WEBVTT 00:00:00.567 --> 00:00:02.844 Well, now we're going to the Bahamas to meet 00:00:02.844 --> 00:00:05.087 a remarkable group of dolphins that I've been working with 00:00:05.087 --> 00:00:08.554 in the wild for the last 28 years. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:08.554 --> 00:00:11.749 Now I'm interested in dolphins because of their large brains 00:00:11.749 --> 00:00:13.863 and what they might be doing with all that brainpower 00:00:13.863 --> 00:00:15.338 in the wild. 00:00:15.338 --> 00:00:17.610 And we know they use some of that brainpower 00:00:17.610 --> 00:00:19.774 for just living complicated lives, 00:00:19.774 --> 00:00:22.634 but what do we really know about dolphin intelligence? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:22.634 --> 00:00:24.338 Well, we know a few things. 00:00:24.338 --> 00:00:26.527 We know that their brain-to-body ratio, 00:00:26.527 --> 00:00:28.497 which is a physical measure of intelligence, 00:00:28.497 --> 00:00:30.993 is second only to humans. 00:00:30.993 --> 00:00:32.551 Cognitively, they can understand 00:00:32.551 --> 00:00:34.980 artificially-created languages. 00:00:34.980 --> 00:00:38.121 And they pass self-awareness tests in mirrors. 00:00:38.121 --> 00:00:40.225 And in some parts of the world, they use tools, 00:00:40.225 --> 00:00:42.540 like sponges to hunt fish. 00:00:42.540 --> 00:00:45.191 But there's one big question left: 00:00:45.191 --> 00:00:47.058 do they have a language, and if so, 00:00:47.058 --> 00:00:49.462 what are they talking about? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:49.462 --> 00:00:52.905 So decades ago, not years ago, 00:00:52.905 --> 00:00:55.068 I set out to find a place in the world 00:00:55.068 --> 00:00:56.866 where I could observe dolphins underwater 00:00:56.866 --> 00:01:00.109 to try to crack the code of their communication system. 00:01:00.109 --> 00:01:02.723 Now in most parts of the world, the water's pretty murky, 00:01:02.723 --> 00:01:05.962 so it's very hard to observe animals underwater, 00:01:05.962 --> 00:01:07.721 but I found a community of dolphins that live 00:01:07.721 --> 00:01:10.747 in these beautiful, clear, shallow sandbanks of the Bahamas 00:01:10.747 --> 00:01:12.989 which are just east of Florida. 00:01:12.989 --> 00:01:15.400 And they spend their daytime resting and socializing 00:01:15.400 --> 00:01:17.270 in the safety of the shallows, but at night, 00:01:17.270 --> 00:01:21.069 they go off the edge and hunt in deep water. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:21.069 --> 00:01:24.893 Now, it's not a bad place to be a researcher, either. 00:01:24.893 --> 00:01:27.069 So we go out for about five months every summer 00:01:27.069 --> 00:01:31.271 in a 20-meter catamaran, and we live, sleep and work 00:01:31.271 --> 00:01:33.349 at sea for weeks at a time. 00:01:33.349 --> 00:01:35.989 My main tool is an underwater video with a hydrophone, 00:01:35.989 --> 00:01:37.939 which is an underwater microphone, and this is so 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:40.033 I can correlate sound and behavior. 00:01:40.033 --> 00:01:41.679 And most of our work's pretty non-invasive. 00:01:41.679 --> 00:01:44.501 We try to follow dolphin etiquette while we're in the water, 00:01:44.501 --> 00:01:47.629 since we're actually observing them physically in the water. 00:01:47.629 --> 00:01:50.769 Now, Atlantic spotted dolphins are a really nice species 00:01:50.769 --> 00:01:52.733 to work with for a couple of reasons. 