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Dolphins are really, really smart!

I knew dolphins were smart. I didn’t realize how smart.

Not only do they work in groups, but individual dolphin pods have their own unique greetings, hunting techniques, and other unique behaviors. And these are shared, learned, and passed down through generations.

In other words, culture.

There are very few other animals that share this tendency towards culture with humans. The most notable other species are Chimps and Bonobos.

It reminds me of this quote from the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy:

For instance, on the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much—–the wheel, New York, wars and so on—–whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man—for precisely the same reasons.