OK, that got an out-loud laugh!
Oh, how lovely. Coke on my monitor. Thank you, Tripler.
I’ll start worrying when they begin hanging out in the Home Depot paint department.
Perhaps the other males just weren’t spongeworthy?
It’s not a sponge; it’s a loofah.

It’s not a sponge; it’s a loofah.
Was the Dolphin using it named Perky…I mean Gwynn?
[sub]Sluggites Unite![/sub]
We’ll know they’re really evolved if they move from sponges to cups.
And we know dolphins have language…
Were you serious about this? I didn’t think dolphins had language in any meaningful sense of the word.
Like some others have said, animals using tools in the wild isn’t really a new thing. New Caledonian crows do this. The video clip is pretty cool.
Well don’t forget that the only other agrarian species on the planet are leaf-cutter ants. They grow their own fungus in their hives as a food source. {cite} – When dolphins start their own farms, THEN I’ll be impressed.
And yes, he’s using a sponge, but he still needs someone to get his dorsal fin, he can’t quite reach it…
I’ll start worrying when they begin hanging out in the Home Depot paint department.
[Newscaster] And the last dolphin in existence died today, waiting in vain for some sales assistance at in the paint department at Home Depot. [/Newscaster]

[Newscaster] And the last dolphin in existence died today, waiting in vain for some sales assistance at in the paint department at Home Depot. [/Newscaster]
Newscaster] And the last grammarian in existence died from a seizure caused by the above sentence.[/Newscaster]
awww, it’s just sponges. I thought they were going to have laser beams attached to their heads or something.
Kruetzen and colleagues analyzed 13 “spongers” and 172 “non-spongers” and concluded that the practice seems to be passed along family lines, primarily from mothers to daughters.
Yep. I’ve known a couple of spongers, and they DID seem to learn it from their mom.

Oh, how lovely. Coke on my monitor. Thank you, Tripler.
You are quite welcome. However, my condolences to your monitor.
Tripler
C’mere Flipper. Wipe that monitor clean. Oh you cant? ::whap!:: Back, you stupid, blowholed ichthyo-freak!!
squeeeeeeeeeak, squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeak, squeeeeeak
Tool use & language are the signs of intelligence.
And we know dolphins have language…
Sounds like I should start learning Delphine. Why the hell did I spend three years studying Spanish? Start at the beginning…
What’s the first-dolphin singular tense of “swim” again?

Isn’t the true demarkating line of sentience using a tool to make a tool?
From past threads on this board I get the sense there’s hardly a definition, if there is one at all.
Were you serious about this? I didn’t think dolphins had language in any meaningful sense of the word.
There’s evidence that not only do they have audible communications with discrete meaning, but that they have dialects and accents as well.
…or, just another day of Ricky Williams’ retirement.

Isn’t the true demarkating line of sentience using a tool to make a tool?
The true demarkating line of sentience is being a tool.
Dolphins also use tools to spank the little dolphin, if you know what I mean. And female dolphins do the same. Horny creatures, dolphins are.