All language subtitles for The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins (2014) 720p.10bit.WEBRip.x265-budgetbits

Narrator: buried in the ruins
Of this building

Are the remnants
Of a broken dream.

Here, more than fifty years ago,
Began a controversial experiment

That many believed would lead
To a startling breakthrough.

Man: it wasn't science fiction.

It was a breakthrough

Of potentially
World historic significance.

Narrator:
The experiment involved

Communicating with dolphins.

And if successful, it would
Not only change our world;

It would open up the door
To other worlds beyond us.

Man: we wanted to understand
As much as we could

About what the challenges
Were going to be

In communicating with
Other intelligent species.

Woman: come right out
With the english, peter.

Don't even think
In your own language.

[dolphin squeaking]

Narrator: but after years
Of intense effort,

The dream spiraled
Out of control.

Woman: he said, "Alright,
I'm gonna inject the lsd."

And I said, "Whoa! I will have
Nothing to do with that."

Narrator: in its wake,
The research left devastation.

Woman: the worst experiment
In the world,

I've read somewhere.

Narrator:
Now, for the first time,

Those with knowledge of this
Notorious experiment speak,

And they tell a story

Almost too shocking
To be believed.

If there's one thing
That defines us as human,

It's our ability
To think and use language

To communicate with each other.

But we don't just talk
To other people.

Man: do this, vickie.

Narrator: in the 1950s,

Researchers tried communicating
With the great apes,

Teaching them sign language

And even teaching english
To chimpanzees.

Man: another sound
Resembles the letter "K."

Vickie, sit up, girl.

Come on.

Do this. Kuh.

[vickie sputters]

Man: vickie has to hold her hand
Over her nose.

Narrator: but these experiments
Didn't consistently demonstrate

That animals could talk to us,

Or that they could
Think independently.

Yet one pioneering researcher
Refused to give up on the idea.

His name was john lilly.

Graham burnett: lilly's
A fascinating character.

He was a super smart,
Physics-oriented caltech grad

Who, during
The second world war,

Ends up doing experimental work
On american pilots.

And then subsequently,
As his research life develops,

Increasingly interested
In animals.

Narrator: in the 1950s,

Lilly was
A respected brain scientist

Working for
The u.S. Government's

National institute
Of mental health.

His focus was what
The brains of animals

Could reveal about our own.

And for his subject
He chose an animal

With a brain of surprising
Size and complexity--

The bottlenose dolphin.

[squeaking]

Graham: this is a big brain.

This is a bigger brain than
We're accustomed to working on.

In fact it's a bigger brain
Than a human brain.

Narrator:
About 30% bigger, in fact.

Lilly's search
For dolphins to study

Took him
To a well-known aquarium

That doubled as an underwater
Movie sound stage.

Graham:
Marine studios in florida

Is one of the first institutions
In the postwar period

To keep the bottlenose dolphin
In captivity.

Lilly makes his way down there
In order to have access

To some of these animals
For experimental purposes.

Narrator: lilly began doing
His brain experiments

On the dolphins
At marine studios

And recording their reactions.

One day, in 1957,

This research
Triggered a behavior

That would change
The course of his life.

The first to spot it
Was his wife mary.

While john and his team
Were working nearby,

She noticed
Something they'd missed.

Mary lilly: I came in.

I heard john talking.

John lilly: chi chi. Chi chi.
More, more fish.

[dolphin squeaking]

Mary: and then I realized

It was hearing their voices
And imitating them.

I went down to where
They were operating

And told them
That this was going on,

And they were quite startled.

John: more, more fish.

[dolphin squeaking]

Narrator: lilly was convinced

The dolphin
Was imitating the humans,

Trying to speak to them.

Graham:
For the rest of his career,

Lilly would write about and
Talk about that moment in 1957

Where it all
Popped open for him.

He thinks that this indicates
Ambition on their part

To communicate with the beings
Around them that are human.

Narrator: if he was right,

It would be one of
The biggest discoveries

In the history of science.

Graham: a breakthrough
Of not just scientific

But potentially even
World historic significance.

Humans were being displaced
From their position

Atop the cosmos
Of intelligent creatures.

