Are dolphins really smart? I would say it is yes. If you don’t agree, then try to

step out into the street and ask the first ten people you see, whether or not

they believed dolphins were creatures of intelligence, and believe me, 8 of 10

would probably say yes and the rest maybe unsure about it. And if you ask, two

scientists the exact same question, you just may be opening up a debate that

could last for hours.

Though dolphin eats fish, has fins and glides effortlessly through the water

while us eat hamburgers, wear jeans and drive car to work every morning, we

and dolphins actually have more in common than most people think, and don’t

be surprised as they can do many things like we humans do. This is because

this creature is the world's second brightest creatures after humans where

chimpanzees have been pushed down to third in the cleverness stakes.

Dolphins are so intelligent that they should be given the same status as

humans, where some scientists are recommending.

So, what are the things that they can do that impressed us as a human?

First, dolphins have the ability to sense what others are thinking about

them, like we human do. This is because, researchers have found gangly

neurons called Von Economo neurons, which also found in humans and apes

that have been linked to emotions, social cognition, and even theory of mind.

They also have a very complex neocortex, which it is the part of the brain that

is responsible for problem-solving, self-awareness, and variety of other

traits, that associate with human intelligence. This means that, dolphins have

the ability to predict the emotions of others on them and aware of what others

feels about them, like we always do.

Second, they can recognize themselves in a mirror well where most animals

fail at. If you were to show a mirror in front of cats, they might end up crazily

scratching up the mirror, as they get scared of the figures shown, which sadly

it is their own figures. But dolphins, especially the bottlenose species are able

to recognize themselves in a mirror well and use it to inspect various parts of

their bodies. This shows a sign of self-awareness in them.

They also are able to understand complex gesture "sentences" from

humans. If you are to go to some water theme parks that gives you

opportunity to watch the dolphins, you can see the trainers would give some

commands like up, down, shake and else with some gestures to the dolphins.

And the dolphins will exactly follow the commands given, perfectly and of

course after some training. Besides, they can learn to poke an underwater

keyboard to request toys to play with. Much of their learning is similar to

what we see with young children.

Apart from that, new studies imply that, in fact dolphins especially bottlenose

species which are the most intelligent one, have distinct personalities, a

strong sense of the self and can think about the future. They are also

'cultural' animals, with new types of behaviors being picked up by one

dolphin from another.

Before I end up with the last point, let me ask you one question. While you are

sleeping, can you continue walking straightly, and aware of things around you,

and if you do, are you sure that you are walking straightly without hitting stuff

around you? Of course you can’t right. But pretty impressive, dolphins manage

to do it. Dolphins have an unusual form of sleep, in which only one side of the

brain goes to sleep at a time, and during this state they continue to swim and

have some awareness.

Lastly, it has long been realized that dolphins rank among the most intelligent

mammals, and they can do many things that great apes can do such as mirror

self-recognition, communication, mimicry, and cultural transmission," said

Michael McGowen told Discovery News, adding that dolphin brains are also

"distinct and different."