Dolphins 'should be recognised as non-human persons' - Telegraph.co.uk

"Dolphins are non human persons. A person needs to be an individual. If individuals count, then the deliberate killing of individuals of this sort is ethically the equivalent of deliberately killing a human being.

"The science has shown that individuality, consciousness, self awareness is no longer a unique human property. That poses all kinds of challenges."

Recognising the status of cetaceans in law is important because it would make commercial whaling and imprecise fishing methods which kill hundreds of thousands of dolphins and whales each year morally abhorrent, he said.

Recent scientific studies on dolphins' brains have shown they are more intelligent than chimpanzees, and they communicate with each other in a similar way to humans.

They are also able to recognise themselves in a mirror, to learn and teach one another new types of behaviour, and are capable of thinking about the future, research shows.

An experiment at the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi in which dolphins were rewarded for clearing rubbish from their enclosures highlighted their remarkable intellectual capabilities.

One dolphin named Kelly began hiding large paper bags at the bottom of her tank, ripping them apart and bringing them to her handler one at a time to trick him into giving her multiple rewards.

A group of researchers established the Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans at a conference in Helsinki two years ago, and is now canvassing support from scientists in the hope of bringing it to the attention of policymakers.

The ten-point document says each individual cetacean has the right to life, to a free existence in their natural habitat and to the protection of their environment.

It adds that no person or organisation has the right to own a cetacean, or to disrupt their culture.

Cetaceans are entitled to have these rights set down in an internationally recognised legal document, it concludes.

Dr Lori Marino, of Emory University in Atlanta, one of the architects of the declaration, said it had been prompted by a shift in our understanding of the dolphin brain.

"We went from seeing the dolphin or whale brain as being giant amorphous blob that doesn't carry a lot of intelligence and complexity to being an enormous brain with a complexity that rivals our own," she said.

"It's different in the way its put together, but in terms of the level of complexity it is very similar to the human brain."