00:01:52.733 --> 00:01:55.664 They're born without spots, and they get spots with age, 00:01:55.664 --> 00:01:58.698 and they go through pretty distinct developmental phases, 00:01:58.698 --> 00:02:00.640 so that's fun to track their behavior. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:04.093 And by about the age of 15, they're fully spotted black and white. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:04.093 --> 00:02:06.516 Now the mother you see here is Mugsy. 00:02:06.516 --> 00:02:08.501 She's 35 years old in this shot, 00:02:08.501 --> 00:02:11.691 but dolphins can actually live into their early 50s. 00:02:11.691 --> 00:02:14.994 And like all the dolphins in our community, 00:02:14.994 --> 00:02:17.765 we photographed Mugsy and tracked her little spots 00:02:17.765 --> 00:02:19.507 and nicks in her dorsal fin, 00:02:19.507 --> 00:02:21.710 and also the unique spot patterns 00:02:21.710 --> 00:02:24.053 as she matured over time. NOTE Paragraph 00:02:24.053 --> 00:02:26.712 Now, young dolphins learn a lot as they're growing up, 00:02:26.712 --> 00:02:29.787 and they use their teenage years to practice social skills, 00:02:29.787 --> 00:02:32.140 and at about the age of nine, the females 00:02:32.140 --> 00:02:34.810 become sexually mature, so they can get pregnant, 00:02:34.810 --> 00:02:36.781 and the males mature quite a bit later, 00:02:36.781 --> 00:02:38.896 at around 15 years of age. 00:02:38.896 --> 00:02:40.636 And dolphins are very promiscuous, 00:02:40.636 --> 00:02:43.498 and so we have to determine who the fathers are, 00:02:43.498 --> 00:02:45.952 so we do paternity tests by collecting fecal material 00:02:45.952 --> 00:02:48.816 out of the water and extracting DNA. 00:02:48.816 --> 00:02:51.280 So what that means is, after 28 years, 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:53.688 we are tracking three generations, 00:02:53.688 --> 00:02:56.032 including grandmothers and grandfathers. 00:02:56.032 --> 00:02:58.648 Now, dolphins are natural acousticians. 00:02:58.648 --> 00:03:00.932 They make sounds 10 times as high 00:03:00.932 --> 00:03:03.120 and hear sounds 10 times as high as we do. 00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:05.715 But they have other communication signals they use. 00:03:05.715 --> 00:03:09.056 They have good vision, so they use body postures to communicate. 00:03:09.056 --> 00:03:11.256 They have taste, not smell. 00:03:11.256 --> 00:03:13.296 And they have touch. 00:03:13.296 --> 00:03:15.492 And sound can actually be felt in the water, 00:03:15.492 --> 00:03:18.523 because the acoustic impedance of tissue and water's about the same. 00:03:18.523 --> 00:03:22.153 So dolphins can buzz and tickle each other at a distance. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:22.153 --> 00:03:24.693 Now, we do know some things about how sounds are used 00:03:24.693 --> 00:03:26.102 with certain behaviors. 00:03:26.102 --> 00:03:28.201 Now, the signature whistle is a whistle 00:03:28.201 --> 00:03:32.900 that's specific to an individual dolphin, and it's like a name. (Dolphin whistling noises) 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:35.076 And this is the best-studied sound, 00:03:35.076 --> 00:03:36.705 because it's easy to measure, really, 00:03:36.705 --> 00:03:38.662 and you'd find this whistle when mothers and calves 00:03:38.662 --> 00:03:40.799 are reuniting, for example. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:40.799 --> 00:03:43.857 Another well studied sound are echolocation clicks. 00:03:43.857 --> 00:03:47.103 This is the dolphin's sonar. (Dolphin echolocation noises) 00:03:47.103 --> 00:03:50.420 And they use these clicks to hunt and feed. 00:03:50.420 --> 00:03:52.808 But they can also tightly pack these clicks together 00:03:52.808 --> 00:03:54.943 into buzzes and use them socially. 