I was present when two dolphins first got to watch themselves on live video, like a mirror but reversed.  The first thing they did was explore the edges peeking in and out all around the edge of the field of vision.  Presumably they recognised the images of dolphins they were looking at were at least controlled by their actions.

Later I reversed the feed and let the dolphins peek out over the edge of their pond into man's world.  I took them on a video tour of the lab.  I showed them program listings. I gathered they liked what I was doing from their "cheering".

On my last day I had my Delphinic Etch a Sketch ready. They could control the cursor with various ultrasonic sounds.  Of course I had no way of explaining how to use it.  However, they went bananas when I showed it to them. They made noises I had never heard a dolphin make before.  I was hoping they would draw something, but they just made the cursor scoot around in circles.  That was my last day and the program was not quite finished, so that was the last they ever got to play with it.

I talk about some of these experiences in more detail in http://mindprod.com/intel.html

-- RoedyGreen, CanadianMindProducts