WEBVTT 00:00:00.308 --> 00:00:02.975 (ambient music) 00:00:08.511 --> 00:00:10.946 In ancient Greece, dolphins were venerated 00:00:10.946 --> 00:00:13.679 and believed to be our marine brethren, 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:17.179 killing a dolphin was punishable by death. 00:00:19.368 --> 00:00:21.324 It was said that dolphins were humans who chose 00:00:21.324 --> 00:00:23.321 to return to the sea. 00:00:23.321 --> 00:00:25.439 Poseidon, the god of the sea, entrusted them 00:00:25.439 --> 00:00:29.106 with the mission of helping humans in peril. 00:00:36.934 --> 00:00:38.812 Ever since, there has been no end to the stories 00:00:38.812 --> 00:00:41.666 of dolphins rescuing sailors from storms 00:00:41.666 --> 00:00:43.833 or ferocious sea monsters. 00:00:50.292 --> 00:00:52.454 Endurance swimmer, Adam Walker, has nearly completed 00:00:52.454 --> 00:00:55.015 his greatest challenge, swimming the seven most 00:00:55.015 --> 00:00:57.453 difficult straits on the planet. 00:00:57.453 --> 00:00:59.934 Little does he suspect, during his next swim, 00:00:59.934 --> 00:01:03.027 what a group of dolphins will do for him. 00:01:03.027 --> 00:01:05.777 (cheerful music) 00:01:12.070 --> 00:01:15.581 Why are we so fascinated by these marine mammals, 00:01:15.581 --> 00:01:19.498 and why do they seem just as curious about us? 00:01:19.498 --> 00:01:23.665 Are dolphins as altruistic and intelligent as we think? 00:01:27.285 --> 00:01:29.039 As we travel the globe to meet the world's 00:01:29.039 --> 00:01:33.206 top dolphin experts, working to decode dolphin behavior, 00:01:34.046 --> 00:01:36.629 one essential question emerges. 00:01:38.282 --> 00:01:40.608 If dolphins are so close to humans, 00:01:40.608 --> 00:01:44.275 might we one day be able to speak with them? 00:01:50.915 --> 00:01:53.665 (dramatic music) 00:02:00.857 --> 00:02:02.857 First stop, New Zealand. 00:02:06.676 --> 00:02:09.520 The Open Water Swim Challenge Adam Walker has undertaken 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.047 is a brutal test of stamina. 00:02:12.047 --> 00:02:15.630 One mishap will put him back to square one. 00:02:27.678 --> 00:02:29.589 The sixth swim of the ocean seven 00:02:29.589 --> 00:02:31.386 is the Cook Strait in New Zealand 00:02:31.386 --> 00:02:33.186 which is north of South Island. 00:02:33.186 --> 00:02:36.242 It's round about 18 miles, it's got three currents, 00:02:36.242 --> 00:02:39.992 and is one of the hardest swims in the world. 00:02:43.629 --> 00:02:45.459 More than eight hours in water as cold 00:02:45.459 --> 00:02:47.660 as 13 degrees Celsius. 00:02:47.660 --> 00:02:51.660 That's at the extreme limits of human endurance. 00:02:54.822 --> 00:02:57.266 I thought to myself, please, something good happen 00:02:57.266 --> 00:02:59.798 in these swims, and I was praying to the ocean gods, 00:02:59.798 --> 00:03:02.048 give me something positive. 00:03:08.832 --> 00:03:10.908 Suddenly, Adam is surrounded by a group 00:03:10.908 --> 00:03:13.575 of dusky dolphins, it's magical. 00:03:15.681 --> 00:03:19.014 But tagging along is an unwelcome guest, 00:03:22.478 --> 00:03:24.145 a great white shark. 00:03:39.568 --> 00:03:42.172 When he spots the shark, his first thought is, 00:03:42.172 --> 00:03:44.773 get back to the support boat. 00:03:44.773 --> 00:03:47.273 (tense music) 00:03:54.980 --> 00:03:58.279 But his dolphin companions form a barricade around him, 00:03:58.279 --> 00:04:00.196 and the shark retreats. 00:04:02.375 --> 00:04:05.020 I trained myself to switch off any fears, 00:04:05.020 --> 00:04:07.131 because I can't allow it to happen. 00:04:07.131 --> 00:04:08.960 I can't leave the water, if I leave the water 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:09.940 the swim's over. 00:04:09.940 --> 00:04:13.077 And everything that I've trained for finishes. 00:04:13.077 --> 00:04:15.275 I had a choice, I either focus on the shark 00:04:15.275 --> 00:04:19.358 or I focus on the dolphins, I chose the dolphins. 00:04:21.636 --> 00:04:23.748 But I felt perfectly safe because the dolphins 00:04:23.748 --> 00:04:27.203 were alongside me, and I felt like there was no way 00:04:27.203 --> 00:04:29.620 for the shark to get through. 00:04:36.776 --> 00:04:38.243 Are they there to protect me? 00:04:38.243 --> 00:04:39.993 What is happening, are they just curious, 00:04:39.993 --> 00:04:42.765 or is it because of the shark? 00:04:42.765 --> 00:04:45.205 All these questions are going through my mind, 00:04:45.205 --> 00:04:47.076 and how do they work? 00:04:47.076 --> 00:04:49.198 Are they like us? 00:04:49.198 --> 00:04:50.987 Do they want that connection with us, 00:04:50.987 --> 00:04:52.857 that affiliation with us? 00:04:52.857 --> 00:04:54.607 What is it all about? 00:05:05.543 --> 00:05:06.521 The dolphins stay with Adam 00:05:06.521 --> 00:05:08.688 for more than three hours. 00:05:09.531 --> 00:05:12.538 With their help, he completes his grueling swim. 00:05:12.538 --> 00:05:14.937 And it was only when the pilot said to me, 00:05:14.937 --> 00:05:17.136 "Adam, you're losing time because there's three currents 00:05:17.136 --> 00:05:19.050 "you gotta get across." 00:05:19.050 --> 00:05:22.347 That, I thought in my head, well okay, thanks dolphins 00:05:22.347 --> 00:05:24.260 for your support, but I really must get on 00:05:24.260 --> 00:05:26.338 with the job at hand. 00:05:26.338 --> 00:05:29.757 As soon as I thought like that, then the dolphins 00:05:29.757 --> 00:05:33.590 disappeared forever within maybe five seconds. 00:05:46.897 --> 00:05:48.766 Rob House, a New Zealand lifeguard 00:05:48.766 --> 00:05:50.837 hears Adam's story on the local radio, 00:05:50.837 --> 00:05:53.159 and invites him over. 00:05:53.159 --> 00:05:55.705 Rob has his own story to share. 00:05:55.705 --> 00:05:57.380 One that took place during a swim with his 00:05:57.380 --> 00:06:00.630 15 year old daughter and two of her friends. 00:06:00.630 --> 00:06:03.561 We basically wanted to go for a training swim, 00:06:03.561 --> 00:06:06.416 and it was a good introduction for the girls to go over 00:06:06.416 --> 00:06:09.909 to the rocks to get a bit of experience. 00:06:09.909 --> 00:06:12.142 Probably about five minutes into our swim, 00:06:12.142 --> 00:06:14.867 when suddenly some dolphin fins suddenly appeared 00:06:14.867 --> 00:06:16.622 from nowhere. 00:06:16.622 --> 00:06:20.074 Really close, started surrounding us and circling 00:06:20.074 --> 00:06:21.384 which is unusual. 00:06:21.384 --> 00:06:22.650 And there's, of course, the girls who had 00:06:22.650 --> 00:06:24.396 swam with dolphins before were starting to get 00:06:24.396 --> 00:06:26.794 a bit anxious over it. 00:06:26.794 --> 00:06:29.029 A bit of screaming, a bit of questioning. 00:06:29.029 --> 00:06:32.029 So I'll just show where we did that. 00:06:39.970 --> 00:06:42.541 So we basically got packed into a circle here, 00:06:42.541 --> 00:06:45.184 then the behavior changed even more when they started 00:06:45.184 --> 00:06:47.099 beating the water with their tails. 