The girl who talked to dolphins.

In the 1960s an animal research facility was set up at St Thomas's in the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean with the objective to speak to dolphins. 50 years later, this documentary speaks to some of the participants in the original tests. John Lilly the leading scientist behind the project is remembered by his friend Jeff Bridges, the actor. Professor Graham Burnett, author of 'The Sounding of the Whale' explains the context Lilly worked within. In the late 1940s, he was working on the physiological effects of high altitude. By the late 1950s he was a well-regarded brain scientist. His wife, Mary, worked on his research with him. Porpoises' (bottle-nosed dolphins) brains could offer us an insight into our own brains. Lilly carried out a number of (undisclosed) experiments on them, getting access to dolphins at Marine Land studios in Florida, USA. His wife Mary remarked that the dolphins appeared to be trying to communicate verbally with the research team. Lilly published a book 'Man and Dolphin' about this break-through; archive footage of Lilly appearing on the Jack Parr show is shown. Some of Lilly's ideas chimed with Dr Frank Drake (founder of the SETI Institute) who was researching into extra-terrestrial life at the time. Lilly realised that NASA might be able to fund his research. Gregory Bateson, a distinguished anthropologist joined him in the Caribbean with his family. Bateson's field of interest was communication between animals. His step-son Eric remembers Bateson and his interests. The conditions were state of the art for captive animals; Dr. Andy Williamson was the vet for the Dolphin House. A student, Margaret Howe, volunteered there as she had heard that something interesting was going on. All three dolphins shipped in had been movie stars from Marine Land. Lilly wasn't there much of the time; his team carried out his research on his behalf. Margaret worked with the male dolphin, Peter in particular. Margaret had the idea to live with the dolphin; they flooded the house to accommodate him and they lived side-by-side. The audio recordings have been kept of the vocal teaching sessions. Carl Sagan visited the facility but left unimpressed with the results. Subsequently, it was recommended that the focus of the research should be learning the dolphins' language. Meanwhile Lilly started experimenting with LSD (acid) hoping that it would help his research. As Peter became sexually active, Margaret's relationship with the dolphin became problematic. News of this reached his funders and financial support was withdrawn. Lilly then considered giving LSD to the dolphins. The two female dolphins were injected with the drug; there was very little impact. In order to provoke a response, he introduced a very loud and jarring noise. The Batesons left after this incident, realising that their research had run its course. The dolphins were transported to another private research facility on mainland USA, although the staff at St Thomas' were led to believe that they would be homed in a similar facility. The laboratories where they were kept were awful; they had no natural light and were held in tiny chlorinated tanks. Peter died of self-induced asphyxiation. Later in life, Lilly worked with Ric O'Barry (campaign director from the Dolphin Project) and began to release his dolphins; Congress then passed an act protecting marine mammals.