We were not alone.

[squeaking]

Announcer:
And now...Here's jack.

[applause]

Narrator:
News of lilly's research

Into dolphin communication

Captured
The public's imagination.

For the first time,
Here was another species

That seemed to be trying
To make contact with us.

And in 1961 he published a book,
"Man and dolphin,"

Revealing his findings.

Jack paar: doc, what was
Your prediction in your book

That caused such comment?

John: I predicted that
Within a decade or two

That the human species would
Establish communication

With another species.

Jack: this is a scientist.

This isn't some, you know, nut
That I've brought out here!

This man knows what he--
He may be a little nutty.

John: thank you!

Jack: but he's a real
Acknowledged scientist.

Now, roll this film,

And you're going to see
Some interesting things.

These are some
Of the sounds they make.

What in the main do you think
Dolphins talk about

Among each other?

John: oh, food, sex,
And danger.

Jack: sounds like westport,
Connecticut, to me there.

[laughter]

Mary: hi.

Narrator:
Lilly's talking dolphins

Proved more than a passing fad.

In fact,
For one group of people,

His work had
A special significance.

Man on radio:
Ok. Back-up is in.

Man: lift-off!

Narrator:
In the early sixties,

America was in the midst
Of a space race,

Launching satellites
And manned spacecraft

To the moon and planets.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Narrator: surprisingly,
The ideas in "Man and dolphin"

Struck a chord
With american astronomers

Who were searching
For extraterrestrial life.

They were led by frank drake.

Frank drake:
It was a very exciting book

Because it had these new ideas--

Particularly the idea

That there could be creatures

As intelligent and sophisticated

In their thinking as us,

And yet living
In a far different milieu.

Narrator: drake and his team

Were part of an official
Government-funded project

Using radio telescopes
To listen for signals

From other intelligent life
In the galaxy.

For them, lilly's work was
Potentially groundbreaking.

Drake: the possible
Intelligence of dolphins

Was of special interest to me

And the others
Who were interested

In extraterrestrial
Intelligent life,

Because we wanted to understand
As much as we could

About what the challenges
Were going to be

In communicating with
Other intelligent species.

There might be other
Civilizations in space

Attempting to send us messages.

The detection
Of extraterrestrial signals

Are going to be
One of the most exciting things

That ever happened.

Narrator: astronomer carl sagan
Was also part of the seti team.

Carl sagan: it's possible,
But by no means certain,

That life on many
Of these planets

Evolves into beings

Which are as advanced as we,
Or more advanced.

Narrator: lilly realized
The astronomers' interest

Opened up a new opportunity
For funding.

Graham: lilly brilliantly
Pitches the space administration

On the idea that they need
A model organism

Upon which to experiment

For the prospect
Of an encounter with aliens.

Narrator: in 1961,

Nasa and other
Government agencies

Gave financial backing

For lilly to construct
A state-of-the-art laboratory.

The modern white villa
Was known as the dolphin house.

Reporter: at st. Thomas
In the virgin islands

Stands a unique laboratory.

Narrator: here, a thousand miles
From the american mainland,

He would now focus on research

Into human communication
With dolphins.

And in this idyllic setting,

A strange new chapter in
Scientific research would begin.

John lilly was convinced
The dolphin's large brain size

Gave it the capability
To learn a human language,

And he set out to prove it.

Lilly had assembled a team
Of brilliant researchers

To help him in his quest.

But in 1963, he struck gold.

Graham: he recruits
A very significant figure,

Gregory bateson,
An anthropologist,

Who rounds out his team

For thinking big
About these animals.

Narrator: gregory bateson

Was an intellectual giant
Of his time.

He had explored subjects

Like linguistics
And human anthropology

At cambridge
And sydney universities.

He'd also been studying
Animal behavior.

Lois bateson: gregory had been
Doing behavioral work,

Not only with humans,

But with otters,

And we had in our house
17 octopuses.

And we were studying
Their personal relationships,

Which was interesting.

Narrator: bateson's focus

Wasn't on humans
Communicating with animals,

But rather how animals
Communicated with each other.

