Fascinating interview, all of it. Wanted to comment on the last bit in particular, about appropriate ways to expose children to dolphins. I agree with Dr. Marino completely! When I was six or seven, I was obsessed with dolphins and other marine mammals, much the way a lot of kids that age are fascinated by dinosaurs, actually. I wanted so badly to see and "meet" one. We visited Sea World, but to be honest, I barely remember it. I do remember being able to touch dolphins in a shallow tank, but I felt badly for them because I'd read they didn't like shallow water, and disappointed in the experience because touching them didn't lead to any sort of connection with them. It wasn't "meeting" them, it was just touching their bodies while they were forced to allow it. The animals seemed more like display objects than the sentient beings I felt they were, and I remember going home disappointed. What I remember much more clearly is when we visited Cape Cod and went on a whale-watching tour. That whole experience is etched in my mind, from the exciting question, "Will we really be lucky enough to see a whale in all that ocean?" to actually seeing a mother and baby Humpback swim right up beside the boat, almost as if to say "hi." As if they had, in fact, singled us out and wanted to meet us! Plus, being that age, I was completely fascinated when the baby whale peed in the water! Well, anyway, for me, at least, as a young child, whale-watching was a much more meaningful and educational experience than visiting a marine park. Through the years as I've thought over those twin experiences, and later ones at zoos, with pets and out in the woods, I've come to believe that an appreciation for nature can only be encouraged IN NATURE. Animals taken out of nature and placed in captivity for display are, by necessity, objectified, and by definition, unnatural. Seeing them that way only encourages children to think of them that way.