Ken, Carly, and Me

By Michael D. SellersAs many of you know, Eye of the Dolphin was honored with a special presentation by the Alfred Sloan Foundation at the Tribeca Film Festival, where the foundation showcased the film for its “compelling and accurate science content”. We haven’t talked too much about the science — after all, it’s a story about a father and a daughter rediscovering each other. But the science is there, and in fact a tremendous amount of effort went into the process of making the science real, and accurate, in the film.One of the happy outcomes of that has been that Ken Levasseur, a dolphin activist and researcher who is in the top tier of people in this sphere, has decided to allow him and his work to be identified with the film, and in this context he recently spent three days with us in Los Angeles — a visit that culminated with a daylong visit to the office by Carly Schroeder.Here’s the thing: the film depicts a particular type of human-dolphin cooperation that is based in large part on Ken’s “Third Phase Alternative” – scientific concept which he developed in 1990. I won’t put a “spoiler” in here, because most of you have not seen the movie — but the bottom line is that the movie depicts Ken’s research in a way that is accurate and thought provoking.There will be more on this topic in coming weeks. For now, though — just a pic of the three of us in the office. And by the way — Carly Schroeder is a profoundly smart and sensitive young woman. Don’t underestimate her. She has achieved a a special relationship with dolphins and a special place in human-dolphin experience. Enough said. Stay tuned.