A bottle-nosed dolphin is being credited with rescuing a pair of pygmy sperm whales that had stranded themselves on a New Zealand beach

For a few hours, Golden, Colorado, native Kameron Wolpert was like any other nine-year-old girl. She giggled when the dolphin nudged her chest with its snout, and at the dolphin trainer’s request, she gripped the tiny mackerel and fed it to Nuba. In return, the fish massaged her knees and legs, encouraging her to leave the fetal position and stretch out her slender white legs.

These exercises were an aberration for Kammie, who suffers from trisomy 18 (T-18), a terminal illness that causes severe handicaps such that the girl is unable to speak and nearly unable to use her limbs and muscles. Ninety percent of children with T-18 die before they reach one year old. When Jude and Bill Wolpert decided to carry through with Kammie’s birth, they also committed to years of time-consuming and costly therapy sessions with methods ranging from doctors to animals: horses, dogs … and dolphins, which many scientists now consider the smartest mammals alive.

The Wolpert family spent a week in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, in March with the Boulder-based dolphin therapy program Living from the Heart (www.livingfromtheheart.org), which rents pool space and dolphin time from the resort outfit Vallarta Adventures—one of hundreds of dolphin therapy locations in tropical climates around the world. In the largest pool at Vallarta Adventures, college kids on spring break cheered and clapped as dolphins performed tricks and jumps for them. And in a small pool next to the therapy sessions, which was roped off and covered by nylon curtains, National Geographic filmed a live human water birth assisted by dolphins, who would escort the newborn back to the waterline.

The Wolperts paid $700 for five 45-minute sessions with Nuba, a dolphin trainer and an assistant, and Kammie’s results were remarkable. In addition to using her otherwise dormant limbs, the handicapped girl’s attention span increased during the week, and though her mouth will never form words, Nuba helped her laugh with ease. Of course, Kammie wasn’t the only one affected by the dolphin’s presence. After taking turns holding Kammie and sharing the pool with Nuba, both Jude and Bill were overcome by extreme relaxation and an inner peace. They slept long and hard during the night in their beachside hotel on the Pacific.

Could it be the poolside relaxation, the lapping ocean waves, and the timeout from their lives back in wintry Colorado that put the Wolperts in a blissful state and helped Kammie perform physical feats otherwise impossible for her? Doubtful, more and more medical professionals are admitting. More than three decades of research and experience shows that dolphins use their advanced echolocation sonar to sense what physical or communicative skills, or emotions, are scrambled in one’s brain, and by rubbing up against the person or sticking their nose up to one’s solar plexus, the most intelligent mammals in the water can help us—at least in the short term—in a manner far superior to other forms of physical or animal-assisted therapy. Dolphins may never make Kammie walk or talk, but they can significantly improve her quality of life.

Dr. Betsy Smith, an educational anthropologist at Florida International University, is considered the founder of modern-day dolphin-assisted therapy. In 1971, while researching interactions between dolphins and humans, Smith let her mentally retarded brother wade into the water with two adolescent and rough dolphins, who immediately became gentle, as if they sensed they could help the boy. Since then organizations such as the Human/Dolphin Foundation and AquaThought have surfaced, devoted to studying how dolphins can help people. Over the last three decades the same echolocation sonar that dolphins in the wild use to locate a shark half a mile away, and determine whether its stomach is full or empty, has been used to help humans suffering from autism, the effects of Agent Orange, and even Alzheimer’s.

On the third day of observing Kammie’s interaction with Nuba, I entered the pool and experienced the powerful effects of her echolocation myself. The dolphin turned upside down and, with the help of the trainer’s steady arms, I lay on her belly just below the water level for a good five minutes. I listened to the sonar Nuba was emitting into my brain and my body—what sounded up close like a door creaking, and from further away like grains or pebbles settling back onto a riverbed after being stirred up. Afterward Nuba stuck her snout up to my solar plexus, and within seconds a deep calm overcame me. Ten minutes later, and for the rest of the day, my body felt as relaxed as if I’d been sitting in a sweat lodge, or perhaps performing Bikram Yoga, for 12 hours straight.

