Xitco, M.J., Gory, J.D. & Kuczaj, S.A. II (2001). Spontaneous
pointing by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops trucatus). Animal
Cognition, 4, 115-123.
Spontaneous pointing by bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops
truncatus)
Video 1 (xitco1.mov, Quicktime Movie, 9.60
MB)
The dolphin, Bob, activates the symbol, DIVIDER, on the symbol
keyboard. He looks toward a human diver then turns and swims
to the divider fence where the camera is located. The dolphin
swims past a food jar attached to the divider, circles back
by the diver, and then returns to the divider food jar. While
maintaining his body alignment with the jar, the dolphin engages
in monitoring, looking back and forth between the jar and
the diver. It is worth noting that due to the dolphin’s wide
field of view, it does not need to turn its head in this manner
to see the diver approaching.
Video 2 (XITCO2.MOV, Quicktime Movie, 5.14
MB)
The dolphin, Bob, swims into view and aligns his body downward
toward a food jar. Maintaining his body alignment with the
jar, the dolphin monitors a diver, turning his head back and
forth between the jar and the diver.
Video 3 (XITCO3.MOV, Quicktime Movie, 5.69
MB)
The human diver activates the symbol, IGLOO, on the symbol
keyboard. The dolphin, Bob, swims to the dive bell, called
igloo, and points at a food jar there while monitoring the
diver, looking back and forth between the jar and diver.
To download the free Apple Quicktime player go to
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download
The following video clips are of wild dolphins
in the Gulf of Mexico. You will need the latest version of
Windows
Media Player to view these files.
Swimming belly-up
and as a group
Swimming as
a group
Fluke slaps
Wake riding