00:06:47.099 --> 00:06:48.771 I never seen this behavior before, 00:06:48.771 --> 00:06:51.580 but it wasn't one dolphin, it was all of the dolphins. 00:06:51.580 --> 00:06:53.492 As they surfaced, they were bashing the water 00:06:53.492 --> 00:06:54.325 with their tail. 00:06:54.325 --> 00:06:57.408 It was very, very loud, intimidating. 00:06:58.852 --> 00:07:02.225 Whether it was directed at us or not, I have no idea. 00:07:02.225 --> 00:07:06.049 I turned to my right and looked in the water 00:07:06.049 --> 00:07:07.231 to see where it was coming up, 00:07:07.231 --> 00:07:08.657 and that's when I saw the shark. 00:07:08.657 --> 00:07:11.626 Basically, I just saw this big object going around me, 00:07:11.626 --> 00:07:14.147 I recognized it straight away. 00:07:14.147 --> 00:07:17.467 It was very obviously a great white. 00:07:17.467 --> 00:07:21.271 I had to trust the dolphins, basically, they were obviously 00:07:21.271 --> 00:07:24.240 aware that there was a predator in the area, 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:26.971 and for that period of time, they had included us 00:07:26.971 --> 00:07:29.989 as a part of their extended pod. 00:07:29.989 --> 00:07:34.342 And they were implementing their normal behavior patterns 00:07:34.342 --> 00:07:36.079 to protect us, to include us. 00:07:36.079 --> 00:07:37.905 So you felt like they were protecting you? 00:07:37.905 --> 00:07:39.129 After the event, yes. 00:07:39.129 --> 00:07:40.796 Yeah, yeah. Yeah. 00:07:49.207 --> 00:07:50.196 It would seem Adam's experience 00:07:50.196 --> 00:07:51.901 is not uncommon. 00:07:51.901 --> 00:07:54.829 When his team posted Adam's adventure with dolphins online, 00:07:54.829 --> 00:07:57.919 dozens of stories flooded in from around the world 00:07:57.919 --> 00:08:02.086 from people who'd been aided or rescued by dolphins. 00:08:04.945 --> 00:08:09.112 One, in particular, from Hawaii caught Adam's attention. 00:08:11.334 --> 00:08:13.449 Martina Wing, an underwater filmmaker made 00:08:13.449 --> 00:08:15.482 this compelling remark, 00:08:15.482 --> 00:08:19.649 "Dolphins help us because they know we help them too." 00:08:22.356 --> 00:08:25.038 Martina Wing leads night dives among Pacific manta rays 00:08:25.038 --> 00:08:28.294 in the waters off Kona, Hawaii. 00:08:28.294 --> 00:08:30.409 Until recently, she wasn't particularly interested 00:08:30.409 --> 00:08:31.409 in dolphins. 00:08:37.489 --> 00:08:39.906 I came in '98 as a tourist. 00:08:41.268 --> 00:08:43.383 Someone signed me up for the dive, I did the dive, 00:08:43.383 --> 00:08:44.283 brand new diver. 00:08:44.283 --> 00:08:45.669 I saw the manta rays, I really fell in love 00:08:45.669 --> 00:08:48.995 with the whole setup, I was blown away. 00:08:48.995 --> 00:08:51.198 Then someone filmed me that night, and I saw the video 00:08:51.198 --> 00:08:55.519 and I bought the video from the guy and I married him. 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.436 I think they're really good videos. 00:09:01.873 --> 00:09:03.785 The enchanting atmosphere of night diving 00:09:03.785 --> 00:09:05.657 set the stage for the moving adventure 00:09:05.657 --> 00:09:07.490 Martina would witness. 00:09:18.269 --> 00:09:20.842 Drawn by the light, millions of tiny plankton 00:09:20.842 --> 00:09:22.509 form a compact mass. 00:09:23.901 --> 00:09:27.151 A hearty feast for these gentle giants. 00:09:28.768 --> 00:09:31.435 (ambient music) 00:09:39.353 --> 00:09:42.657 But in 15 years of daily diving, Martina had never seen 00:09:42.657 --> 00:09:46.824 a dolphin join this enchanting ballet until that night. 00:09:49.321 --> 00:09:52.955 So, in 2013, it was January I was at my job. 00:09:52.955 --> 00:09:54.303 That's what I do for a long time. 00:09:54.303 --> 00:09:57.970 I'm filming the manta rays and participants. 00:10:11.264 --> 00:10:13.103 And so I was just pretty much at work, 00:10:13.103 --> 00:10:16.008 and we had beautiful a beautiful night, it was 12 manta rays 00:10:16.008 --> 00:10:18.002 and I suddenly hear something. 00:10:18.002 --> 00:10:20.578 It was a noise that get people's attention. 00:10:20.578 --> 00:10:22.752 The divemaster was clanging on his tank, 00:10:22.752 --> 00:10:24.757 and I look around and there's a dolphin swimming 00:10:24.757 --> 00:10:26.340 into the dive site. 00:10:27.897 --> 00:10:30.557 I could see he couldn't move his head to the right anymore 00:10:30.557 --> 00:10:32.649 so there was a restriction between his mouth 00:10:32.649 --> 00:10:34.077 and his pectoral fin. 00:10:34.077 --> 00:10:36.078 I keep following, the dolphin is actually swimming 00:10:36.078 --> 00:10:38.450 over Keller and right in front of his face, 00:10:38.450 --> 00:10:42.117 "Hey, you're the guy that I need right now." 00:10:43.270 --> 00:10:44.744 Keller Laros immediately spotted 00:10:44.744 --> 00:10:47.479 a huge hook caught in the dolphin's pectoral fin 00:10:47.479 --> 00:10:51.146 with its adjoining line caught in its mouth. 00:10:54.470 --> 00:10:56.719 The dolphin seemed to understand that only a human 00:10:56.719 --> 00:11:00.886 with their dexterous fingers could remove the hook. 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:05.754 I think it's an incredible trust to our species 00:11:05.754 --> 00:11:08.125 where he's like, "Yes, you're the solution here, 00:11:08.125 --> 00:11:10.048 "and I'm gonna stay here." 00:11:10.048 --> 00:11:13.068 It was incredible because he was so holding still 00:11:13.068 --> 00:11:15.802 the whole time and I could believe it underwater 00:11:15.802 --> 00:11:17.385 what was happening. 00:11:18.461 --> 00:11:21.528 In this case, the human was the solution for sure. 00:11:21.528 --> 00:11:22.961 He knew that. 00:11:22.961 --> 00:11:25.461 He could've swam away anytime. 00:11:27.362 --> 00:11:29.336 And he was actually able to cut it off, 00:11:29.336 --> 00:11:32.082 and then eventually you see how the pectoral fin opens up, 00:11:32.082 --> 00:11:34.780 the line is off, and then the dolphin says, 00:11:34.780 --> 00:11:38.916 "Okay, I'm done with this now, I have my pectoral fin back." 00:11:38.916 --> 00:11:41.132 And then he moved out and back into the dock 00:11:41.132 --> 00:11:43.632 and bye-bye it was incredible. 00:11:48.157 --> 00:11:50.362 Dolphins that rescue us and ask us 00:11:50.362 --> 00:11:52.083 to rescue them. 00:11:52.083 --> 00:11:53.750 Is there more to it? 00:11:59.099 --> 00:12:01.664 Back in Europe, Adam heads to the Ile de Sein, 00:12:01.664 --> 00:12:04.284 home to a group of some 30 dolphins. 00:12:04.284 --> 00:12:07.478 There, he meets up with Fabienne Delfour, a researcher 00:12:07.478 --> 00:12:10.742 with the ethology lab at the University of Paris 13, 00:12:10.742 --> 00:12:12.793 who's there to observe the dolphins. 00:12:12.793 --> 00:12:16.960 Adam wants to learn more about these enigmatic creatures. 00:12:18.111 --> 00:12:20.861 (peaceful music) 00:12:27.077 --> 00:12:28.798 Fabienne knows just about everything when it comes 00:12:28.798 --> 00:12:30.309 to dolphins. 