Before leaving the pool that day the trainer’s assistant, Brianna, who is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and has devoted her life to dolphin therapy ever since her autistic brother Kyle received therapy here two years ago, placed her forehead up against Nuba’s forehead, looked into the dolphin’s eyes, and cried. They meditated together for about five minutes, and Brianna whispered a few words to her. When I asked Brianna what compelled her to do this, she told me that a friend of hers in California had been murdered the week before, and she just needed “some healing time” with Nuba.

Having something stuck in your teeth is nobody’s idea of sexy — that is unless you’re a dolphin.

In a new study, researchers say they believe some male dolphins try to impress females by carrying weeds, sticks or lumps of clay in their mouths.

Scientists have long observed dolphins toting objects with their teeth but thought they were merely playing.

However, observations of some 200 fresh-water river dolphin groups in the isolated Brazilian Amazon suggest it’s a sexual display, says Tony Martin of the British Antarctic Survey.

If the behavior was just goofing off, Martin says, females and juveniles would do it — but they don’t.

How this turns on females is unclear. But it appears to be a social behavior taught by one generation to another, Martin told New Scientist magazine.

Some argue that this evidence of learned behavior builds a case that dolphins should be classified as members of the “culture club” like humans and chimpanzees. Only primates use object-carrying in a sexual context, according to New Scientist.

Randall Wells, a Brookfield Zoo conservation biologist and dolphin researcher based in Sarasota, Fla., said there are more than 30 different species of dolphins. The dolphins on display at Brookfield are bottlenose dolphins.

Wells said he has not seen male bottlenose dolphins carrying objects for sexual attraction but a close relative has been seen touting sponges.

Other dolphin acts of “cultural transmission of knowledge” taught from generation to generation include “fish whacking,” in which the animals strike fish prey with their tails to stun them, said Wells.

Dolphins also teach young calves “kerplunking” — driving their tails through the water to create bubbles that stir fish up and makes them more visible so they are easier to catch, he said.

Martin’s dolphin study has sparked some discussion among his colleagues. Writing on the Nature Web site, one opined that perhaps the weed bouquets aren’t directly tied to wooing.

“Maybe girl dolphins like aggressive boy dolphins and aggressive boy dolphins like sticks,” the writer offered.

Wine, roses, chocolate; all of these gifts help impress our better halves. I for one am partial to the romantic “gift certificate” for backrubs and other tasks, mostly because I’m forgetful and cheap.

Male dolphins in the mood for love need none of these things. It turns out that THE gift in your classier dolphin circles is the ever popular clump of weeds or twigs. Bring your fine lady dolphin friend a bunch of organic material in your mouth and you’ll be blowhole deep in dolphin action in no time. Just remember to surface every once in a while.

Researchers previously thought that dolphins attracted mates with that playful behaviour we find so cute. I’m glad I didn’t know this before today. I used to love Sea World, and the thought that those adorably scampering dolphins were engaging in foreplay probably would have affected me in a negative way.

The discovery of object presentation as a mating behaviour sheds new light on dolphins and allows researchers to describe dolphin groups in a new way. Some researchers are starting to use the word “culture”, although that description is proving controversial.

Culture, as defined by this study, is a non-instinctual complex skill which can be passed on to future generations and other individuals through teaching by others. Dr. Tony Martin and Dr. Vera da Silva believe that this can apply to the dolphin groups they observed. Isolated groups of river dolphins throughout South America were observed using the behaviour, which suggested to the researchers that the behaviour was taught by members of the groups that displayed the behaviour. The behaviour cannot be considered instinctual because many dolphin groups did not exhibit the behaviour.

Martin and Da Silva found that in the groups that exhibited the behaviour, the dolphins that practiced object carrying were the most prolific breeders. Martin said: “I was struck by how many of the most frequent object-carriers were on the list of probable fathers of individual calves. It’s so unusual that many of my colleagues were sceptical when I first suggested the idea, but now I think the evidence is overwhelming.”

Martin and Da Silva aren’t the only ones to talk about dolphins while using the term culture. Other researchers in Australia noticed that certain groups of bottlenose dolphins are actually using tools. They break off pieces of sponge to carry around on their noses, which protects their snouts. The scientists who discovered this claim that it is evidence of social learning, and therefore the term culture is correctly used.

