Dolphin Doctor

By Dr. Sam Ridgway

As we approached, Tuffy poked his head above a swell and stood upright in the water, dancing on his flukes higher and higher to gain a better view of us. The dolphin squealed and shook a smiling head as Wally leaped from our small boat onto the corner of the heaving structure and secured the boat with a line. I marveled at how motionless Tuffy remained in the swells. As Wally put the harness on the dolphin, Tuffy rose and fell on the surface exactly in unison with the oil-drum float where Wally sat. Compared to the dolphin's grace in the sea, any man seems out of place there, but Wally seemed especially incongruous in rubber coveralls with suspenders over his shoulders and a straw hat on his head. The trainer would have seemed in place tromping around a Missouri barnyard, but not here straddling timbers in the Pacific. Yet he negotiated the heaving framework of the pen and harnessed Tuffy with ease as the waves rose and fell around us. I could not have done half so well.

[...]

The test of Project Arion were finished, and the following official conclusion was drawn: "A dolphin can be trained to perform useful and even vital tasks in man-in-the-sea programs such as SeaLab. Once trained, the animal will perfomr with a high degree of precision and reliability and can adapt relatively quickly to a strange and, in many ways, disturbing environment. All of the ways in which a trained marine mammal can contribute have not been determined; it is expected that further investigations will be conducted."

These dry words don't fully convey the navy's excitement over Tuffy's pioneering success. Many officers were as thrilled as I was by Tuffy's cooperation and skill, and ambitious plans were laid for future dolphin work. To this day, the navy continues to use dozens of dolphins in undersea programs. But Tuffy was the first.

2nd Edition - illustrated, softcover, 136 pages.

Update: Sam Ridgway passed away on July 10th, 2022.

If there is another source for copies of "Dolphin Doctor", I will update this page when I get that information. -- Wesley R. Elsberry