• Question: are dolphins clever ?

    Asked by becky to Ashley, Bernard, Carsten, MariaMagdalena, Monique on 16 Nov 2015.
    • Photo: Monique Henson

      Monique Henson answered on 16 Nov 2015:

      Not as clever as mice!

      … That was a joke, stolen from the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

      In all seriousness though, I think there’s evidence that they are. I think there’s evidence that they can solve problems, and some people think they have some self-awareness. That’s not to say they are as clever, or cleverer than humans, but that they have some intelligence. I’m not an expert on dolphins though, so I don’t know. I think it must be quite hard to study too – dolphins in the wild might behave differently to those in captivity (i.e. those in zoos or similar) and it’s hard to study dolphins in the wild.

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