Dolphin question

My googling skills have failed me. Does this ring any bells with anyone?

I can’t remember where, some place with captive dolphins. They wanted to teach them a routine where they would throw a straw hat into the water, the dolphins would swim underneath and pop up with a hat on their head, very funny.

The trainer thought that the best way to teach them would be to teach the pack leader, or whatever the correct dolphin term is, first. So they moved him to another section, he couldn’t see, or be seen by, the others, and they just taught him, fairly simple.

He then went back in with the others overnight.

Next morning they thought let’s teach the rest, but they didn’t have to, they just did it.

The theory is that the lead dolphin had communicated the idea that if you swim under this thing they throw into the water and come up with it on your head you’ll get a fish, or however they were teaching him. There’s no way they could have seen and copied it, the idea must have been communicated, which is a pretty sophisticated concept to convey and implies that dolphins might have a form of language.

However, I’ve been googling to try to find a bit more on this story and I can’t find anything. I’m getting plenty of people trying to sell me hats which show that I’m a fan of the Miami Dolphins NFL team but that isn’t very helpful. Anyone else remember this or have a reference for it?

Thanks.

Does this radio interview on ‘dolphin consciousness’ help?

Does this radio interview on ‘dolphin consciousness’ help?

I enjoyed that.  I thought we’d sorted the emoji thing? That was meant to be a smiley face there.

But, no, it didn’t.

I wonder if I heard the original story on a Radio 4 programme? It seems quite likely.

implies that dolphins might have a form of language.

Which apparently includes the word “hat”, not a word which you would expect to be particularly useful in a sea mammal’s vocabulary.

Next morning they thought let’s teach the rest, but they didn’t have to, they just did it.

But that’s hardly surprising though is it? What would surprise me would be if bored captive dolphins swimming in an bare empty tank didn’t play with a straw hat that they found floating on the water surface.

Dolphins being trained to wear a hat? Ha! Orca wear a salmon for a hat, and they’ve been doing it as a style statement!

Dolphins being trained to wear a hat?

I don’t understand the porpoise

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I did after a while, we just clicked

So what you are saying is…

Cetacean needed.

Cetacean needed.

Your wish, etc.