Written by Navya Singh, a grade 7 student.

Ever heard of Robot dolphins? They are a reality.

New Zealand entrepreneurs are working with American producers (of some famous Hollywood characters) to develop mechanical dolphins that look almost exactly like the real ones. They can be commanded using remote controls. These dolphins are being designed as Roger Holzberg (a Californian based artist of these bottlenose dolphins) thought it was time to reimagine the industry as a more humane approach.

Roger Holzberg the former inventive director of the Walt Disney Company is working alongside Walt Conti, the originator of some of the best-known sea creatures like Flipper and Free Willy to create these dolphins.

Before the COVID – 19 pandemic China was constructing 30 aquariums and one large Chinese corporation committed to replacing real dolphins with robotic ones.

This project influences the designing of other robotic sea creatures like whales and sharks.

I think this is a wonderful idea as one can experience the beauty of nature without causing any harm or trouble. With real dolphins, we were being cruel to them by keeping them in a confined space and forcing them to perform tricks for us. But this way, since these are robotic we aren’t being cruel.

I think this is a good opportunity for us to understand such animals using their robotic model without going against their will! Maybe we can do the same for many other animals too!