The attraction of dolphins to people goes back thousands of years. The dolphin appeared in ancient Greek and Roman mythology. The Greeks thought the dolphin was only sacred to the god Apollo. The U.S. government passed a law in 1972 to limit the number of dolphins that could be killed in year by tuna fishing crews. Dolphins have been trained to perform tricks and stunts in shows in aquariums, zoos, and amusement parks since the mid-1900's. Dolphins have an effort to understand teh complex communication systems of other animals that was conducted by scientists doing different types of research.
Pilot whales, striped dolphins, and killer whales perform in dolphin shows as well as bottle-nosed dolphins. Some dolphins can lep 15-20 feet (4.6-6 meters) in the air out of the water to ring a bell or take a fish from the trainer's mouth.
