Dolphins: Therapy for People with Disabilities and Injuries, Depression, and Human Fetuses in the Womb

For decades we’ve heard how dolphins seem to want to communicate with humans. People on the open seas still attest to how dolphins approach, and even follow their crafts, leaping and playing while “talking” to them.

Meanwhile, we’ve learned that dolphins have a specialized type of sonar system, known as “dolphin echolocation,” in which they emit broad band signals (clicks) of varying frequencies, and then listen to the echo produced using sensitive directional hearing. We’ve also learned that, besides their “human-like” personality, dolphins are quite intelligent. If all you know about dolphins is from the 1964 television show about a precocious pet dolphin named “Flipper,” the information below is guaranteed to enlighten you.

For years, the U.S. Navy has been training dolphins to find objects on the seafloorand mark them with a floating buoy, according to National Public Radio (NPR). For example, because Iraq laid several thousand underwater mines in the first Gulf War, U.S. Navy ships operating in the Persian Gulf faced an unseen threat from underwater mines. Dolphins came to their aid. Trained dolphins also detected World War II-era mines off the Norwegian coast in 2002 and even guarded the Navy's flagship in Bahrain in 1986 and 1987. More information is available in the January 28, 2003 NPR article, “Hunting for Mines,” by Eric Niiler at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=943641


But lately, we’ve also been learning just how truly beneficial dolphins can be for “regular people” in our everyday lives:

DOLPHIN CALLS ARE GOOD FOR HUMAN FETUSES, according to scientists in Lima, Peru. They believe dolphins’ ultrasonic emissions may benefit unborn children by stimulating brain activity while the fetus is still developing.