Question: Do dolphins think?

Valeria Senigaglia answered on 12 Jun 2012:

Good question! I guess it depends how you define thinking. I would say yes, dolphins do think. Several studies now support this statement. In fact dolphins have alliances, meaning that they actively decide who to associate with and for how long. Some dolphins only associate with others during mating periods, so if they want to conquer a females they choose a friend and swim and jump together to attract the lady. Other dolphins choose to stay with the same individuals for longer period, kind of having a best friend. Also you can see some groups that have a couple of animals very close and some others that come and go, these are called third order alliances. These complex relationships among animals mean that a dolphin can choose their companions depending on some social strategy (thinking if staying with somebody is advantageous for you or not) that they came up with. I believe this is not only thinking but some serious difficult thoughts that needs large and complex brains!