There is a dolphin named Merlin and he lives in Mexico. Now there is nothing very spectacular about that. However, Merlin and his trainer may be the ones who finally break the communications barrier that exists between man and dolphin. And they are trying to do it with an IPad.
Perhaps the most startling thing about this story is that Apple had nothing to do with it. Merlin and his trainer came up with it all on their own. But if the IPad makes the connection for these two, you can bet Apple will be very aware and proud of it. I don’t blame them.
From Care2.com;
Ever since the debut of the iPad, there have a plethora of cats, dogs, birds and mice playing with the Apple gadget. Though some, like the amazing cat Iggy, seem to demonstrate a level of self-awareness about the iPad, Merlin is the first mammal to use it as a learning tool.
The innovative program was the brainchild of dolphin researcher Jack Kassewitz of Speak Dolphin, an organization dedicated to unlocking the secrets of cetacean communication. Kassewitz explains:
The use of the iPad is part of our continuing search to find a suitable touchscreen technology which the dolphins can activate with the tip of their rostrums or beaks … We think that once the dolphins get the hang of the touchscreen, we can let them choose from a wide assortment of symbols to represent objects, actions and even emotions.
Read the rest here.
Be sure to check out the links in the paragraphs above for some great animal videos and more stories about dolphins.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I find this to be really exciting. Imagine talking to a dolphin! Just imagine the things these smarter than us creatures could tell us about saving our oceans from further environmental degradation, about the natural world and about the way they see the world in general. Wow, that really boggles the mind.