He brought his wife
And 11-year-old stepson eric

With him to st. Thomas.

Eric bateson:
My dad was much more interested

In the interaction
Between the dolphins--

Looking at the posture
Of pectoral fins.

Does this mean something?

Or the alignment of two
Animals swimming together.

Is this sexual,
Or is this just friendship,

Or is this just
Waiting to be fed?

Narrator: the house was built
Over a single outdoor pool

Where the dolphins would live.

Linked to the sea,
It was cleaned by the tide.

Lilly's new lab
Offered the best conditions

For observing the dolphins
In captivity.

And a window allowed bateson

To observe
The creatures underwater.

Eric: I actually thought
It was fantastic.

I mean, the water
Was absolutely crystalline.

That was neat.

I mean, it was just all new.

It was exotic.

That's the best word
I can say for it.

Narrator: early in his study,

Lilly brought in
Andy williamson,

The island's veterinarian,

To ensure the well-being
Of the dolphins.

Andy williamson:
Dr. Lilly called me,

And he put me through
An interview.

His concern was
The health of his animals.

He wanted to be sure that
I could relate to the dolphins

By putting me in the water
With them.

Narrator: then, in early 1964,

Margaret howe came to the lab.

Margaret was an attractive
22-year-old college dropout

Who had come to st. Thomas
In search of adventure.

She heard rumors

About a strange house
At the eastern end of the island

Where people
Worked with dolphins.

Margaret howe: I was curious,

And I drove out and found signs
Saying "Keep out."

It was pretty isolated.

I said, "Well, I heard
You had dolphins here,

And I thought I'd come and see
If there's anything I can do

Or if there's any way
I could help."

Narrator:
Margaret met gregory bateson,

Who invited her to observe
The dolphins in the pool

And write notes
About their behavior.

What she wrote impressed him.

Margaret: he said,
"You're able to see things.

You can come here
Anytime you want.

We can't pay you,
But you can come here.

Would you like to do that?"

"Yes," I said.
"Yes, thank you.

I will come back here anytime."

So I did.

Narrator: the dolphins came
From marine studios in miami,

Where they'd been used in
Filming for the movie "Flipper."

[dolphin squeaking]

There were two female dolphins--
Sissy and pam.

[squeaking]

And then there was
One male dolphin.

Eric:
Peter was an immature male.

I don't think
He was fully mature.

He was different.

Margaret: he was definitely
A young guy.

Sexually coming of age,
I'm sure,

And liked sissy.

And sissy
Was always having to...

Lois: she'd "Bip!"

Flip him off like that.

Narrator: by 1964,
The lab was in full operation.

Lilly was often away traveling,

Publicizing his work
Or raising funds,

So he left much of the research
To the others.

He had margaret
Pick up the mimicry work

Where he'd left off.

Her job was to try
To encourage the dolphins

To copy the specific sounds
Of human speech.

Margaret: they can click
And squeak and whistle

And do all the dolphin noises,
And there are many.

But this human-like sound,

Humanoid they call it--

Not underwater, in the air,

And through the blowhole.

Andy: the blowhole,

Where they force air
Out of the lungs,

And the lips on the blowhole
Actually open and close,

And they can talk that way,

If you want to call it talking.

Narrator: margaret focused

On one of the dolphins
In particular--

The male.

Margaret: I really chose
To work with peter

Because he had not had
Any human-like sound training.

The other two had.

My first goal was to get him
To listen while I speak,

And then I would listen
While he speaks,

And we would set up
This conversation-type thing

Where we could make
Some sort of progress.

Today is january 27th.

The time is 0900 hours.

[dolphin clicking]

Narrator: much of the work
In the dolphin house

Was captured on tape,

And these are the real
Sound recordings

Of margaret's lessons.

Margaret: a, e, I, o.

[dolphin squeaking]

Narrator: but from the start,
Peter was a reluctant pupil.

Margaret: speak for fish.

Don't squirt.

He would listen to me,

And I would say,
"No, no, no, no, peter.

What I want you to do
Is count to three.

You're going to say,
'one, two, three.'"

And peter wouldn't repeat
Everything I told him.

