Check out this amazing story about Kelly the dolphin, who’s trained her trainers, has a view of the future, a sense of delayed gratification and likes to bait gulls with fish, then capture them and turn the min for a reward.
Read the original article at Deep Thinkers or after the jump.
At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, Kelly the dolphin has built up quite a reputation. All the dolphins at the institute are trained to hold onto any litter that falls into their pools until they see a trainer, when they can trade the litter for fish. In this way, the dolphins help to keep their pools clean.
Kelly has taken this task one step further. When people drop paper into the water she hides it under a rock at the bottom of the pool. The next time a trainer passes, she goes down to the rock and tears off a piece of paper to give to the trainer. After a fish reward, she goes back down, tears off another piece of paper, gets another fish, and so on. This behaviour is interesting because it shows that Kelly has a sense of the future and delays gratification. She has realised that a big piece of paper gets the same reward as a small piece and so delivers only small pieces to keep the extra food coming. She has, in effect, trained the humans.
Her cunning has not stopped there. One day, when a gull flew into her pool, she grabbed it, waited for the trainers and then gave it to them. It was a large bird and so the trainers gave her lots of fish. This seemed to give Kelly a new idea. The next time she was fed, instead of eating the last fish, she took it to the bottom of the pool and hid it under the rock where she had been hiding the paper. When no trainers were present, she brought the fish to the surface and used it to lure the gulls, which she would catch to get even more fish. After mastering this lucrative strategy, she taught her calf, who taught other calves, and so gull-baiting has become a hot game among the dolphins.
“Intelligence” is a term with many definitions and interpretations. It’s difficult enough to measure in humans let alone other animals. Large brains are traditionally associated with greater intelligence, and the brain of the adult bottlenose dolphin is about 25% heavier than the average adult human brain. Generally though, larger mammals tend to have larger brains, and so a more accurate estimate of brain power comes from the ratio of brain size to body size – the “encephalisation quotient” (EQ). While river dolphins have an EQ of 1.5, some dolphins have EQs that are more than double those of our closest relatives: gorillas have 1.76, chimpanzees 2.48, bottlenose dolphins 5.6. The bottlenose’s EQ is surpassed only by a human’s, which measures 7.4 (Australopithecines – hominids that lived around 4m years ago – fall within the dolphin range: 3.25-4.72). But we don’t know enough about the workings of the brain to be sure of what these anatomical measurements truly represent. Today, most scientists share the view that it is behaviour, not structure, that must be the measure of intelligence within a species.
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August 2nd, 2007 at 7:10 pm
this is an interesting story
never knew dolphins would be that smart
hehe.. i like the term ‘cunning’ for Kelly the dolphin 
May 1st, 2008 at 4:09 pm
stories like this amuse me, it shows the arrogance of human kind, assuming we are the most intelligent, when we are only the best adjusted
November 21st, 2008 at 9:07 am
… The revolution is coming.
Brace yourselves.
November 21st, 2008 at 1:44 pm
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
November 21st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Click Click Cleeek click
November 21st, 2008 at 8:03 pm
OMG DOLPINS ARE LIKE TOTALLY SMART THEYRE LIKE SMARTER THAN HUMANS WOW I WISH I WAS A DOLPHIN
November 21st, 2008 at 8:04 pm
KELLY U ARE AN INSPIRATION TO US ALL, IM GONNA NAME MY FIRST BORN SON AFTER U
November 23rd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
If dolphins are so smart, where are the underwater hospitals?
November 24th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I wonder if they have feelings that are like ours too?
November 24th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Sounds like they’re already smarter than most Internet commentators out there. Perhaps we should add underwater terminals to distract them before world domination takes place..
November 24th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
That story is definitely photoshopped, the shadows are all wrong. I use photoshop all the time and can definitely tell.
November 24th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
^ really? i… wha… but… i dont even know how to respond!
btw, nice comment kelly (the first one that left a comment)
November 24th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Kelly the Dolphin sounds really smart…
November 24th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Just don’t give them LASERS.. or jetpacks.. then we’d be in trouble!
November 24th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Wow! She is such a smart girl! Out of my image!
So dolphin must understand much than we already know!
December 1st, 2008 at 1:47 pm
see? I told you. I told all of you. Dolphins are going to take over this planet, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I tried to tell the government years ago, after a trip to seaworld in which a dolphin ate my father, and raped my mother. It was probably the worst vacation ever. Anyway, while it was doing these things to my parents, the dolphin yelled at me. It yelled “Hey kid! I’m a dolphin, I’m totally going to steal your things and sell them for dope! Then I’m going to take over the world with my cousins Julio and Gertrude!” I would say this was probably the single most damaging experience of my life.
December 1st, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Eeeeep eeeeeeeeeeep I learned to use a computer Eeeeeeeeep, I’m coming for your things. Ooop, gotta go, here come the trainers.
Sincerely,
Kelly the Dolphin.
P.S.
Eeep.