00:12:30.309 --> 00:12:32.471 A biologist and animal behavior expert, 00:12:32.471 --> 00:12:34.887 she's worked with them for 25 years, 00:12:34.887 --> 00:12:37.134 and is associated with the international study, 00:12:37.134 --> 00:12:39.217 The Wild Dolphin Project. 00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:48.702 Adam's curiosity is driven by the question 00:12:48.702 --> 00:12:50.619 that fascinates us all, 00:12:55.680 --> 00:12:57.582 is the connection that seems to exist between 00:12:57.582 --> 00:13:01.749 humans and dolphins merely an anthropomorphic projection, 00:13:02.583 --> 00:13:06.750 or could dolphins truly have some points in common with us? 00:13:07.587 --> 00:13:09.736 What makes humans human and sets us apart 00:13:09.736 --> 00:13:12.546 from all the other animals, is that we are the only species 00:13:12.546 --> 00:13:15.546 to possess five essential faculties. 00:13:17.964 --> 00:13:22.646 Abstract and concrete reasoning, self-awareness, 00:13:22.646 --> 00:13:26.798 the ability to invent tools, the development of a culture, 00:13:26.798 --> 00:13:29.465 and finally, a genuine language. 00:13:30.802 --> 00:13:35.123 Could dolphins possess some of these faculties too? 00:13:35.123 --> 00:13:37.203 Adam can't get over the dolphin in Hawaii 00:13:37.203 --> 00:13:39.937 that knew only a human could solve its problem. 00:13:39.937 --> 00:13:41.946 What I find incredible is human beings have only 00:13:41.946 --> 00:13:44.919 been underwater for a short period of time, maybe 50 years, 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:48.054 so how did the dolphins know to go to the human being 00:13:48.054 --> 00:13:50.988 rather than another dolphin or a whale? 00:13:50.988 --> 00:13:53.227 And it's absolutely amazing the connection 00:13:53.227 --> 00:13:55.948 between human beings and dolphins, it's incredible. 00:13:55.948 --> 00:13:58.680 You can't say humans are connected to dolphins. 00:13:58.680 --> 00:14:00.631 It's like saying we're connected to monkeys, 00:14:00.631 --> 00:14:02.251 generally speaking. 00:14:02.251 --> 00:14:04.900 There are about 30 species of dolphins. 00:14:04.900 --> 00:14:07.834 The ones we know best and believe to be the most intelligent 00:14:07.834 --> 00:14:12.307 are Tursiops truncatus, bottlenose dolphins, and orcas. 00:14:12.307 --> 00:14:14.472 So the myths that we've heard about over the years 00:14:14.472 --> 00:14:16.341 between dolphins and human beings 00:14:16.341 --> 00:14:18.053 is actually the bottlenose? 00:14:18.053 --> 00:14:19.735 That's right. 00:14:19.735 --> 00:14:21.892 It seems all the stories of fishermen and swimmers 00:14:21.892 --> 00:14:25.882 being rescued by dolphins involve Tursiops truncatus, 00:14:25.882 --> 00:14:27.799 or bottlenose dolphins. 00:14:37.310 --> 00:14:39.797 When it comes to dolphins, the brainiest one, 00:14:39.797 --> 00:14:43.130 the head of the class is the bottlenose. 00:14:45.223 --> 00:14:47.164 The dolphin made popular 50 years ago 00:14:47.164 --> 00:14:49.747 by the famous TV show, Flipper. 00:14:53.398 --> 00:14:55.924 Here in Florida, where the real Flipper lived, 00:14:55.924 --> 00:14:58.287 scientists have spent 40 years trying to understand 00:14:58.287 --> 00:14:59.787 dolphin cognition. 00:15:03.580 --> 00:15:08.434 Just how does their intelligence compare to our own? 00:15:08.434 --> 00:15:11.369 At the Dolphin Research Center, Kelly Jaakola, 00:15:11.369 --> 00:15:13.850 research director and psychologist is studying 00:15:13.850 --> 00:15:17.433 the intelligence of the bottlenose dolphin. 00:15:24.457 --> 00:15:26.906 She focuses on one question, can they think 00:15:26.906 --> 00:15:30.422 in an entirely abstract way as we do? 00:15:30.422 --> 00:15:34.589 Do they understand abstract concepts such as math? 00:15:36.457 --> 00:15:39.796 She uses a battery of tests to find out. 00:15:39.796 --> 00:15:42.546 (dramatic music) 00:15:48.917 --> 00:15:52.088 Specifically here, we're looking at a numerical concept 00:15:52.088 --> 00:15:54.255 which is less versus more. 00:15:56.246 --> 00:15:59.164 So when you're talking about numbers 00:15:59.164 --> 00:16:01.324 and how you quantify numbers, there is something 00:16:01.324 --> 00:16:04.415 called numerosity, which is oneness, twoness, threeness, 00:16:04.415 --> 00:16:07.467 you can pick out one thing, or two things or three things. 00:16:07.467 --> 00:16:09.502 You can also, though, with numbers they're 00:16:09.502 --> 00:16:10.765 in an ordered series, right. 00:16:10.765 --> 00:16:12.550 It's not just two is different than three. 00:16:12.550 --> 00:16:14.626 Two is less than three and three is less than four, 00:16:14.626 --> 00:16:15.971 and that's what we're testing here 00:16:15.971 --> 00:16:19.308 is whether they have that idea that there is 00:16:19.308 --> 00:16:23.015 some sort of series that the numerals go in. 00:16:23.015 --> 00:16:27.182 Let's get this ball rolling, I know it's exciting. 00:16:28.581 --> 00:16:29.414 Ready. 00:16:31.874 --> 00:16:33.460 The dolphin is asked to point to the board 00:16:33.460 --> 00:16:35.710 with the fewest white dots. 00:16:40.828 --> 00:16:42.785 It's simple at first even though the dots 00:16:42.785 --> 00:16:44.452 are different sizes. 00:16:47.337 --> 00:16:50.337 (suspenseful music) 00:16:55.557 --> 00:16:56.724 Another one. 00:17:01.988 --> 00:17:03.288 Then it gets harder. 00:17:03.288 --> 00:17:07.455 Each board contains almost the same number of dots. 00:17:11.307 --> 00:17:12.140 Less. 00:17:20.375 --> 00:17:22.289 Remarkable, the dolphin keeps on giving 00:17:22.289 --> 00:17:24.156 the right answer. 00:17:24.156 --> 00:17:27.452 Dolphins solve each problem in an average of five seconds. 00:17:27.452 --> 00:17:30.452 Not sure most people can match that. 00:17:47.026 --> 00:17:49.346 The experiment is repeated dozens of times, 00:17:49.346 --> 00:17:52.027 but the dolphin almost always gets it right. 00:17:52.027 --> 00:17:54.944 (optimistic music) 00:18:00.416 --> 00:18:02.987 No doubt about it, dolphins have a certain mastery 00:18:02.987 --> 00:18:04.903 of the concept of numbers. 00:18:04.903 --> 00:18:07.820 And they didn't learn it in school. 00:18:09.043 --> 00:18:10.707 This gives us some crucial insight into 00:18:10.707 --> 00:18:12.957 their cognitive capacities. 00:18:18.112 --> 00:18:20.105 In the non-human world, species capable 00:18:20.105 --> 00:18:24.272 of abstract reasoning are thought to be very, very rare. 00:18:25.356 --> 00:18:27.066 A lot of things that we once thought were specific 00:18:27.066 --> 00:18:30.352 to humans, as we test more animals, whether its dolphins 00:18:30.352 --> 00:18:32.629 or whether its chimps, we find out that, 00:18:32.629 --> 00:18:35.355 oh look, they can do it too and we're maybe not quite 00:18:35.355 --> 00:18:38.022 as unique as we thought we were. 00:18:40.081 --> 00:18:42.370 (cheering) 00:18:42.370 --> 00:18:43.203 Awesome. 00:18:46.231 --> 00:18:47.898 Turns out, humans aren't such an exception 00:18:47.898 --> 00:18:49.565 in the animal world. 00:18:50.511 --> 00:18:53.494 What if we had other things in common? 00:18:53.494 --> 00:18:56.204 Before we find out, let's have a look at a faculty 00:18:56.204 --> 00:18:58.644 that is theirs alone. 