He would work on the...

[makes dolphin noises]

[dolphin squeaking]

Margaret: listen, 1, 2, 3.

[dolphin squeaking]

Margaret:
You can do better, peter.

We had a few disagreements
On things.

He could slap his tail.

You know when
A dolphin is annoyed.

One, two, three.
I've already done that.

One, two, three.
I told you I've done that.

I'm gonna do it one more time.

One, two, three,
And now that's it.

And he'd disappear.

[dolphin squeaking]

Narrator: but while margaret's
Work with peter continued,

A new development occurred

That would dramatically change
The nature of lilly's research.

By early 1965,

Margaret felt the daytime
Experiments with peter

Didn't reveal enough
About dolphins--

That it should be
A 24-7 venture.

Margaret: I said, "I will stay
And I will do this."

And lilly said, "What's that?"

I said,
"I want to plaster everything

And fill this place with water.

I want to live here with peter."

And lilly got very excited.

And he went for it.

Narrator: margaret drew up
Radical plans for the house,

Redesigning the layout
Of the upstairs rooms,

Altering their shape
And making them waterproof.

Margaret: the building
Had not been built to flood,

And we're gonna flood the place

Comfortably knee deep,
A little bit deeper.

And I didn't want to
Just be indoors for so long,

So the balcony as well.

Eric:
They had a giant elevator.

You'd get the animal
On the elevator

With a sling under it.

That's how the animal
Got up and down.

Narrator: margaret had created
A domestic dolphinarium

Where she and peter
Could live together

In a semi-aquatic environment.

Margaret: I had a desk
Hanging from the ceiling,

A telephone,

And a little stove,
I could make tea.

I was on a foam cushion,

And peter would sleep
Next to me.

And he would sleep
As long as I did.

And I lived there day and night,
And it was perfect.

Narrator: and so, in june 1965,
Margaret's experiment began.

Over the coming months,
She'd live with peter,

Devoting herself
To teaching him english,

Like a mother
Teaching a child to speak.

Margaret: 1, 2, 3, 4.

Narrator: these are the actual
Audio recordings she made.

Margaret: today is august 18.

This is the morning lesson
With peter.

Hello.

[dolphin squeaking]

Margaret: hello.

[dolphin squeaking]

Margaret: come on.

I didn't talk to peter
The way I talk to you.

I...I spoke
In single words usually

And made inflection--

Something that he could follow.

That they were very good at.

The enunciation was not good,

But if I said,
"One, two...

[in higher pitch] ...Three,"

I wouldn't get one, two, three,

But I would get...
[makes squeaking sound].

Margaret: 1, 2, 3.

[dolphin squeaks]

Margaret: good!

Narrator:
But as hard as peter tried,

There were some anatomical
Restrictions

That limited his speech.

Margaret:
"M" is very difficult.

My name.

You know, "Hello, margaret"
I worked on,

And "M" is just impossible.

But he eventually rolled over

So that it kind of...
Mwaa...

He would bubble it
Into the water.

Mmmmm.

Margaret.

[dolphin squeaking]

Oh, he just couldn't
Get it right.

And he just would try
And he would try. Oh, god!

Narrator: to help with
Peter's pronunciation,

Margaret wanted
To draw his attention

To the movement
Of her mouth and lips.

Margaret: his blowhole
And my mouth

Sort of were trying
To do the same thing.

I actually put a white makeup--

Thick white and black
Around my mouth--

So that when I was talking
To him or teaching a word,

He could really see my blowhole,
As it were,

And I would really use my mouth
With this makeup on it.

Fish in bucket.

[dolphin squeaking]

Narrator: lilly was impressed
With margaret's progress,

Thinking it vindicated
His research.

Lilly: I feel armed
With a kind of knowledge

That we could never
Have obtained

Except through
These experiments.

This must be supported and
Enthusiastically encouraged.

Margaret: I felt very supported
And encouraged to do more.

Narrator: the batesons, however,

Were skeptical about
Teaching dolphins english.

Lois' husband gregory
Doubted its scientific merit.

He felt that his research on
Dolphin-to-dolphin communication

In the sea pool downstairs

Was of more value than
Margaret's research with peter.

