In the 1960s, a NASA-funded experiment involving dolphins took a bizarre turn when a young researcher, Margaret Howe Lovatt, developed an unusual bond with a male dolphin named Peter. The project aimed to explore human-animal communication, but Lovatt’s efforts to teach Peter English became overshadowed by his growing sexual urges.
As Peter reached maturity, his behavior became increasingly disruptive, leading Lovatt to manually relieve the dolphin instead of separating him from the female dolphins. She later defended her actions, saying it was “just like scratching an itch” and that it helped maintain focus on the experiment.
The situation attracted public attention, with Hustler magazine sensationalizing the story. The scandal ultimately led to the project losing its funding and the shutdown of the dolphin research facility. Lovatt later tried to distance herself from the controversy, explaining her perspective in the BBC documentary The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins.
Despite its bizarre ending, the experiment remains a strange chapter in NASA’s research history. While it was originally intended to help understand extraterrestrial communication, it instead became infamous for one of the most unusual human-animal interactions ever recorded.
