A Clockwork Dolphin
One-minute read
We don’t know exactly how many cetaceans are in captivity around the world. Estimates say it’s at least 3,600, but that figure could be higher. There are dolphins in circuses and private collections, as well as at small aquariums that operate independently in countries where hunting dolphins is legal.
But what if we could replace all of those thousands of animals with hyper-realistic robots? Edge Innovations have created just the thing. A robot dolphin named Delle. See the footage of her for yourself, it’s really remarkable.
She cost $3 million to construct and weighs more than 225 kilograms (500 pounds). Her skin is medical-grade silicone and her intricate internal mechanisms come to life via a blend of remote puppeteering, software programming, and application of artificial intelligence.
Worldwide, the dolphin industry rakes in $1.1 and $5.5 billion per year. Assuming it is the full 5.5 bil, that money could buy 1,833 robotic dolphins to replace the ~4,000 live cetaceans in captivity. Of course, the operation of the animatronics can be costly, but so is buying restaurant-quality fish by the tonne, employing teams of trainers and investing in pricey veterinary and laboratory work.
It might be pertinent for you to know that Edge Innovations also make animatronics for Hollywood movies and theme parks. They created the dinosaurs at Universal Studios. Given enough time and investment, they could create a mechanical Jurassic Park situation with zero chance of the exhibits going rogue (hopefully, maybe the robots will rise up against us one day).
I’ll tell you this. If SeaWorld replaced all their animals with robots, I’d go every single day of my life. They could go nuts with it and have an animatronic of every whale species on Earth. I would probably pay anything for the chance to swim with a robotic orca, narwhal or hourglass dolphin. It was so hard to stop that list at three.
It might take some time for this to take off, if it ever does. But people love new, crazy entertainment and I have hope that this technology could save a few wild dolphins from the misery of being captured for captivity.