Lois: she was certainly
Trying to see

If they could be trained
To speak english...

[laughs]

Which was an ambitious plan.

It was interesting,

But, you know,
It wasn't our cup of tea.

Narrator:
Despite the batesons' doubts,

Margaret persevered.

She began using peter's
Curiosity and playfulness

To keep him interested
In the lessons.

Margaret: let's go through
All our toys, peter.

Ball.

[dolphin squeaks]

Margaret: good.

Oblong.

[dolphin squeaks]

Margaret: good!

Triangle.

[dolphin squeaks]

Margaret: oh, nice, peter!

Beautiful!

[beeping]

Narrator: meanwhile, nasa
Was monitoring the experiment.

That summer, they sent
Astronomer carl sagan to the lab

To evaluate its progress.

Margaret: hello!

[dolphin squeaks]

Margaret: oh, I like it,
I like it, I like it, peter!

Good boy.

Narrator: it didn't take long
For sagan to conclude

That despite margaret's efforts,

Peter was far from being able
To understand and use english.

[dolphin clicking]

So instead of teaching
The dolphins a human language,

Like the batesons,

Frank drake suggested
Lilly study

How dolphins communicate
With each other.

Drake: and so we would suggest
To have two dolphins,

One in each tank of water,
Separately,

Not able to see each other,

But to be able to hear
Any phonations,

One to the other.

And that he should teach
One dolphin some procedure

By which it could obtain food

And see if it could
Tell the other dolphin

How to do the same thing
In its tank.

Narrator: lilly dismissed
Drake's suggestion

And instructed margaret to
Continue her lessons with peter.

Margaret: ball.

Narrator: but lilly's defiance
Would soon prove disastrous.

During the summer of 1965,

Margaret howe continued
Her research work with peter

At the dolphin house.

But back on the mainland,

John lilly's interests
Were shifting.

Lsd had gained popularity
As a powerful drug

With remarkable
Mind-altering properties.

Brain scientist lilly
Became obsessed

By how humans reacted to it,

Including himself.

He experimented with the drug,

Convinced it would steer him
To new insights into the mind.

Margaret: there was one time
Where he said,

"Alright, I'm gonna go up
And inject the lsd."

And I said, "Whoa! I will have
Nothing to do with that.

And I will stay out of that,

And you stay out
Of my business,"

Which was dolphins.

Narrator: while lilly was
Journeying deep into his mind,

Margaret got a crash course

In one aspect
Of a dolphin's basic instincts.

Andy: they have sexual urges.

Peter had caused margaret

Some minor injuries
On her legs and stuff,

Pushing like an obsessed suitor.

Margaret: in the beginning

When he would get rambunctious
And had this need,

I would put him
On the elevator and say,

"You go play with the girls
For a day."

Narrator: but that
Only worked temporarily.

Peter's urges
Grew more frequent.

And soon margaret felt

That the best way of focusing
His mind back on the lessons

Was to relieve his desires
Herself, by hand.

Margaret: it was just easier
To incorporate that

And let it happen.

It was very precious.

It was very gentle.

It was sexual on his part;
It was not sexual on mine.

Sensuous perhaps.

And that's really all it was.

I was there
To get to know peter.

That was part of peter.

Andy: it was great that she
Wasn't gonna be damaged by that.

But as a veterinarian,
I wondered about poor peter.

This dolphin was
Madly in love with her.

Margaret: margaret.

[dolphin squeaking]

Narrator: by now,
Anthropologist gregory bateson

Was seriously questioning

The value of margaret's work
With peter.

Eric: my dad had, I think,
A pretty firm and clear view

That this was a kind
Of circus trick.

Narrator: for bateson,

Peter was simply
Copying margaret's sounds

With no real comprehension
Of what he was saying.

Eric: I can't see why
Anybody in their right mind

Would think they were
Going to be able to teach

Or to learn to speak
In some common language.

You're not
Demonstrating anything

About an animal's
Capacity for language

By getting them to master
Some part of your language.

You want to find out
Whether they have language.

You want to find out what
They have for their language.

