A dolphin trainer has admitted to engaging in an unusual practice after one of her aquatic students developed an attachment to her during their time together.
Margaret Howe Lovatt, who participated in a NASA-funded experiment led by neuroscientist John Lilly, found herself in an unexpected situation while working closely with a dolphin named Peter.
Lilly’s research aimed to foster communication between humans and dolphins, with Lovatt spending three months living alongside Peter in an effort to teach him to speak English.
As she explained to The Guardian, “I chose to work with Peter because he had not had any human-like sound training, unlike the other two dolphins.”
However, the study took a complicated turn when Lovatt noticed Peter becoming increasingly interested in her physically. Andy Williamson, the facility’s veterinarian, acknowledged that dolphins experience natural sexual urges, leading Lovatt to initially try reintroducing Peter to female dolphins to address the issue.
Eventually, transporting Peter to his female companions became too disruptive to the research, leading Lovatt to take an unconventional approach.
She began manually relieving Peter herself.
In a BBC documentary, Lovatt explained, “It was just easier to incorporate that and let it happen. It was very precious, it was very gentle. Peter was right there, he knew that I was right there.”
She clarified that while the interaction may have been sexual from Peter’s perspective, it was not for her. However, she added, “Sensuous, perhaps.”
“I would just become part of what was going on, like an itch, just get rid of it, scratch it, and move on. And that’s really all it was,” Lovatt explained. “I was there to get to know Peter. That was part of Peter.”
Although she remained focused on her research, she admitted that her interactions with Peter eventually began to overshadow the experiment, especially after a story about them was published in Hustler magazine.
“It’s a bit uncomfortable,” she reflected. “I’ve read somewhere that the worst experiment in the world was me and Peter. That’s fine, I don’t mind. But that was not the point of it, nor the result of it. So I just ignore it.”
