edly played its independent role in the stories told of dol- 

 phins. From the recorded evidence available to us it is clear 

 that, except for the larger species, the whales, all dolphins ap- 

 pear to be characterized by playfulness and friendliness toward 

 man. There are, however, differences which appear to express 

 themselves mostly in captivity. At least, Tursiops adjusts much 

 better to captivity than does Delphinus. At marine studios 

 Tursiops has established itself as a highly intelligent, playful, 

 and friendly performer. Delphinus, on the other hand, while 

 naturally all these things, in captivity tends to be timid and not 

 very playful. 



The Common and Bottle-Nosed Dolphins are those best 

 known to the western world, but many of the traits which have 

 recently been rediscovered concerning these creatures have been 

 well known to other peoples for millennia. It is only a certain 

 segment of the western world, its more sophisticated representa- 

 tion, and particularly the learned world, which dismissed as 

 myths the tales told about dolphins in classical antiquity. And 

 this is the real burden of the story I have to tell you. Some of 

 these antique tales may have been myths, but as we shall see, 

 many of them were not, and undoubtedly a number of the 

 myths were based on real events partially embroidered by the 

 imagination and improved, like good wine, by time. But good 

 wine needs no bush, and I shall sample this wine as palatably 

 as I find it. 



The earliest representation of a dolphin I have been able to 

 find is from a pictographic seal from Crete, estimated to date 

 from 3500 to 2200 B.C. The earliest painting of a dolphin thus 

 far recovered is from the ancient Peloponnesian city of Tiryns. 

 The date is about 1600 B.C. In that city it is also represented 

 in stucco floors. Several good examples of dolphins are furnished 

 by seventh century Corinthian art. The dolphin is also well rep- 

 resented in Minoan art. In Cyprus it is frequently represented 

 in Late Helladic vases, shards, amphorae, in metalwork, en- 