Margaret: come right out
With the english, peter.

Don't even think
In your own language.

English all the time.

Margaret!

[dolphin squeaking]

Margaret: better.
Thank you, peter.

Narrator:
Like gregory bateson,

Lilly's funders
Were also having doubts

About the value of the research.

Some were starting to pull out.

Lilly grew increasingly
Desperate for results

To impress his backers.

He turned to the one experiment
He had so far resisted.

Graham:
Why wouldn't you go ahead

And use this very powerful drug
That has been used

To facilitate psychotherapy--

Namely lsd?

Take a little bit yourself

So you're a little more open
To the alien world of the other.

And, heck, while you're at it,
Give a little bit to the dolphin

So that they're
A little bit more kind of open

To the communicative world
Of the other themselves.

Narrator: lilly hoped
That giving the dolphins lsd

Would have a dramatic effect.

It had been used
Experimentally in research

On animals and humans
Since the fifties.

His decision shocked margaret.

Margaret:
My first thought was, not peter.

I just said, "Not peter."

What was I?
24 or something.

It was his stuff,
It was his animals,

It was his pool.

I can't stop him.

Narrator:
Margaret reluctantly agreed

To help lilly
With the lsd experiment.

Margaret: he pulled back,
And he said, "Ok, not peter."

We pulled peter out
Of the sea pool where they were.

So pam and sissy
Were in the sea pool.

And john did inject them
With lsd.

John: 10:06 p.M.

Lsd, 200 microgram dose
Continued.

Andy: different species
React in different ways.

Playing with pharmaceuticals

Is tricky business
To say the least.

Margaret: we didn't know
What was gonna happen.

And we certainly weren't
Prepared for anything to happen.

The dolphins were circling.

And john occasionally glanced

And said, "Oh, well,
It's only been ten minutes."

And nothing was going on,

And it's been,
Well, twenty minutes now.

Nothing was going on.

Nothing, nothing,
Nothing happened, period.

Narrator: lilly was anxious
To provoke a response.

Standing by the pool,
He came up with a cruel idea,

Which shows
How far he had strayed

From genuine
Scientific research.

Margaret: and he picked up
A jackhammer.

Jackhammer makes a big thunk
Going through the earth

And the cement and the rock,

And he just started
Jackhammering,

Which had everything
Sort of shaking.

And still nothing happened.

So that was
Sort of the end of it.

Narrator: for gregory bateson,

Lilly's use of lsd
On the dolphins

Was the last straw.

He packed up his family
And left.

Lois: we had learned
As much as we could

From that particular setting
In st. Thomas,

And we just felt
It was time to go.

Narrator:
By the summer of 1966,

With the batesons gone and
His government funding depleted,

Lilly was running up
Large debts.

And in his lsd-fueled world,

His attention was drifting away
From research.

Margaret: he lost focus on it,

And the drug culture and the lsd
Took his interest away.

It did fall apart at the end...

Badly.

Narrator: lilly's dream lab
Would have to shut down.

But another problem emerged.

Andy: when you're dealing
With live subjects,

Whether they're rats
Or monkeys or dolphins,

What do you
Do with them after...

After the experiments are over?

There was nothing
We could do about it.

Narrator: lilly decided
To transport the dolphins

To the u.S. Mainland

And keep them
In another private lab

He ran outside miami.

It meant the end of margaret
And peter's relationship.

Margaret: he wasn't mine.

I couldn't keep him.

We couldn't elope.

We couldn't rush off
Into the sea

And disappear and hide.

You just can't do that.

Narrator: after months of living
Almost continuously with peter,

The experiment was over.

[dolphin squeaking]

Narrator: in october 1966,

All three dolphins were loaded
Into traveling tanks

To be flown to lilly's lab
In south florida.

Margaret: seeing that plane
Take off and circle...

I didn't go with them.

That was emotional.

Narrator: margaret and andy

Believed the animals
Had gone to a good home.

Andy: I was told that
They were shipped someplace

Where they would be very happy.

Margaret: I was told
He arrived healthy,

That they had him
Checked by a vet.

Narrator: in reality, this is
The building outside miami

Where the dolphins
Had been moved to.