00:18:58.644 --> 00:19:02.394 A kind of sixth sense that humans don't have. 00:19:03.448 --> 00:19:05.698 (cheering) 00:19:07.442 --> 00:19:09.475 So what we do is we took a game that our dolphins 00:19:09.475 --> 00:19:11.631 already know, it's called Do as I Do. 00:19:11.631 --> 00:19:14.317 So what you have, you have one dolphin who's the model 00:19:14.317 --> 00:19:16.476 and his job is to do whatever behavior 00:19:16.476 --> 00:19:18.144 the trainer asks him to do. 00:19:18.144 --> 00:19:20.045 And then the other dolphin is the imitator, 00:19:20.045 --> 00:19:23.469 and his job is to imitate whatever the model dolphin does. 00:19:23.469 --> 00:19:25.755 As I said, our dolphins already knew how to play that game, 00:19:25.755 --> 00:19:27.181 so we wanted to add a little twist. 00:19:27.181 --> 00:19:29.336 And the twist is we blindfolded them. 00:19:29.336 --> 00:19:32.262 Well, we used these soft, latex suction cups, really, 00:19:32.262 --> 00:19:35.399 that are eye-cups that stick over their eyes. 00:19:35.399 --> 00:19:38.129 They can, like all of our behaviors, these are voluntary 00:19:38.129 --> 00:19:39.188 so the dolphins can blink them off 00:19:39.188 --> 00:19:41.269 if they don't want to wear them and that's fine. 00:19:41.269 --> 00:19:43.061 So we blindfold them. 00:19:43.061 --> 00:19:45.705 Once they're blindfolded, the trainer of the model dolphin 00:19:45.705 --> 00:19:47.172 gives the signal to the model, 00:19:47.172 --> 00:19:51.339 "Now I want you to spin," or whatever it is without words. 00:19:53.273 --> 00:19:56.273 (suspenseful music) 00:20:09.097 --> 00:20:11.092 So the question is, how are they doing it, right? 00:20:11.092 --> 00:20:14.268 We took away sight, so the obvious candidate is sound, 00:20:14.268 --> 00:20:16.387 but in dolphins that comes in two varieties. 00:20:16.387 --> 00:20:18.743 They could have been using the characteristic sound 00:20:18.743 --> 00:20:19.925 the behavior makes. 00:20:19.925 --> 00:20:23.502 Or, dolphins also have echolocation, their biological sonar. 00:20:23.502 --> 00:20:27.000 So it could be they were seeing the behavior with sound. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.917 (mysterious music) 00:20:38.862 --> 00:20:41.612 You did the long one, didn't you? 00:20:43.406 --> 00:20:46.092 So, in our second study, what we did is we changed 00:20:46.092 --> 00:20:47.399 the sound of the behavior. 00:20:47.399 --> 00:20:49.432 Well, how do you change the sound of the behavior? 00:20:49.432 --> 00:20:52.283 What we did is instead of using a dolphin as a model, 00:20:52.283 --> 00:20:54.726 we used a person as a model, because a person 00:20:54.726 --> 00:20:57.040 doing dolphin behaviors is going to sound different 00:20:57.040 --> 00:21:00.290 than a dolphin doing dolphin behaviors. 00:21:01.557 --> 00:21:04.033 Echolocation, found only in dolphins, 00:21:04.033 --> 00:21:07.405 whales, and bats, is a system that uses sound waves 00:21:07.405 --> 00:21:08.905 to detect objects. 00:21:11.795 --> 00:21:14.724 Like ultrasound, waves are reflected and analyzed 00:21:14.724 --> 00:21:18.891 to determine an object's distance, shape, size, and density. 00:21:19.890 --> 00:21:22.774 Dolphins are able to see with sound. 00:21:22.774 --> 00:21:25.417 So what would happen is if they could recognize the sound 00:21:25.417 --> 00:21:27.333 of the behavior, they would just recognize 00:21:27.333 --> 00:21:28.960 the sound of the behavior mainly with the dolphin 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.299 which they already knew. 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:32.574 If, instead, they couldn't recognize the sound, 00:21:32.574 --> 00:21:34.002 they would turn and they could echolocate, 00:21:34.002 --> 00:21:35.302 and you can see them do that. 00:21:35.302 --> 00:21:37.385 They turn and echolocate. 00:21:40.099 --> 00:21:43.271 Intelligence is not a linear thing 00:21:43.271 --> 00:21:45.181 that some animals have less of it, and some animals 00:21:45.181 --> 00:21:47.378 have more of it with humans at the top. 00:21:47.378 --> 00:21:48.679 For example, the dolphin has evolved 00:21:48.679 --> 00:21:51.199 in a very different environment than us 00:21:51.199 --> 00:21:53.961 for 90 to 95 million years. 00:21:53.961 --> 00:21:56.926 So when we're talking about our cognitive studies, 00:21:56.926 --> 00:22:00.668 we're looking at not how intelligent is the dolphin, 00:22:00.668 --> 00:22:03.418 but how is a dolphin intelligent. 00:22:05.672 --> 00:22:10.626 Echolocation is a perfect illustration of how. 00:22:10.626 --> 00:22:12.580 It is much more sophisticated than the most 00:22:12.580 --> 00:22:16.116 state-of-the-art sonar humans have come up with. 00:22:16.116 --> 00:22:20.283 In this area, it would seem dolphins have surpassed us. 00:22:24.099 --> 00:22:25.729 Dolphins have developed a form of intelligence 00:22:25.729 --> 00:22:28.125 that makes them more competent than us 00:22:28.125 --> 00:22:30.208 in their own environment. 00:22:35.650 --> 00:22:38.413 But let's go back to what we do have in common. 00:22:38.413 --> 00:22:40.858 Once again in Hawaii, another dolphin faculty 00:22:40.858 --> 00:22:42.402 is coming to light. 00:22:42.402 --> 00:22:45.652 Something we believed unique to humans. 00:22:51.066 --> 00:22:53.424 Eliza Wille is a psychologist. 00:22:53.424 --> 00:22:56.225 She's briefing her patients, Kelly and Marnie Sue 00:22:56.225 --> 00:23:00.980 for their first encounter with wild dolphins in Kona Bay. 00:23:00.980 --> 00:23:03.099 We're going to be doing our dolphin-assisted 00:23:03.099 --> 00:23:06.320 psychotherapy session, okay, later today. 00:23:06.320 --> 00:23:09.813 I wanted to give you some idea what to expect. 00:23:09.813 --> 00:23:11.970 When we're in the water with the dolphins, 00:23:11.970 --> 00:23:14.529 the encounter is always on their terms. 00:23:14.529 --> 00:23:17.167 It's never something that we can control. 00:23:17.167 --> 00:23:20.418 So one of the lessons here is really relinquishing control 00:23:20.418 --> 00:23:23.303 of this and accepting the gift of the day. 00:23:23.303 --> 00:23:27.285 Accepting what it is they choose to do 00:23:27.285 --> 00:23:29.618 in relative to our presence. 00:23:30.579 --> 00:23:33.246 (curious music) 00:23:39.889 --> 00:23:42.006 For 15 years, Kelly and Marnie Sue 00:23:42.006 --> 00:23:44.646 have suffered from depression and addiction issues 00:23:44.646 --> 00:23:48.646 that have no responded to any form of treatment. 00:23:50.905 --> 00:23:53.548 They've come to Eliza because with the help of dolphins, 00:23:53.548 --> 00:23:56.476 she's designed a thoroughly innovative therapy 00:23:56.476 --> 00:23:58.726 that has proven successful. 00:24:08.205 --> 00:24:11.656 An experiential therapy is a therapy that enables a client 00:24:11.656 --> 00:24:14.656 to have a novel, unusual experience. 00:24:15.608 --> 00:24:18.288 We created a situation that almost no one 00:24:18.288 --> 00:24:20.203 has ever been in before. 