GAINESVILLE, FL—Although dolphins have long been celebrated for
their high intelligence and for appearing to have a complex language, a
team of researchers at the University of Florida reported Monday that
these traits are markedly less evident on dry land.
According to study researchers, a group of 25 bottlenose dolphins
removed from their holding tanks failed 11 exercises designed to test
their basic cognitive abilities and reasoning skills.
"The dolphins were incapable of recognizing and repeating simple
gestures," said study co-author Dr. Scott Lindell. "Their non-verbal
communications were limited to a rapid constriction and expansion of
the blowhole, various incomprehensible fin motions, and heavy tremors
while they lay prone on the lab table."
After capturing the dolphins from the ocean, Lindell and his
colleagues tagged them and placed them under the intense, high-wattage
lights of a moisture-proof lab. The researchers then administered an
extensive battery of tests designed to measure everything from the
dolphins' self-awareness to their aptitude for writing and reading
comprehension.
"Dolphins have a popular reputation for being excellent
communicators," Lindell said. "But our study group offered only three
types of response to every question we posed: a nonsensical, labored
wheezing, an earsplitting barrage of unintelligible high-pitched
shrieks, and in extreme cases, a shrill, distressed scream."
Even the dolphins' proven ability to navigate through a form of sonar called echolocation was ineffective on land.
"The military has claimed great success in training these mammals,
utilizing their echolocation skills to detect mines that have been
placed underwater," said Lindell, who conducted a similar experiment in
a concrete parking lot. "We were unable to replicate this finding
ourselves."
Lindell added: "In most cases, the dolphins succeeded in finding
land mines only when we placed them directly on top of the mines."
Enlarge Image
A dolphin performs poorly in a University of Florida land-based locomotion test.
In another test, several pounds of mackerel were placed on the
ground, separated from the test dolphins by only 20 feet of concrete.
The dolphins were unable to reach the food and feed themselves.
Despite their failures in the initial series of tests, the animals
were given further opportunities to demonstrate their intelligence on
land. The dolphins were unable to display novel behaviors, use a map to
pinpoint their location on campus (spatial reasoning), or complete a
simple obstacle course and wall climb.
"Their learning curve was actually negative," Lindell said. "The
more time we gave them to complete basic land-based tests, the more
pitiful their efforts became, with many of them opting to bask in the
sun rather than perform a simple task."
"In some cases," Lindell added, "the dolphins appeared to be looking
directly into our eyes, as if pleading with us to help them perform
better in these tests."
Many scientists believe these findings may help to explain why
dolphins, for all their vaunted intelligence, have never developed
technology or agriculture, or harnessed the power of fire—skills still
exclusively in the domain of Homo sapiens.
Said Lindell: "Their failure is a great disappointment to all of us
who once felt an intelligence-based kinship with these majestic
animals."
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