutionary forces would not favor the existence of energetically expensive higher brain function if they weren't using it!

great piece lynn! been meaning for years to find out whatever happened with all that dolphin research.. every time i see 2010 (the movie) it reminds me.. i've done a lot of swimming with dolphins myself and this ep really made me wanna get back out there... great work, as always. thanks!

This was a great episode! Spending a little more time with each episode was a great was to go deeper with the content. Such interesting stories, and a great blend of curiosity and science! Thanks Radiolab!

Should we have any hesitation to have sex with Dolphins? Who would not have sex with someone you have lived with for the last 9mos if you like them in a special way? Someone you know that well. The key is feeling & knowing inside that you love them. It's really not important whether you have the same anatomy or genealogy. C'mon people, wake up! Its just not that big of a deal. If you are having a spiritual connection and forgetting about your body, its really not an issue.

i didnt even know dolphins were capable of understand human speech. This story was amazing keep up the good work radio lab!

Hate hearing about animal experiments/animal exploitation/animal manipulation. So cruel. Had to stop listening. Radiolab is getting so disappointing.

Why do "scientists" think that ANY animal will act or learn normally in anything other than their natural habitat? Of course this dolphin was interested in her, of course he watched himself for hours in a mirror, of course he was horny....poor, intelligent thing! Ever see an animal in isolation rocking back and forth? They're so BORED! Oh well, humans "will never learn" yet we have so much to learn. Especially from animals.

Well that got weird for a little bit...

If Koko can do it, why not Flipper?

Just like humans to cram a 10foot dolphin in a small apt to force it to speak english....disgusting

Language is not just propositional. Even if we take as given that dolphins have "language" ) for the sake of argument), dolphins may not in fact have the social ritual of greeting or use sounds to refer to objects. A dolphin "conversation" may be in a form unintelligible to us as conversation because they don't have an adjacency pair part structure (A says, then B says, then A says...) but something entirely different. Just think when you go to a different country or region of the US, how it is permissible and makes sense to talk to people can be jarringly different. Also since language is tied up with cognition (see linguistic relativity), dolphins probably don't process the world in the same way humans do. Anyway, all this to say that I doubt dolphins and humans will ever have a conversation about scarves. The complexity of this undertaking having nothing to do with amount of words per sentence or the concrete ness of subject matter, rather the reshaping of a social and cognitive disposition.

The old audio sounds kind of edited...? Especially with the '1...2...3!' bit.