00:24:20.203 --> 00:24:23.127 So it generates a lot of emotion, an emotional reaction 00:24:23.127 --> 00:24:26.417 that may be fear, it may be excitement. 00:24:26.417 --> 00:24:30.444 So this, in effect, allows us to bypass the intellect, 00:24:30.444 --> 00:24:33.215 bypass the defenses and take them more quickly 00:24:33.215 --> 00:24:36.754 into some of the feelings that have been driving 00:24:36.754 --> 00:24:39.845 the maladaptive behavior, the addiction or depression, 00:24:39.845 --> 00:24:41.027 or anxieties. 00:24:41.027 --> 00:24:43.676 So that's the intention. 00:24:43.676 --> 00:24:46.176 (tense music) 00:25:05.211 --> 00:25:06.923 Animal-assisted therapy is an alternative 00:25:06.923 --> 00:25:09.118 treatment for behavioral problems. 00:25:09.118 --> 00:25:11.641 But with dolphins, the sessions can turn into 00:25:11.641 --> 00:25:14.250 something quite special. 00:25:14.250 --> 00:25:17.000 (cheerful music) 00:25:23.844 --> 00:25:25.971 Like the bottlenose, as soon as these dolphins 00:25:25.971 --> 00:25:28.012 sense the swimmers' presence, they come over 00:25:28.012 --> 00:25:29.512 to check them out. 00:25:31.649 --> 00:25:33.691 The curious thing is that over the 10 years 00:25:33.691 --> 00:25:37.032 Eliza's been doing this, she's realized the wild dolphins 00:25:37.032 --> 00:25:40.615 aren't interested in her or her assistants. 00:25:45.579 --> 00:25:48.766 Their full attention is focused on the patients. 00:25:48.766 --> 00:25:52.036 The dolphins can sense who needs help. 00:25:52.036 --> 00:25:53.137 How? 00:25:53.137 --> 00:25:57.304 Their sonar allows them to see the swimmers internal organs. 00:25:59.268 --> 00:26:02.044 They can tell when someone's heart is beating too fast 00:26:02.044 --> 00:26:04.989 or their diaphragm is contracted, signs of stress 00:26:04.989 --> 00:26:06.906 in a suffering patient. 00:26:17.134 --> 00:26:19.708 Like the dolphins in New Zealand that comforted Adam 00:26:19.708 --> 00:26:21.874 when he was frightened by the shark, 00:26:21.874 --> 00:26:24.691 the Kona dolphins sense the vulnerability and anxiety 00:26:24.691 --> 00:26:28.108 of the patients and came to console them. 00:26:31.474 --> 00:26:33.601 In a matter of seconds, the dolphins had captured 00:26:33.601 --> 00:26:35.976 Marnie and Kelly's full attention and their anxiety 00:26:35.976 --> 00:26:40.143 and fear of being alone in the open water was forgotten. 00:26:41.297 --> 00:26:43.512 Today, the pod was taking off and my peers 00:26:43.512 --> 00:26:45.473 and contemporaries were taking off to keep up 00:26:45.473 --> 00:26:49.720 with the pod and there was one who was hanging back. 00:26:49.720 --> 00:26:52.637 And I froze and I actually stopped. 00:26:54.331 --> 00:26:56.332 So everybody else had taken off and I'm looking 00:26:56.332 --> 00:26:59.777 at this one dolphin and he's looking at me in the eye. 00:26:59.777 --> 00:27:01.738 I was like, you're here for me. 00:27:01.738 --> 00:27:04.873 It was a personal moment for me that I would like 00:27:04.873 --> 00:27:09.084 to call very spiritual, and it was for me. 00:27:09.084 --> 00:27:11.576 There is a power greater than yourself 00:27:11.576 --> 00:27:14.024 in admitting that there's something bigger than yourself 00:27:14.024 --> 00:27:17.701 that can bring you back to Earth and ground you 00:27:17.701 --> 00:27:20.276 and bring your sanity back. 00:27:20.276 --> 00:27:23.359 (gentle piano music) 00:27:30.569 --> 00:27:31.999 Clear proof that dolphins have an 00:27:31.999 --> 00:27:35.674 awareness of others, which is yet another 00:27:35.674 --> 00:27:39.187 of the five human cognitive faculties. 00:27:39.187 --> 00:27:41.063 Because in order to have awareness of others, 00:27:41.063 --> 00:27:43.188 there must first be self-awareness, 00:27:43.188 --> 00:27:45.855 something very few animals have. 00:27:51.889 --> 00:27:55.889 How can we tell if an animal has self-awareness? 00:27:57.786 --> 00:27:59.786 We used the mirror test. 00:28:04.966 --> 00:28:07.663 In the equatorial jungle of Gabon, let's watch the most 00:28:07.663 --> 00:28:12.361 common reactions when a wild animal sees its own reflection. 00:28:12.361 --> 00:28:15.177 There are basically five. 00:28:15.177 --> 00:28:16.260 Indifference, 00:28:17.714 --> 00:28:18.547 curiosity, 00:28:23.094 --> 00:28:23.927 fear, 00:28:25.786 --> 00:28:26.619 seduction, 00:28:33.391 --> 00:28:35.475 in almost every case, the animal thinks 00:28:35.475 --> 00:28:38.725 it's seeing another animal, not itself. 00:28:41.802 --> 00:28:45.969 The last reaction and the most common is aggression. 00:28:49.977 --> 00:28:52.262 Anger escalates quickly, because the challenger 00:28:52.262 --> 00:28:54.845 in the mirror never backs down. 00:29:00.478 --> 00:29:03.895 Very few non-human animals pass the test. 00:29:13.221 --> 00:29:14.304 And dolphins? 00:29:18.244 --> 00:29:20.983 Fabienne Delfour is often consulted on animal behavior 00:29:20.983 --> 00:29:23.316 at marine animal facilities. 00:29:26.337 --> 00:29:28.855 Today, Brigette Mersera and Fabienne are going 00:29:28.855 --> 00:29:33.022 to perform the famous mirror test on bottlenose dolphins. 00:29:34.935 --> 00:29:37.768 (speaking French) 00:29:46.372 --> 00:29:48.821 We're going to do the mirror experiment. 00:29:48.821 --> 00:29:51.069 We've hung a one-way mirror on the window, 00:29:51.069 --> 00:29:53.275 and we'll observe the dolphins behavior. 00:29:53.275 --> 00:29:54.464 They can't see us? 00:29:54.464 --> 00:29:58.672 No, they see themselves but we can see them. 00:29:58.672 --> 00:29:59.937 It's really a mirror. 00:29:59.937 --> 00:30:01.898 It's a mirror inside the tank, 00:30:01.898 --> 00:30:05.911 but it allows us to film them without being seen. 00:30:05.911 --> 00:30:07.424 They're going to exhibit a more rhythmic 00:30:07.424 --> 00:30:09.708 self-focused behavior. 00:30:09.708 --> 00:30:11.342 It's kind of like in a shopping mall, you know, 00:30:11.342 --> 00:30:13.219 where there are monitors and there's always 00:30:13.219 --> 00:30:15.709 someone who comes up and waves. 00:30:15.709 --> 00:30:17.341 Yeah, they give a little wave. 00:30:17.341 --> 00:30:19.587 Often, animals that recognize themselves in the mirror 00:30:19.587 --> 00:30:22.087 display this kind of behavior. 00:30:24.941 --> 00:30:26.656 Unlike gorillas or panthers, 00:30:26.656 --> 00:30:30.165 dolphins show neither fear nor aggression. 00:30:30.165 --> 00:30:34.332 They know what they see is a reflection of themselves. 00:30:37.843 --> 00:30:40.457 Oh, you're handsome. Yes you are. 00:30:40.457 --> 00:30:41.374 Gorgeous. 00:30:43.284 --> 00:30:46.117 (speaking French) 00:30:48.194 --> 00:30:50.896 They check themselves out from every angle 00:30:50.896 --> 00:30:53.063 and enjoy clowning around. 00:30:59.036 --> 00:31:01.450 The mirror experiment allows us to determine 00:31:01.450 --> 00:31:05.073 if these animals have awareness of themselves. 00:31:05.073 --> 00:31:07.856 Because you must first have a sense of a permanent self 00:31:07.856 --> 00:31:10.477 to be able to understand what I see in the mirror 00:31:10.477 --> 00:31:11.477 is still me. 00:31:12.356 --> 00:31:15.451 But also to be able to distinguish between what I see 00:31:15.451 --> 00:31:17.699 and a fellow dolphin. 