00:03:54.943 --> 00:03:56.921 For example, males will stimulate a female 00:03:56.921 --> 00:03:59.425 during a courtship chase. 00:03:59.425 --> 00:04:01.752 You know, I've been buzzed in the water. 00:04:01.752 --> 00:04:03.684 (Laughter) 00:04:03.684 --> 00:04:06.065 Don't tell anyone. It's a secret. 00:04:06.065 --> 00:04:08.361 And you can really feel the sound. That was my point with that. 00:04:08.361 --> 00:04:12.093 (Laughter) NOTE Paragraph 00:04:12.093 --> 00:04:14.618 So dolphins are also political animals, 00:04:14.618 --> 00:04:16.929 so they have to resolve conflicts. 00:04:16.929 --> 00:04:18.572 (Dolphin noises) 00:04:18.572 --> 00:04:20.945 And they use these burst-pulsed sounds as well as 00:04:20.945 --> 00:04:23.353 their head-to-head behaviors when they're fighting. 00:04:23.353 --> 00:04:25.425 And these are very unstudied sounds 00:04:25.425 --> 00:04:27.563 because they're hard to measure. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:27.563 --> 00:04:30.282 Now this is some video of a typical dolphin fight. 00:04:30.282 --> 00:04:32.303 (Dolphin noises) 00:04:32.303 --> 00:04:34.393 So you're going to see two groups, 00:04:34.393 --> 00:04:36.601 and you're going to see the head-to-head posturing, 00:04:36.601 --> 00:04:39.945 some open mouths, 00:04:39.945 --> 00:04:42.101 lots of squawking. 00:04:42.101 --> 00:04:45.686 There's a bubble. 00:04:45.686 --> 00:04:48.269 And basically, one of these groups will kind of back off 00:04:48.269 --> 00:04:49.923 and everything will resolve fine, 00:04:49.923 --> 00:04:53.583 and it doesn't really escalate into violence too much. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:53.583 --> 00:04:55.887 Now, in the Bahamas, we also have resident bottlenose 00:04:55.887 --> 00:04:58.831 that interact socially with the spotted dolphins. 00:04:58.831 --> 00:05:01.542 For example, they babysit each other's calves. 00:05:01.542 --> 00:05:03.719 The males have dominance displays that they use 00:05:03.719 --> 00:05:06.119 when they're chasing each other's females. 00:05:06.119 --> 00:05:08.541 And the two species actually form temporary alliances 00:05:08.541 --> 00:05:10.919 when they're chasing sharks away. 00:05:10.919 --> 00:05:13.830 And one of the mechanisms they use to communicate 00:05:13.830 --> 00:05:15.830 their coordination is synchrony. 00:05:15.830 --> 00:05:18.941 They synchronize their sounds and their body postures 00:05:18.941 --> 00:05:21.075 to look bigger and sound stronger. 00:05:21.075 --> 00:05:22.551 (Dolphins noises) 00:05:22.551 --> 00:05:25.143 Now, these are bottlenose dolphins, 00:05:25.143 --> 00:05:26.914 and you'll see them starting to synchronize 00:05:26.914 --> 00:05:28.815 their behavior and their sounds. 00:05:28.815 --> 00:05:33.183 (Dolphin noises) 00:05:33.183 --> 00:05:35.429 You see, they're synchronizing with their partner 00:05:35.429 --> 00:05:39.401 as well as the other dyad. 00:05:39.401 --> 00:05:41.915 I wish I was that coordinated. NOTE Paragraph 00:05:44.731 --> 00:05:47.805 Now, it's important to remember that you're only hearing 00:05:47.805 --> 00:05:49.700 the human-audible parts of dolphin sounds, 00:05:49.700 --> 00:05:51.863 and dolphins make ultrasonic sounds, 00:05:51.863 --> 00:05:53.421 and we use special equipment in the water 00:05:53.421 --> 00:05:55.158 to collect these sounds. 00:05:55.158 --> 00:05:57.723 Now, researchers have actually measured whistle complexity 00:05:57.723 --> 00:05:59.786 using information theory, 00:05:59.786 --> 00:06:03.677 and whistles rate very high relative to even human languages. 