With little or no natural light
And tiny cramped tanks,

This nightmarish room

Was a very different environment
To the dolphin house.

[dolphin squealing]

Lilly's friend ric o'barry
Remembers once visiting the lab.

Ric o'barry:
It was awful, to be frank.

It was awful.

The first thing that hit you
Was that smell.

[dolphin shrieking]

Dolphins urinate and defecate

Three to five times
The quantity people will,

So you can imagine the stench

Of having dolphins
Inside of that small room,

In a plastic
Portable swimming pool.

And the chlorine,
Copper sulfate, chlorine.

Heavily chlorined.

And, uh, yeah, it was awful.

It was awful.

[dolphins squeaking]

Narrator:
Back at the dolphin house,

Margaret was unaware
Of the conditions

The dolphins were now kept in.

Weeks passed,

And then margaret received
A phone call about peter.

[ringing]

Margaret: I got that phone call
From john lilly.

John called me himself
To tell me.

And he said
He committed suicide.

Ric: suicide--

And I use that word
With some trepidation

At the risk of sounding
Anthropomorphic--

But it does describe

What is indeed
Self-induced asphyxiation.

They're not automatic
Air breathers like we are.

Every breath
Is a conscious effort.

If life becomes too unbearable,

The dolphins just take a breath
And they sink to the bottom.

They don't take
That next breath.

Narrator: the shock of being
Moved from the dolphin house

Had been too much.

Peter, it seems,
Had died of a broken heart.

Andy: you could think that
Margaret could rationalize that.

But when she left, could peter?

Here's the love
Of his life gone.

Narrator: fifty years
Of ocean and storms

Have taken their toll
On the dolphin house.

Today, this decaying shell is
All that remains of the building

Which housed one of the most
Controversial experiments

In the history
Of animal science.

Graham: in the ruins
Of the dolphin house

It's easy to see
The pathetic brokenness

Of lilly's own
Extraordinary ambition.

Margaret: boy.

[dolphin squeaking]

Margaret: lovely.

Graham:
People who study language

Aren't really persuaded that
His claims about dolphin talking

Are really informed
By the best work

In the study of language itself.

Narrator: instead, today's
Leading animal language experts

Believe what happened
At the dolphin house

Was in reality a sophisticated
Mimicry experiment.

Margaret: fish in bucket.

[dolphin squeaking]

Margaret: yes!

Graham: your parrot says,
"Polly want a cracker,"

And you give that parrot
A cracker.

Have you broken through
To an alien species?

Narrator: peter could copy
Margaret's sounds

And relate them
To objects and people.

What he couldn't do
Was form these sounds into words

That would communicate
Spontaneously back to her.

Margaret:
He listens to me.

Narrator: for margaret,
This was simply because

The experiment
Was stopped too early.

She believes peter's progress
Was far more advanced

Than a human infant's
Would have been

After the same coaching.

And with more time,

She feels she would have
Taken his communication

To the next level.

Margaret: six months.

You have a six-month-old baby.
They're doing that? No.

You're talking to them
All the time,

Sleeping with them,
Hugging them, cuddling them,

Are they doing that? No.

It's nothing.

But people are impatient.

Do more, do more.

Narrator:
Throughout the 1970s and '80s,

Lilly's desire to communicate
With dolphins continued.

Some of his research
Was bizarrely mystical,

Like this attempt to try to
Contact them telepathically.

The failure of the dolphin house

Killed off
Serious scientific interest

In teaching animals
A human language.

Tarnished by the reputation
Of his work,

John lilly's use
Of mind-expanding drugs

Increased
In the following years.

But as he got older,

Lilly's appreciation
Of dolphin intelligence

Got him thinking
About the animals differently.

Ric: up to that point
I think he was very involved

In what dolphins can do for me,

John lilly the scientist.

And something happened
Along the way

Where he understood they have
Just as much rights as we do,

And let's start thinking about
What we can do for them.

Lilly: I had no right
To confine them,

To imprison them,

To work on them.

My only right
Would be to work with them

In their natural habitat,

In their natural state.

