How smart are dolphins? - Lori Marino
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Dolphins are one of the smartest animal species on Earth. In fact, their encephalization quotient (their brain size compared to the average for their body size) is second only to humans. But exactly how smart are they? Lori Marino details some incredible facts about dolphins.
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Dr. Lori Marino
- Producer Zedem Media
- Director Michael Kalopaidis
- Artist Jeanne Bornet
- Animator Maria Savva
- Sound Designer Andreas Trachonitis
- Script Editor Alex Gendler
- Narrator Addison Anderson
by David Chester
David Chester
Petach Tikva, Israel
Lesson in progress
The Dolphins Trick. Compared to the amount of muscle to body mass, dolphins can swim at about 3 times the speed of most other normal fish. This fact was first measured and investigated in 1948 and the reason is of great significance.
They must have an easy time catching food, but how they do it is by reducing the surface or skin-friction of their bodies compared to the hydraulic drag experienced by the more normal kinds of fish. The skin-friction increases greatly when the local flow becomes turbulent. Dolphins have muscles beneath their skin and are able to change their shape to reduce the drag producing profile on their skin and to stop it becoming turbulent. The dolphin feels a little tickling sensation, says to itself "its that boundary-layer gone turbulent again!" and changes its shape to cancel the offending patch of rough water. Believe it or not?
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