00:06:03.677 --> 00:06:07.529 But burst-pulsed sounds is a bit of a mystery. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:07.529 --> 00:06:10.616 Now, these are three spectragrams. 00:06:10.616 --> 00:06:13.291 Two are human words, and one is a dolphin vocalizing. 00:06:13.291 --> 00:06:17.163 So just take a guess in your mind which one is the dolphin. 00:06:19.150 --> 00:06:21.743 Now, it turns out burst-pulsed sounds actually look 00:06:21.743 --> 00:06:24.247 a bit like human phonemes. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:24.247 --> 00:06:25.513 Now, one way to crack the code 00:06:25.513 --> 00:06:28.058 is to interpret these signals and figure out what they mean, 00:06:28.058 --> 00:06:32.056 but it's a difficult job, and we actually don't have a Rosetta Stone yet. 00:06:32.056 --> 00:06:34.178 But a second way to crack the code 00:06:34.178 --> 00:06:36.143 is to develop some technology, 00:06:36.143 --> 00:06:38.323 an interface to do two-way communication, 00:06:38.323 --> 00:06:40.687 and that's what we've been trying to do in the Bahamas 00:06:40.687 --> 00:06:43.127 and in real time. 00:06:43.127 --> 00:06:45.783 Now, scientists have used keyboard interfaces 00:06:45.783 --> 00:06:47.847 to try to bridge the gap with species 00:06:47.847 --> 00:06:49.935 including chimpanzees and dolphins. 00:06:49.935 --> 00:06:52.960 This underwater keyboard in Orlando, Florida, 00:06:52.960 --> 00:06:54.702 at the Epcot Center, was actually 00:06:54.702 --> 00:06:57.519 the most sophisticated ever two-way interface designed 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:00.383 for humans and dolphins to work together under the water 00:07:00.383 --> 00:07:02.310 and exchange information. 00:07:02.310 --> 00:07:04.930 So we wanted to develop an interface like this 00:07:04.930 --> 00:07:07.300 in the Bahamas, but in a more natural setting. 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:09.467 And one of the reasons we thought we could do this 00:07:09.467 --> 00:07:11.489 is because the dolphins were starting to show us 00:07:11.489 --> 00:07:13.093 a lot of mutual curiosity. 00:07:13.093 --> 00:07:16.004 They were spontaneously mimicking our vocalizations 00:07:16.004 --> 00:07:18.324 and our postures, and they were also inviting us 00:07:18.324 --> 00:07:20.957 into dolphin games. 00:07:20.957 --> 00:07:23.604 Now, dolphins are social mammals, so they love to play, 00:07:23.604 --> 00:07:26.924 and one of their favorite games is to drag seaweed, 00:07:26.924 --> 00:07:30.036 or sargassum in this case, around. 00:07:30.036 --> 00:07:32.172 And they're very adept. They like to drag it 00:07:32.172 --> 00:07:36.492 and drop it from appendage to appendage. 00:07:36.492 --> 00:07:39.188 Now in this footage, the adult is Caroh. 00:07:39.188 --> 00:07:43.060 She's 25 years old here, and this is her newborn, Cobalt, 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:45.744 and he's just learning how to play this game. 00:07:45.744 --> 00:07:47.470 (Dolphin noises) 00:07:47.470 --> 00:07:51.940 She's kind of teasing him and taunting him. 00:07:51.940 --> 00:07:56.369 He really wants that sargassum. 00:07:56.369 --> 00:07:59.280 Now, when dolphins solicit humans for this game, 00:07:59.280 --> 00:08:02.331 they'll often sink vertically in the water, 00:08:02.331 --> 00:08:04.760 and they'll have a little sargassum on their flipper, 00:08:04.760 --> 00:08:07.379 and they'll sort of nudge it and drop it sometimes 00:08:07.379 --> 00:08:08.913 on the bottom and let us go get it, 00:08:08.913 --> 00:08:11.129 and then we'll have a little seaweed keep away game. 00:08:11.129 --> 00:08:12.965 But when we don't dive down and get it, 00:08:12.965 --> 00:08:14.938 they'll bring it to the surface 00:08:14.938 --> 00:08:18.112 and they'll sort of wave it in front of us on their tail 00:08:18.112 --> 00:08:20.198 and drop it for us like they do their calves, 00:08:20.198 --> 00:08:22.400 and then we'll pick it up and have a game. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:22.400 --> 00:08:24.750 And so we started thinking, well, wouldn't it be neat 00:08:24.750 --> 00:08:27.568 to build some technology that would allow the dolphins 00:08:27.568 --> 00:08:30.843 to request these things in real time, their favorite toys? 00:08:30.843 --> 00:08:33.213 So the original vision was to have a keyboard 00:08:33.213 --> 00:08:35.386 hanging from the boat attached to a computer, 00:08:35.386 --> 00:08:37.901 and the divers and dolphins would activate the keys 00:08:37.901 --> 00:08:40.791 on the keypad and happily exchange information 00:08:40.791 --> 00:08:42.949 and request toys from each other. 00:08:42.949 --> 00:08:44.743 But we quickly found out that dolphins simply 00:08:44.743 --> 00:08:47.869 were not going to hang around the boat using a keyboard. 00:08:47.869 --> 00:08:50.005 They've got better things to do in the wild. 00:08:50.005 --> 00:08:52.269 They might do it in captivity, but in the wild -- NOTE Paragraph 00:08:52.269 --> 00:08:54.994 So we built a portable keyboard that we could push through the water, 00:08:54.994 --> 00:08:57.734 and we labeled four objects they like to play with, 00:08:57.734 --> 00:09:00.675 the scarf, rope, sargassum, and also had a bow ride, 00:09:00.675 --> 00:09:02.786 which is a fun activity for a dolphin. (Whistle) 00:09:02.786 --> 00:09:04.629 And that's the scarf whistle, 00:09:04.629 --> 00:09:07.547 which is also associated with a visual symbol. 00:09:07.547 --> 00:09:09.841 And these are artificially created whistles. 00:09:09.841 --> 00:09:12.469 They're outside the dolphin's normal repertoire, 00:09:12.469 --> 00:09:14.889 but they're easily mimicked by the dolphins. 00:09:14.889 --> 00:09:19.068 And I spent four years with my colleagues Adam Pack and Fabienne Delfour, 00:09:19.068 --> 00:09:21.289 working out in the field with this keyboard 00:09:21.289 --> 00:09:23.933 using it with each other to do requests for toys 00:09:23.933 --> 00:09:25.592 while the dolphins were watching. 00:09:25.592 --> 00:09:26.959 And the dolphins could get in on the game. 00:09:26.959 --> 00:09:28.894 They could point at the visual object, 00:09:28.894 --> 00:09:31.368 or they could mimic the whistle. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:31.368 --> 00:09:34.736 Now this is video of a session. 00:09:34.736 --> 00:09:36.937 The diver here has a rope toy, 00:09:36.937 --> 00:09:39.185 and I'm on the keyboard on the left, 00:09:39.185 --> 00:09:41.833 and I've just played the rope key, 00:09:41.833 --> 00:09:45.044 and that's the request for the toy from the human. 00:09:45.044 --> 00:09:48.247 So I've got the rope, I'm diving down, 00:09:48.247 --> 00:09:50.881 and I'm basically trying to get the dolphin's attention, 00:09:50.881 --> 00:09:51.949 because they're kind of like little kids. 00:09:51.949 --> 00:09:54.506 You have to keep their attention. 00:09:54.506 --> 00:09:59.193 I'm going to drop the rope, see if they come over. 00:09:59.193 --> 00:10:01.697 Here they come, 00:10:01.697 --> 00:10:03.006 and then they're going to pick up the rope 00:10:03.006 --> 00:10:04.612 and drag it around as a toy. 00:10:04.612 --> 00:10:06.397 Now, I'm at the keyboard on the left, 00:10:06.397 --> 00:10:08.707 and this is actually the first time that we tried this. 00:10:08.707 --> 00:10:11.573 I'm going to try to request this toy, the rope toy, 00:10:11.573 --> 00:10:14.141 from the dolphins using the rope sound. 