Narrator: in the mid-1980s

Lilly began campaigning
Relentlessly

Against holding
Dolphins captive.

This, together with the profile
His work had given dolphins,

Helped elevate them
In the eyes of the public.

And for organizations
Like greenpeace,

They became an iconic symbol of
The wider conservation movement.

Graham: that story
Of a rising campaign

To afford new protections
To the world's marine mammals--

I would argue it's impossible
To imagine that work

Without lilly's legacy.

Narrator:
John lilly died in 2001

After a short illness
At the age of 86.

Margaret howe
Stayed on in st. Thomas

And married john lovatt,

The photographer who had taken
The pictures of her with peter.

Remarkably, she and her husband

Continued living in the house
For another ten years,

Converting it into a family home
And bringing up three girls.

Margaret:
It was a good place.

There was good feeling
In that building all the time.

Narrator: but for margaret,

Today the house has an even
More powerful memory--

Of a time when communicating
Between species seemed possible,

Almost destined to happen.

In the decades since lilly's
Failed experiment at st. Thomas,

Scientists have resumed
The study of dolphins,

Learning more
About their behaviors,

Their habitat,
Social structure,

And their intelligence.

Dr. Diana reiss specializes in
The field of animal cognition,

The mental capacity of animals.

Early in her career,
She met john lilly

And considers him an important
Figure in dolphin research.

Diana reiss: he was a visionary,
He was a pioneer.

And when I was starting--
It was the late '70s--

We didn't know much
About dolphin communication.

He lit our fires.

Reiss: bye!

Narrator:
Here, with allison ginsburg

Of the national aquarium
In baltimore,

Reiss will demonstrate
An extraordinary experiment

With far-reaching implications.

Reiss: much of my work
Has focused on finding a tool

To reflect
The intelligence of dolphins.

We used to think

We were the only thinking
Species on the planet.

We held that view
For a long time.

And it's really remarkable
That we think about it that way

Because we're part
Of the animal world

And are made up
Of the same building blocks--

Cells and synapses.

And we all have brains
Made up of the same stuff.

So why think that
We're the only thinkers?

Narrator: it's a question
Scientists are now asking.

In this underwater lab,
Reiss uses a simple tool--

A two-way mirror--
To look for an answer.

Reiss: we use a mirror,
And we ask how do they react?

Do they act
Like it's another animal?

Do they understand

That it's themselves
They're looking at?

Will they use the mirror
As a tool to view themselves?

Narrator: in the experiment,

Diana watches the behavior
Of two young male dolphins,

Beau and foster.

The dolphins
See their reflection.

Reiss observes their reactions.

Reiss: and if we think about
What a mirror is for a dolphin,

If they understand
It's themselves in a mirror,

That means they understand

That that's an external
Representation of themselves.

Narrator: reiss has concluded

Dolphins have what's called
"Mirror self-recognition,"

The ability to see themselves
As individual beings.

Reiss: for many years

We thought, again,
We were alone as a species

That could have
Mirror self-recognition.

You put a mirror
In front of most animals,

And they either think it's
Another of their own species

And show social behavior,

Or they don't pay attention.

So it's a very
Small group of animals

That show
Mirror self-recognition.

It really seems to take
A lot of brain power.

Narrator: the recognition of
This brain power in a dolphin

Has helped spark a revolution
That began with john lilly.

Reiss: so the question is now
Not do other animals think,

But how do they think?

It's a very different view.

Narrator: for reiss,
This different view

Also brings with it
A different outlook

On the plight of marine mammals.

Reiss: as a scientist
I've always been trained,

Don't step into advocacy.

I can't help
Stepping into advocacy.

Having seen what I've seen
In terms of their intelligence,

Their social awareness,
Their self-awareness,

The fact that they have capacity
For pain and suffering

And being aware of it,

We need to protect them.

It's time to get
Global protection

For dolphins and whales.

Narrator: fifty years
After the dolphin house closed,

Science may be catching up
With john lilly's vision.

Reiss: it's too bad
Lilly didn't succeed,

Because then we could have
Turned around

And asked the dolphins
Themselves

About the nature of their
Intelligence and communication.