There is the case of Marc Glendenning, who had defied all the efforts of speech therapists at Great Ormond Street Hospital to help him talk. Marc is one of several children who have benefitted from a treatment pioneered by Dr David Nathanson at the Dolphin Research Centre in Miami. Nathanson's technique is based on the theory that children with learning problems are unable to concentrate for more than a few moments, but with animals they can become absorbed for much longer periods. Dolphins are ideally suited to this role. When vocabulary lessons are linked to playing with dolphins, the child is motivated to perform at new levels.
Dolphins are poetry in motion.
They are lovely to touch. They love nuzzling the children and giving them rides. People look at them and are mesmerised. These beneficial effects can apply, not only to the specific instance of children with learning difficulties, but to all ill and depressed people. Contact with dolphins can have a healthy effect on anyone.