00:31:17.699 --> 00:31:20.556 This really requires elaborate states of consciousness. 00:31:20.556 --> 00:31:23.090 What we refer to as self-awareness. 00:31:23.090 --> 00:31:24.685 In humans, we know that children pass, 00:31:24.685 --> 00:31:28.806 what we call the mirror stage, beginning at about 12 months. 00:31:28.806 --> 00:31:33.336 It was Lacan who introduced the concept of the mirror stage. 00:31:33.336 --> 00:31:37.054 The dolphins pass the test with flying colors, 00:31:37.054 --> 00:31:39.093 they have demonstrated self-awareness, 00:31:39.093 --> 00:31:41.793 along with abstract intelligence, that makes two 00:31:41.793 --> 00:31:45.720 cognitive faculties they share with human beings. 00:31:45.720 --> 00:31:47.229 But are there limits? 00:31:47.229 --> 00:31:48.903 Areas where dolphins are not as intelligent 00:31:48.903 --> 00:31:50.403 as we might think. 00:31:52.534 --> 00:31:54.865 What I'm really confused about is if they get caught 00:31:54.865 --> 00:31:57.437 in fishing nets, why don't they just jump out and exit? 00:31:57.437 --> 00:31:59.641 Seems a basic form of intelligence to me. 00:31:59.641 --> 00:32:02.381 I'm going to show you something, have you got any matches? 00:32:02.381 --> 00:32:05.214 No, but I'll go and have a look. 00:32:13.630 --> 00:32:17.797 Now, don't worry, 95% of people can't solve this. 00:32:19.145 --> 00:32:23.312 I want you to make four triangles using six matches. 00:32:35.437 --> 00:32:36.578 I don't know. 00:32:36.578 --> 00:32:39.730 Here's the trick, to solve the puzzle, 00:32:39.730 --> 00:32:43.769 you have to think in three dimensions, not two. 00:32:43.769 --> 00:32:46.017 Most people think in two dimensions, 00:32:46.017 --> 00:32:48.099 unless they're forced to think in three, 00:32:48.099 --> 00:32:50.266 like pilots or astronauts. 00:32:51.652 --> 00:32:54.065 Dolphins think in three dimensions. 00:32:54.065 --> 00:32:56.841 Their way of thinking is completely different from our own. 00:32:56.841 --> 00:32:58.601 What we need to understand is that intelligence 00:32:58.601 --> 00:33:03.589 is a multitude of cognitive capacities such as abstraction, 00:33:03.589 --> 00:33:06.506 innovation, tool use, and learning. 00:33:09.686 --> 00:33:11.730 When dolphins get stuck in a net for the first time, 00:33:11.730 --> 00:33:14.223 it's an extremely stressful situation, 00:33:14.223 --> 00:33:17.083 and they have to come up with a solution for it. 00:33:17.083 --> 00:33:19.699 Once they've solved the problem, it's forever, 00:33:19.699 --> 00:33:21.331 like you with the matches. 00:33:21.331 --> 00:33:23.941 Once you've learned to think in 3-D, you've got it. 00:33:23.941 --> 00:33:26.721 It's something you never forget. 00:33:26.721 --> 00:33:28.436 Makes sense, just like human beings. 00:33:28.436 --> 00:33:30.186 Exactly. 00:33:36.485 --> 00:33:38.936 Exploring, experimenting, learning, 00:33:38.936 --> 00:33:41.473 all signs of intelligence. 00:33:41.473 --> 00:33:43.313 Young dolphins learn different hunting techniques 00:33:43.313 --> 00:33:44.813 from their elders. 00:33:48.573 --> 00:33:50.369 But sometimes, putting them into practice 00:33:50.369 --> 00:33:52.036 is a dangerous feat. 00:33:57.512 --> 00:34:00.454 Orcas are the largest members of the dolphin family, 00:34:00.454 --> 00:34:04.986 growing up to 10 meters long and weighing up to nine tons. 00:34:04.986 --> 00:34:08.703 They rival the bottlenose dolphin in intelligence. 00:34:08.703 --> 00:34:10.736 In the shallow waters Whangarei Harbor, 00:34:10.736 --> 00:34:13.612 a family of orcas is here to hunt. 00:34:13.612 --> 00:34:16.243 Each year, they come closer and closer to the shore, 00:34:16.243 --> 00:34:19.083 risking stranding and death. 00:34:19.083 --> 00:34:21.552 Fortunately, the orcas have loyal friends in the region, 00:34:21.552 --> 00:34:24.994 like Dr. Ingrid Visser, founder of the Orca Research Trust, 00:34:24.994 --> 00:34:28.644 who has been doing amazing work here for many years. 00:34:28.644 --> 00:34:30.573 One of the reasons that we get so many strandings 00:34:30.573 --> 00:34:33.980 of orcas in New Zealand is they come into shallow harbors 00:34:33.980 --> 00:34:35.130 just like this. 00:34:35.130 --> 00:34:37.673 And they're coming in here to hunt for rays. 00:34:37.673 --> 00:34:39.723 The rays, of course, don't want to be eaten 00:34:39.723 --> 00:34:42.636 so they come into very shallow water as well. 00:34:42.636 --> 00:34:45.471 And in fact, it gets so shallow that at times 00:34:45.471 --> 00:34:48.058 the orca is swimming along and they don't even 00:34:48.058 --> 00:34:51.011 have enough water to submerge so their dorsal fin 00:34:51.011 --> 00:34:52.487 is sticking out. 00:34:52.487 --> 00:34:55.560 But it doesn't matter, for whatever reason they get stranded 00:34:55.560 --> 00:34:58.718 they usually need help from people. 00:34:58.718 --> 00:35:00.950 It's really important to get there as quick as we can 00:35:00.950 --> 00:35:02.713 so that we can give them first aid, 00:35:02.713 --> 00:35:04.640 and look after them until we can get back out 00:35:04.640 --> 00:35:05.890 into the water. 00:35:12.354 --> 00:35:16.521 So this is Putita, it's the second time he's got stranded. 00:35:18.505 --> 00:35:19.422 Here we go. 00:35:24.665 --> 00:35:26.105 Good guy, come on. 00:35:26.105 --> 00:35:28.937 It's no easy task to move a five ton orca. 00:35:28.937 --> 00:35:30.950 Ingrid and her team needed an especially big wave 00:35:30.950 --> 00:35:33.033 to help them lift Putita. 00:35:37.235 --> 00:35:39.159 In deeper water, two members of his family 00:35:39.159 --> 00:35:41.242 keep an eye on the scene. 00:35:45.699 --> 00:35:48.449 Come on, you can do it big guy. 00:35:51.944 --> 00:35:53.277 I know, come on. 00:35:54.773 --> 00:35:57.690 He's stranded a few years ago when he was a bit smaller, 00:35:57.690 --> 00:36:01.857 and that's his mom and his brother just out there now. 00:36:07.589 --> 00:36:09.474 After two hours of hard work, 00:36:09.474 --> 00:36:11.119 Ingrid and her team are still struggling 00:36:11.119 --> 00:36:14.198 to keep Putita in an upright position. 00:36:14.198 --> 00:36:17.865 But they're not about to let the orcas down. 00:36:23.168 --> 00:36:26.085 (triumphant music) 00:36:57.427 --> 00:36:59.416 The relationship of trust Ingrid has developed 00:36:59.416 --> 00:37:01.961 with the orca family in Whangarei Harbor 00:37:01.961 --> 00:37:05.544 has given her unique access to their world. 00:37:09.969 --> 00:37:12.106 Ingrid has rescued so many orcas that they're 00:37:12.106 --> 00:37:13.833 no longer wary of her. 00:37:13.833 --> 00:37:17.500 They seem to accept her as one of their own. 00:37:18.835 --> 00:37:21.793 This has allowed her to get very close to them, 00:37:21.793 --> 00:37:23.229 and she's discovered something amazing 00:37:23.229 --> 00:37:25.650 while watching them hunt. 00:37:25.650 --> 00:37:29.733 A striking illustration of concrete intelligence. 