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:24 am
I think that she is trying say “Hey you guys, the planet is going to be destroyed to make room for a galactic expressway. You should have known this though, since the plans have been on the galactic planning bulletin board for 6 months now, so you guys best get out of here!
and p.s., so long, and thanks for all the fish”
December 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 am
You may not share our intellect
Which might explain your disrespect
For all the natural wonders that
grow around you
So long, so long and thanks
for all the fish
December 7th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Be afraid, be very afraid. LOL
December 8th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
eeeeeeep Kelly the dolphin here again…eeeeeep. now that everyone knows how i baited those gulls eep eeep…I’m going to start using candy to bait toddlers and infants eeep eeeep….the trainers will give me LOTS of fish for THEM, I bet…EEEEP EEEEEEEP!!!!!!!
F*** YOU FLIPPER!!! I NEVER LIKED YOU ANYWAY!
December 10th, 2008 at 1:15 am
WELL aint dolphins the only other animal who have fun with sex??
if yes then : ofcourse they are clever
December 16th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
November 21st, 2008 at 8:03 pm Anonymous
WTF? your gonna name your first born son kelly? wow. with a brain like that you wont even get laid, never mind be a parent. well, then again, forrest gump had a kid.
April 15th, 2009 at 12:35 am
I hear a marine biologist recently found out how to make dolphins immortal – by feeding them a constant diet of seagulls.
He ran out of seagulls though – so he went hunting for some, threw them in the back of his truck, and started to drive home. On the way he saw 2 lions asleep in the middle of the road, but decided to just drive around them.
Immediately he was arrested – charged with transporting gulls over sedate lions for immortal porpoises.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Dolphins have sex for fun and also commit murder. Not kill to eat, but kill just to kill. They kill porpoises, young “teenage” males, to practice for when they must drive away or kill the adolescent males of their pods.
I saw the Nat’l Geo special (or maybe some other nature show) and from then on, I’ve considered dolphins to be murderous wretches.
June 9th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Dolphins are magnificent creatures
they tend to learn more and more each day
it’s like everyday for them just as any creature is a study to better their environment.
Dolphins are said to be a species close to humans
so close that they may resemble us in many ways,
behind this there is some truth…
as any creature is a part of this world
Humanity and Animals are alike in many various ways
we have our differences and we have our similarity’s
A Dolphin is a smart animal
they learn quickly and adapt to their environment just as we would do!
A Dolphin also tends to show their aggressive side as well
it may not be a lot
but it’s enough to show there dominant
for instant a Bottle nosed dolphin may pick on a Spotted Dolphin only to show that it’s more dominant,
yet they would also turn to their own young and pick on them
only to show the spotted Dolphin that it’s nothing personal
but as the males show off for the female dolphins
some time a male would tend to get put in it’s place from one of the females.
as any mother would do
if a male picks on their young they fight back with all they got
this is one of the ways the male Dolphins would get put in check…
well I’m going to stop talking about this creature of such beauty just as any other sea creature….
thanks for letting me put my two sense in…..
Chris F. aka Reaper
June 19th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
‘Mokey’ has is exactly right.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Well, their brains, of course. Dolphins have large brains for their bodies — in fact, a bottlenose dolphin is second only to humans in the ratio of brain size to body size.
What Makes Dolphins So Smart? …
Some dolphin species can swim up to 25 miles an hour for long periods, more than three times faster than the best human swimmers. In the wild, dolphins can live to be 50 years old, although the average age is 17 years.
July 26th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
so they drown the gulls? i can’t imagine how they’re able to hold onto a live gull long enough for the keepers to come around. that is kind of a downer…
August 1st, 2009 at 1:57 am
Well, dolphins are the 2nd smartest animal species on earth, followed not so closely by ape descendants
August 19th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
the mice are the smartest ask the writer of disc world
September 17th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
What month is it now?
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October 8th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
This is really great story. reminds us that we should respect other creatures beside humans. for they are intelligent like us.
October 31st, 2009 at 9:54 pm
It’s so gratificating to realise that the ancient paradigm that we are supperior god-like creatures is wrong.
We should try to deeply understand what nature is saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H6YH1lw8UM
November 14th, 2009 at 11:14 am
Human mind is much addicted than animals but some habbits done by sweet sea animals . JNCIA
March 15th, 2010 at 1:32 pm
Lol, that is crazy smart. I don’t think I would have ever even thought of doing that haha.
They say dolphins are supposed to be one of the most intelligent animals and this definitely backs that up.
March 30th, 2010 at 10:47 am
Dolphins are realy realy intelligent.
April 6th, 2010 at 8:24 pm
I dunno, after the tragedies involving dolphins ruthlessly killing their trainers, i’m kind of scared to even approach one.
April 19th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
What a breath of fresh air to bring a little sunshine after a stressful day. Excellent writing that really gets the point covered. Thank you for taking the time.
April 29th, 2010 at 8:11 pm
Dolphins are the best fish ever!
May 3rd, 2010 at 11:19 pm
Dolphins are very smart
Especially when trained properly they accomplish quite a few feats!
June 8th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Excellent article.. Love it!
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July 8th, 2010 at 4:42 am
The structure of the dolphin brain is common with the human one. They considered the smartest animals on the planet. So nothing wonder Kelly do this!
July 12th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
It is amazing how smart some of these dolphins are. Properly trained they can do just about anything a person could baring physical limitations.
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July 21st, 2010 at 4:34 am
Actually even dolphin are smart but with no proper training by an expert its useless. By the way thanks for sharing this news.
August 4th, 2010 at 6:18 am
That story is definitely photoshopped, the shadows are all wrong. I use photoshop all the time and can definitely tell.
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