00:10:14.141 --> 00:10:18.452 Let's see if they might actually understand what that means. 00:10:19.752 --> 00:10:20.978 (Whistle) 00:10:20.978 --> 00:10:23.678 That's the rope whistle. 00:10:23.678 --> 00:10:24.975 Up come the dolphins, 00:10:24.975 --> 00:10:28.580 and drop off the rope, yay. Wow. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:28.580 --> 00:10:31.564 (Applause) NOTE Paragraph 00:10:31.564 --> 00:10:33.324 So this is only once. 00:10:33.324 --> 00:10:36.132 We don't know for sure if they really understand the function of the whistles. 00:10:36.132 --> 00:10:38.600 Okay, so here's a second toy in the water. 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:40.389 This is a scarf toy, and I'm trying to lead the dolphin 00:10:40.389 --> 00:10:42.726 over to the keyboard to show her 00:10:42.726 --> 00:10:45.916 the visual and the acoustic signal. 00:10:45.916 --> 00:10:48.983 Now this dolphin, we call her "the scarf thief," 00:10:48.983 --> 00:10:52.476 because over the years she's absconded 00:10:52.476 --> 00:10:55.054 with about 12 scarves. 00:10:55.054 --> 00:10:58.828 In fact, we think she has a boutique somewhere in the Bahamas. 00:10:58.828 --> 00:11:02.522 So I'm reaching over. She's got the scarf on her right side. 00:11:02.522 --> 00:11:04.286 And we try to not touch the animals too much, 00:11:04.286 --> 00:11:06.422 we really don't want to over-habituate them. 00:11:06.422 --> 00:11:08.537 And I'm trying to lead her back to the keyboard. 00:11:08.537 --> 00:11:12.483 And the diver there is going to activate the scarf sound 00:11:12.483 --> 00:11:14.294 to request the scarf. 00:11:14.294 --> 00:11:17.043 So I try to give her the scarf. 00:11:17.043 --> 00:11:20.018 Whoop. Almost lost it. 00:11:20.018 --> 00:11:22.934 But this is the moment where everything becomes possible. 00:11:22.934 --> 00:11:24.679 The dolphin's at the keyboard. 00:11:24.679 --> 00:11:26.237 You've got full attention. 00:11:26.237 --> 00:11:28.493 And this sometimes went on for hours. 00:11:28.493 --> 00:11:29.948 And I wanted to share this video with you 00:11:29.948 --> 00:11:31.733 not to show you any big breakthroughs, 00:11:31.733 --> 00:11:32.853 because they haven't happened yet, 00:11:32.853 --> 00:11:35.479 but to show you the level of intention and focus 00:11:35.479 --> 00:11:38.126 that these dolphins have, and interest in the system. NOTE Paragraph 00:11:38.126 --> 00:11:40.147 And because of this, we really decided we needed 00:11:40.147 --> 00:11:42.241 some more sophisticated technology. 00:11:42.241 --> 00:11:44.441 So we joined forces with Georgia Tech, 00:11:44.441 --> 00:11:47.117 with Thad Starner's wearable computing group, 00:11:47.117 --> 00:11:49.079 to build us an underwater wearable computer 00:11:49.079 --> 00:11:50.945 that we're calling CHAT. [CHAT: Cetacean Hearing And Telemetry] 00:11:50.945 --> 00:11:52.981 Now, instead of pushing a keyboard through the water, 00:11:52.981 --> 00:11:56.599 the diver's wearing the complete system, and it's acoustic only, 00:11:56.599 --> 00:11:59.607 so basically the diver activates the sounds on a keypad 00:11:59.607 --> 00:12:00.786 on the forearm, 00:12:00.786 --> 00:12:02.974 the sounds go out through an underwater speaker, 00:12:02.974 --> 00:12:04.384 if a dolphin mimics the whistle 00:12:04.384 --> 00:12:06.893 or a human plays the whistle, the sounds come in 00:12:06.893 --> 00:12:09.469 and are localized by two hydrophones. 