Dolphins are not the only animal species that has been bandied about with the word culture. In fact, they’re not even the only species that exhibits the object carrying behaviour as part of mating. Obviously humans do, but it has also been observed in chimpanzees. When male chimps are feeling lonely, they’ll often do a little courtship ritual that involves grabbing a branch and waving it about while they walk around with an erect penis. I’ve been assured this is considered very attractive in chimpanzee society.

Does this mean humans are no longer the only ones with a culture? It’s hard to tell. It really boils down to how you define culture. While the scientists who reported these behaviours in dolphins and chimps seem sure they are evidence of culture, the idea is still controversial and by no means universally accepted. It’s just one of the many scientific debates you’ll have to decide on for yourself.

Kerzner International, international developer and operator of destination resorts and luxury hotel properties and their partner, Istithmar PJSC, a Dubai World company, announced the completion of Dolphin Bay, one of the largest man-made dolphin habitats in the world at Atlantis, The Palm.

Dolphin Bay will provide care of the dolphins by an international team of veterinarians, marine mammal specialists and laboratory technicians, said the company is a press release.

The new facility will be home to 28 bottlenose dolphins and is designed to provide extraordinary care for the dolphins. It has an 11-acre lagoon featuring three interaction coves complete with sandy beaches and a tropical setting with medical and quarantine pools. There will also be a marine mammal hospital and a variety of dolphin interaction programs.

According to the developers, the habitat provides the dolphins with seven interconnected resident pools, shelter from inclement weather and almost seven million gallons of crystal-clear seawater, which exceeds all marine mammal regulations currently proposed for the United Arab Emirates.

Dolphin Bay will become Dubai’s first and only marine animal rescue and rehabilitation facility. It will be the only centre for stranded animals in the Arabian Gulf. Every year, many injured marine mammals are stranded and need assistance. Now with the new facility, some of these animals can be rescued, rehabilitated and returned to the wild.

The centre will also provide a broad range of educational opportunities including graduate and undergraduate programming, currently being developed in conjunction with universities and local educational institutions.

With the addition of Dolphin Bay, Atlantis, The Palm will employ over 165 marine mammal specialists, biologists, veterinarians and other experts to oversee its marine animal exhibits, which, along with Atlantis, Paradise Island, count as the largest in the world, with more than 250 species and 65,000 marine animals.

The dolphins came to Dolphin Bay from an existing dolphin facility, the Solomon Islands Marine Mammal Education Center. All local and international wildlife laws were strictly followed in bringing the new Dolphin Bay family to Dubai. Frank Murru, Kerzner International’s Chief Marine Officer, explains, “The care of our dolphins is our first and foremost concern and we carefully reviewed every step in the process. Dubai and the Solomon Islands are both members of CITES, an international organisation, which governs the trade in wildlife.”

At Dolphin Bay, the animals will receive constant world-class care and supervision provided by a dedicated team of 85 marine mammal specialists, veterinarians and laboratory technicians. Murru comments, “We have some of the most experienced people in the world involved in the daily care of our animals. Given the very close and trusting relationships we develop with our dolphins, we know them as well as we know our own families.”

A dolphin, which lost its tail, is now getting another chance to swim.

Winter lost her tail a couple of years ago in a crab trap. Now, with the help of a prosthetic, she’s learning to swim and jump.

In 2005, Winter was found near Titusville, tangled in a crab trap line. She was dehydrated and near death. The blood circulation to her tail was cut off by the trap line, so veterinarians had to amputate.

She was taken to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium where teams of volunteers kept her alive. Now, two-years later, she has adjusted to her new tail.

A large white animal, swimming in the Yangtze River, has been videotaped by a Chinese man.

The animal, scientists state, belongs to a dolphin species unique to China and feared extinct.

That was made official by Chinese authorities last Wednesday.

An international team failed to find a single baiji, the name given to the long-beaked, nearly blind dolphin, on a 38-day search along the Yangtze in November-December 2006, and the last confirmed sighting of the dolphin was in 2004 (http://www.baiji.org/expeditions/1/overview.html).

Consequently, the species has been classified as critically endangered and possibly (or even “functionally”) extinct.