00:37:30.823 --> 00:37:32.508 It doesn't matter where you go around the world 00:37:32.508 --> 00:37:35.220 and you go and observe an orca, you're going to see them 00:37:35.220 --> 00:37:36.983 hunting in different ways. 00:37:36.983 --> 00:37:39.283 And that's what part of makes up their cultures, 00:37:39.283 --> 00:37:42.485 and it's really fascinating as an orca biologist 00:37:42.485 --> 00:37:45.486 to see how different they are in different locations. 00:37:45.486 --> 00:37:47.215 And so just like you have with humans 00:37:47.215 --> 00:37:49.550 these different cultures and beach populations 00:37:49.550 --> 00:37:51.633 are completely different. 00:37:52.791 --> 00:37:54.600 To study the unique cultures of the orcas 00:37:54.600 --> 00:37:58.502 in her area, Ingrid cuts straight to the chase. 00:37:58.502 --> 00:38:00.562 One of the things that I realized when I first started 00:38:00.562 --> 00:38:02.945 doing my research was that if you really wanted 00:38:02.945 --> 00:38:05.287 to understand what was going on with the animals 00:38:05.287 --> 00:38:07.675 under the surface, you need to actually get 00:38:07.675 --> 00:38:09.611 in the water with them. 00:38:09.611 --> 00:38:12.032 Any whale or dolphin that's coming up to the surface 00:38:12.032 --> 00:38:14.165 is typically just coming up for a brief moment 00:38:14.165 --> 00:38:15.438 to take a breath. 00:38:15.438 --> 00:38:19.420 And the real behavior, the real stuff that I'm interested in 00:38:19.420 --> 00:38:23.087 the feeding behavior is going on underwater. 00:38:23.945 --> 00:38:27.237 So it makes logical sense to try and get in with the animals 00:38:27.237 --> 00:38:28.987 and watch from there. 00:38:31.793 --> 00:38:33.558 On each dive, the orcas greet Ingrid 00:38:33.558 --> 00:38:37.551 briefly and then go about their business. 00:38:37.551 --> 00:38:40.054 By following them with her small camera, she discovered 00:38:40.054 --> 00:38:42.760 this orca population has a remarkable behavior 00:38:42.760 --> 00:38:46.927 that relies on their sense of observation and intelligence. 00:38:52.452 --> 00:38:54.712 The New Zealand orca are unique. 00:38:54.712 --> 00:38:56.518 And one of the most obvious things is 00:38:56.518 --> 00:38:58.405 in the way that they hunt. 00:38:58.405 --> 00:39:00.168 When they're hunting for the rays, they come into 00:39:00.168 --> 00:39:02.550 shallow bays just like this one here, 00:39:02.550 --> 00:39:05.547 and they go into very, very shallow water. 00:39:05.547 --> 00:39:08.630 So, sometimes less than a meter deep. 00:39:12.317 --> 00:39:13.670 These orcas have learned that hunting 00:39:13.670 --> 00:39:16.367 requires more than just brawn. 00:39:16.367 --> 00:39:18.664 It takes many hours of watching and practice 00:39:18.664 --> 00:39:20.594 for them to perfect their stealth technique 00:39:20.594 --> 00:39:23.761 and catch rays hiding among the rocks. 00:39:28.605 --> 00:39:31.105 (tense music) 00:39:35.587 --> 00:39:38.254 When a ray is picked up by the tail, head down, 00:39:38.254 --> 00:39:40.757 it becomes motionless and defenseless, 00:39:40.757 --> 00:39:43.590 a state known as tonic immobility. 00:39:45.396 --> 00:39:48.313 Once horizontal, it can move again. 00:40:09.191 --> 00:40:11.410 Using this deceptively simple technique, 00:40:11.410 --> 00:40:14.613 the orcas catch the rays with no risk of a nasty jab 00:40:14.613 --> 00:40:16.825 from the dagger-like stingers. 00:40:16.825 --> 00:40:18.992 Brains win out over brawn. 00:40:21.382 --> 00:40:23.352 Because I've been doing the research for so long, 00:40:23.352 --> 00:40:26.686 I know many of the individuals and I know them 00:40:26.686 --> 00:40:29.144 well enough to recognize them by sight. 00:40:29.144 --> 00:40:32.102 I can predict certain behaviors that they're going to do. 00:40:32.102 --> 00:40:34.989 So for instance, Rocky, he's called that 00:40:34.989 --> 00:40:37.042 because he hunts in amongst the rocks. 00:40:37.042 --> 00:40:39.384 So when I see him, I am pretty sure that 00:40:39.384 --> 00:40:41.433 he's going to go up into the rocky areas 00:40:41.433 --> 00:40:42.990 and look for stingrays. 00:40:42.990 --> 00:40:44.834 Miracle will come up to the boat, 00:40:44.834 --> 00:40:47.246 and she brings her calf over and the calf 00:40:47.246 --> 00:40:49.048 is very curious as well. 00:40:49.048 --> 00:40:52.729 And so these different individual orca allow me 00:40:52.729 --> 00:40:56.896 to also get a little bit more of insight into their lives. 00:40:59.922 --> 00:41:02.755 (orcas squealing) 00:41:13.194 --> 00:41:15.411 There's no doubt strong bonds can be forged 00:41:15.411 --> 00:41:17.411 between our two species. 00:41:18.695 --> 00:41:20.711 Perhaps to show her she's part of the family, 00:41:20.711 --> 00:41:24.544 the orcas offer Ingrid a share of their catch. 00:41:26.923 --> 00:41:28.608 Even though I've been doing research on orca 00:41:28.608 --> 00:41:32.105 for over 20 years, I can still go out there and find 00:41:32.105 --> 00:41:36.210 new stuff, things that have never been seen before 00:41:36.210 --> 00:41:40.193 by anybody and make world first discoveries. 00:41:40.193 --> 00:41:43.601 It's really remarkable when you are out there 00:41:43.601 --> 00:41:46.030 with these animals, because they're wild animals 00:41:46.030 --> 00:41:48.536 and they don't have to spend time around you. 00:41:48.536 --> 00:41:50.176 They can easily swim off. 00:41:50.176 --> 00:41:53.833 And I've been very, very privileged to have the opportunity 00:41:53.833 --> 00:41:56.506 to see some absolutely remarkable stuff 00:41:56.506 --> 00:42:00.129 with orca coming up to my boat, bringing food. 00:42:00.129 --> 00:42:02.629 (tense music) 00:42:06.155 --> 00:42:08.417 Inventing such a complex hunting technique 00:42:08.417 --> 00:42:11.195 merely by observing their prey, tells us they're using 00:42:11.195 --> 00:42:13.046 concrete reasoning. 00:42:13.046 --> 00:42:16.254 Yet another form of intelligence we share with them. 00:42:16.254 --> 00:42:18.254 And our quest continues. 00:42:29.895 --> 00:42:32.937 Adam Walker and Fabienne Delfour venture once more 00:42:32.937 --> 00:42:35.937 into the waters off the Ile-de-Sein. 00:42:40.291 --> 00:42:42.966 The spectacle of wild dolphins swimming in the open ocean 00:42:42.966 --> 00:42:44.799 still fascinates Adam. 00:42:48.429 --> 00:42:50.931 It's just that once we've become intrigued by dolphins, 00:42:50.931 --> 00:42:55.014 sooner or later, a controversial question arises. 00:42:56.286 --> 00:42:58.914 Fabienne, it's so wonderful to see them in the wild. 00:42:58.914 --> 00:43:02.777 Tell me, why do we have to study them in captivity? 00:43:02.777 --> 00:43:04.877 In my mind, studying them in captivity 00:43:04.877 --> 00:43:09.316 and out in the wild are actually two sides of the same coin. 00:43:09.316 --> 00:43:12.361 In the past 50 years, we've learned so much about animals. 00:43:12.361 --> 00:43:15.486 For 50 years, we've been studying dolphins in captivity. 00:43:15.486 --> 00:43:17.416 And we've learned so many things. 00:43:17.416 --> 00:43:20.252 And this information has helped us to protect them better. 