00:12:09.469 --> 00:12:12.816 The computer can localize who requested the toy 00:12:12.816 --> 00:12:14.853 if there's a word match. 00:12:14.853 --> 00:12:17.417 And the real power of the system is in the real-time 00:12:17.417 --> 00:12:19.334 sound recognition, so we can respond to the dolphins 00:12:19.334 --> 00:12:21.461 quickly and accurately. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:21.461 --> 00:12:25.645 And we're at prototype stage, but this is how we hope it will play out. 00:12:25.645 --> 00:12:28.923 So Diver A and Diver B both have a wearable computer 00:12:28.923 --> 00:12:31.517 and the dolphin hears the whistle as a whistle, 00:12:31.517 --> 00:12:33.997 the diver hears the whistle as a whistle in the water, 00:12:33.997 --> 00:12:36.429 but also as a word through bone conduction. 00:12:36.429 --> 00:12:38.678 So Diver A plays the scarf whistle 00:12:38.678 --> 00:12:40.574 or Diver B plays the sargassum whistle 00:12:40.574 --> 00:12:42.990 to request a toy from whoever has it. 00:12:42.990 --> 00:12:46.199 What we hope will happen is that the dolphin mimics the whistle, 00:12:46.199 --> 00:12:49.369 and if Diver A has the sargassum, if that's the sound 00:12:49.369 --> 00:12:52.114 that was played and requested, 00:12:52.114 --> 00:12:55.962 then the diver will give the sargassum to the requesting dolphin 00:12:55.962 --> 00:12:57.778 and they'll swim away happily into the sunset 00:12:57.778 --> 00:13:00.895 playing sargassum for forever. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:00.895 --> 00:13:04.275 Now, how far can this kind of communication go? 00:13:04.275 --> 00:13:08.164 Well, CHAT is designed specifically to empower the dolphins 00:13:08.164 --> 00:13:09.746 to request things from us. 00:13:09.746 --> 00:13:12.139 It's designed to really be two-way. 00:13:12.139 --> 00:13:15.418 Now, will they learn to mimic the whistles functionally? 00:13:15.418 --> 00:13:17.299 We hope so and we think so. 00:13:17.299 --> 00:13:19.443 But as we decode their natural sounds, 00:13:19.443 --> 00:13:23.031 we're also planning to put those back into the computerized system. 00:13:23.031 --> 00:13:26.531 For example, right now we can put their own signature whistles 00:13:26.531 --> 00:13:30.626 in the computer and request to interact with a specific dolphin. 00:13:30.626 --> 00:13:34.356 Likewise, we can create our own whistles, 00:13:34.356 --> 00:13:36.675 our own whistle names, and let the dolphins 00:13:36.675 --> 00:13:39.443 request specific divers to interact with. NOTE Paragraph 00:13:39.443 --> 00:13:42.364 Now it may be that all our mobile technology 00:13:42.364 --> 00:13:45.500 will actually be the same technology that helps us 00:13:45.500 --> 00:13:48.731 communicate with another species down the road. 00:13:48.731 --> 00:13:52.363 In the case of a dolphin, you know, it's a species that, 00:13:52.363 --> 00:13:55.746 well, they're probably close to our intelligence in many ways 00:13:55.746 --> 00:13:58.289 and we might not be able to admit that right now, 00:13:58.289 --> 00:14:00.113 but they live in quite a different environment, 00:14:00.113 --> 00:14:04.613 and you still have to bridge the gap with the sensory systems. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:04.613 --> 00:14:06.297 I mean, imagine what it would be like 00:14:06.297 --> 00:14:07.906 to really understand the mind 00:14:07.906 --> 00:14:11.691 of another intelligent species on the planet. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:11.691 --> 00:14:13.039 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:17.963 (Applause)