So the videotape taken by Zeng Yujiang, the man who saw the baiji, may perhaps renew slim hopes for the survival of the creature, traditionally viewed as a deity by local people but whose extinction would have been attributed to human action.

Yujiang has to admit “I never saw such a big thing in the water before, so I filmed it” before adding that “it jumped out of water several times”.

In the beginning of the 20th century, 5000 baijis were to be found in China. In 1990 they were 200, and only 7 have been seen in 1998.

Karen Baragona, in charge of the WWF’s Yangtze River basin program, expresses hopes that the Baiji will not go the way of the dodo bird, pointing the fact that some species have been brought back from the brink of extinction, like the white rhinos and the southern right whale.

Wang Ding, a leading expert on the species from the hydrobiology institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences speaks for the conservationists, stating that “we are very glad to see Baiji still exist in the world”.

In Switzerland, August Pfluger, a noted Baiji expert and head of Swiss Baiji.org, says “we declared the animal extinct so if there is one left, that would be fantastic”.

It’s sleek, fast, cute — and pink.

A charter-boat captain from Lake Charles, La., photographed a rare pink dolphin a couple of weeks ago in Calcasieu Lake, an estuary just north of the Gulf of Mexico in southwestern Louisiana.

According to Calcasieu Charter Service’s Web site, Capt. Erik Rue was on the lake June 24 with fishing customers when five dolphins came into view — four normal-looking gray ones, and a bright pink one that appeared to be an adolescent.

“It appears to be an uncanny freak of nature, an albino dolphin, with reddish eyes and glossy pink skin,” the Web site reads. “It is small in comparison to the others it is traveling with and appears to be a youngster traveling with mama.”

There is a species of pink dolphin that lives in the Amazon River in South America, but this one appears to be a more common bottlenose dolphin.

Ireland — SCIENTISTS are anchoring listening devices deep in the Shannon Estuary to eavesdrop on the “conversations” of dolphins as part of a major study on the cetaceans.

Special electronic microphones called T-pods will record the mammals as they click and whistle at each other at the mouth of the country’s great river.

It is part of a study which will gather data on the population of more than 200 dolphins in the estuary.

The team has spent years photographing the population of dolphins and is now able to recognise individuals by battle scars on their dorsal fins and other markings.

Dr Simon Berrow, co-ordinator of the Shannon Dolphin and Wildlife Foundation, said that the recording of the mammals’ noises will help them learn more about their behaviour. “We put the T-pods down on the ocean floor and they can detect the echo-location click of porpoises and dolphins.

“They work day and night and in all sorts of weather so they are a brilliant way of finding out where dolphins go. They could determine foraging noises and distinguish between dolphins and porpoises. We will be able to find out where their important feeding areas are and where they go in different seasons.”

Dr Berrow said there are four T-pods in place and they expect to have 10 by next year. The marine biologist said it would provide vital information to scientists about important conservation areas for the much-loved mammals.

He said: “For instance, if they want to put a gas terminal in the ocean we will know whether it is an important dolphin site by the use of the acoustic devices.

“Sometimes the dolphins will only go somewhere for the winter or the summer, so we can tell developers they can work on the site when the dolphins are gone.

“It’s a great way of determining exactly where they go and establishing patterns.”

He said the Shannon Estuary has the largest resident group of dolphins in the country and is one of the most important sites in Europe.

“It’s been here hundreds or even thousands of years. The dolphins are in the estuary all year around. It has an abundance of food, areas for resting and areas for calving.

“It has all the requirements dolphins need. It’s not just somewhere for feeding, it’s somewhere for mating and calving. It’s a sheltered area too, so they can avoid predators like killer whales.”

A family from Evansville is set to fulfill one of their biggest dreams thanks to the Wish Upon a Star Program.

The Adler family’s twin sons got their wish to swim with the dolphins in Key Largo, Florida as part of a therapy program. Adam and Aaron are 18 years old and have battled disabilities their entire lives.

The Adlers say the boys have been their greatest challenge and blessing and realize they are about to embark on the trip of a lifetime.

Beverly Adler, mother of the twins, says, “We first heard about the dolphin therapy program about 13 years ago and never dreamed that we’d get to go, so this is an absolute dream come true. The boys love the water; they love animals, and they say that the dolphins have a special connection with special needs children.”