00:43:20.252 --> 00:43:22.755 We can protect animals out of love, 00:43:22.755 --> 00:43:24.603 but we can also make some enormous errors 00:43:24.603 --> 00:43:26.365 in the name of love. 00:43:26.365 --> 00:43:29.479 So one way to protect animals is to understand them better. 00:43:29.479 --> 00:43:32.013 To do this, we need to study them. 00:43:32.013 --> 00:43:35.012 We can do so in the wild, but as we've seen, 00:43:35.012 --> 00:43:37.277 the opportunities are brief. 00:43:37.277 --> 00:43:40.681 In captivity, we can follow what we call ontogeny. 00:43:40.681 --> 00:43:44.073 In other words, the development of countless processes. 00:43:44.073 --> 00:43:46.576 So it's quite complementary to conduct studies 00:43:46.576 --> 00:43:49.572 in the wild as well in captivity. 00:43:49.572 --> 00:43:51.218 In my opinion, that's the best way to understand 00:43:51.218 --> 00:43:52.902 who they are. 00:43:52.902 --> 00:43:56.400 Once we know who they are, we'll understand what they need. 00:43:56.400 --> 00:43:59.151 At that point, we'll be able to make the best decisions 00:43:59.151 --> 00:44:00.484 to protect them. 00:44:02.188 --> 00:44:04.771 (upbeat music) 00:44:08.588 --> 00:44:10.109 But after 50 years of research 00:44:10.109 --> 00:44:12.326 on dolphins in captivity, haven't we learned 00:44:12.326 --> 00:44:14.128 enough about them? 00:44:14.128 --> 00:44:15.890 What good is it to keep performing experiment 00:44:15.890 --> 00:44:17.307 after experiment? 00:44:22.913 --> 00:44:25.496 (catchy music) 00:44:35.031 --> 00:44:37.215 Is scientific research the only reason we continue 00:44:37.215 --> 00:44:39.715 to keep dolphins in captivity? 00:44:43.795 --> 00:44:45.270 On another level, there's the issue of should 00:44:45.270 --> 00:44:47.695 marine mammal facilities exist at all? 00:44:47.695 --> 00:44:50.980 And I definitely think yes for two different reasons, 00:44:50.980 --> 00:44:54.434 first, the vast majority of what we know about dolphins, 00:44:54.434 --> 00:44:57.429 physiology, cognition, and reproduction, all of that, 00:44:57.429 --> 00:44:59.069 the vast majority of that has been learned 00:44:59.069 --> 00:45:00.337 in marine mammal facilities. 00:45:00.337 --> 00:45:03.087 And we still have a lot to learn. 00:45:06.131 --> 00:45:09.781 Kelly Jaakola cites other reasons, 00:45:09.781 --> 00:45:11.714 these dolphins were born in captivity 00:45:11.714 --> 00:45:13.523 and have always known humans. 00:45:13.523 --> 00:45:16.940 They would never survive in the open sea. 00:45:26.790 --> 00:45:30.079 But for her, the bottom line is it's not just about science 00:45:30.079 --> 00:45:34.307 it's also about raising public awareness. 00:45:34.307 --> 00:45:36.854 Marine mammal facilities provide a forum 00:45:36.854 --> 00:45:40.720 for the public to experience these animals, 00:45:40.720 --> 00:45:42.853 to learn about the challenges they face in the wild, 00:45:42.853 --> 00:45:45.603 and to form the kind of emotional connections 00:45:45.603 --> 00:45:47.365 that are really important. 00:45:47.365 --> 00:45:49.580 So, the only way that we're ever gonna get conservation 00:45:49.580 --> 00:45:53.012 is gonna eventually boil down to the millions upon millions 00:45:53.012 --> 00:45:54.823 of decisions that everyday people make. 00:45:54.823 --> 00:45:56.099 Well, how do you effect that? 00:45:56.099 --> 00:45:58.854 We know that if you bring them into a facility like ours, 00:45:58.854 --> 00:46:01.114 and you give them up close and personal experiences 00:46:01.114 --> 00:46:03.127 with animals, with these animals, 00:46:03.127 --> 00:46:05.845 at that point, is when they make an emotional connection. 00:46:05.845 --> 00:46:07.938 And that emotional connection is the start 00:46:07.938 --> 00:46:09.330 of conservation-mindedness. 00:46:09.330 --> 00:46:12.366 It's not enough just to tell them the information. 00:46:12.366 --> 00:46:14.625 People have to know the information, but they have 00:46:14.625 --> 00:46:18.792 to care enough to actually go out and do something about it. 00:46:24.264 --> 00:46:26.274 For Kelly Jaakola, these dolphins serve 00:46:26.274 --> 00:46:29.066 as ambassadors that provide a link between humans 00:46:29.066 --> 00:46:32.233 and their fellow dolphins in the wild. 00:46:39.050 --> 00:46:41.272 Dr. Ingrid Visser is one of the experts who staunchly 00:46:41.272 --> 00:46:43.898 condemn the scientific and educational usefulness 00:46:43.898 --> 00:46:46.231 of marine mammal facilities. 00:46:50.018 --> 00:46:51.824 If you look at any research that's been done 00:46:51.824 --> 00:46:55.601 in captivity, it's not necessarily a true reflection 00:46:55.601 --> 00:46:56.627 of the animals. 00:46:56.627 --> 00:46:58.761 Some of these animals, like orca for instance, 00:46:58.761 --> 00:47:01.477 they're traveling 100 to 150 kilometers 00:47:01.477 --> 00:47:04.306 in a single day in the wild. 00:47:04.306 --> 00:47:06.692 In captivity, they won't even do 100 laps 00:47:06.692 --> 00:47:08.706 around one of those tanks. 00:47:08.706 --> 00:47:11.749 It's like taking you or myself, locking us 00:47:11.749 --> 00:47:15.916 in the bathroom of your house for the rest of your life. 00:47:16.838 --> 00:47:20.201 And the only time that you get any entertainment 00:47:20.201 --> 00:47:22.423 is if somebody comes in and tells you 00:47:22.423 --> 00:47:25.299 you have to do some tricks and then you'll get your food. 00:47:25.299 --> 00:47:27.105 I mean, come on, really? 00:47:27.105 --> 00:47:29.941 In my mind, I truly believe that the time has come 00:47:29.941 --> 00:47:32.775 for us to only be looking at whales and dolphins 00:47:32.775 --> 00:47:34.460 in the wild. 00:47:34.460 --> 00:47:38.241 If we have a really burning question, then surely 00:47:38.241 --> 00:47:41.071 we're smart enough to be able to ask it in the right way 00:47:41.071 --> 00:47:43.082 that we can work with these animals out in the wild 00:47:43.082 --> 00:47:44.332 on their terms. 00:47:52.560 --> 00:47:54.697 Researchers may never agree on the best ways 00:47:54.697 --> 00:47:56.999 to study dolphins. 00:47:56.999 --> 00:48:01.166 Even if they all harbor the same passion for them. 00:48:06.813 --> 00:48:10.480 A passion that Adam Walker now fully shares. 00:48:11.399 --> 00:48:14.108 Through Fabienne, he's learned that dolphins and humans 00:48:14.108 --> 00:48:17.107 share abstract and concrete intelligence, 00:48:17.107 --> 00:48:20.690 a capacity for empathy, and self-awareness. 00:48:24.786 --> 00:48:26.101 But that's not all. 00:48:26.101 --> 00:48:27.871 The second half of our adventure will take us 00:48:27.871 --> 00:48:29.883 to other locations around the world 00:48:29.883 --> 00:48:32.225 where we'll meet more top dolphin experts 00:48:32.225 --> 00:48:36.247 working with these highly intelligent animals. 00:48:36.247 --> 00:48:40.414 People, with whom dolphins actually collaborate as a team. 00:48:46.600 --> 00:48:49.850 We'll follow wild dolphins on the hunt. 00:48:50.893 --> 00:48:53.506 And we may even embark on the beginnings 00:48:53.506 --> 00:48:55.839 of a conversation with them. 00:49:02.557 --> 00:49:05.224 (ambient music)