HOST: Welcome, enlightened viewers to Animal World: Our Co-Inhabitants. For thousands of years, dolphins have been known as some of wittiest, most sensitive mammals on Earth.

In Western culture, references to dolphins first appear in Greek mythology as helpers of humankind, for example, when rescuing the poet Arion from drowning and carrying him safely back to land.

Along with whales and porpoises, dolphins form the order Cetacea. They live in complex social groups called “pods.” For Bottlenose dolphins, the average pod size is seven members.

To date, 33 species of these awe-inspiring ocean dwellers have been identified around the world, and scientists have found that some have a brain-to-body-mass ratio greater than or equal to that of humans.

Dr. White (m): When you look at dolphins, a much older species, you realize that they basically came up with a solution for the long-term survivability of their species.
You have a big brain, a being in the ocean who doesn't over populate, doesn't go to war with one another.

For more details on Dr. Thomas White,  please visit: www.InDefenseOfDolphins.com