Akeakamai (c. 1976 – November 12, 2003) (Nickname: Ake ("ah-KAY")) was a female Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, who, along with a companion female dolphin named Phoenix, and later tankmates Elele and Hiapo, were the subjects of Louis Herman's animal language studies at the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory in Honolulu, Hawaii. The most well-known paper is the original work described in Herman, Richards, & Wolz (1984). Akeakamai was also the subject of many other scientific studies of dolphin cognition, language acquisition, and sensory abilities. Physically identifying features of Akeakamai included a straight eye line, a half-circle-shaped notch in the right side of her tail fluke, a small "Eiffel Tower"-shaped mark above her right eye, a thin notch in the side of her upper mouth, and a particularly wide melon. She also had characteristic in-air whistle calls, including an unusual high-low-high whistle that was well below typical signature whistle frequencies. In the Hawaiian language, Akeakamai means "philosopher" or "lover (ake) of wisdom (akamai)". Akeakamai was also the name given to an uplifted dolphin character in David Brin's science fiction novel Startide Rising. Akeakamai was euthanized due to cancer on November 12, 2003. See also Animal language Cetacean intelligence List of individual cetaceans Startide Rising Notes References Media and press appearances Akeakamai can be seen in: National Geographic's Dolphins with Robin Williams, BBC's Wildlife on One's Dolphins: Deep Thinkers with David Attenborough, ABC's Touched by a Dolphin with Sharon Lawrence, The Discoverers IMAX, Dolphins IMAX, and NOVA. Scientific references Cowan, R. (2003). Short-term memory for behavior in bottlenosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Hawaii, Honolulu. Herman, L. M. (2002). Exploring the cognitive world of the bottlenosed dolphin. In M. Bekoff, C. Allen & G. Burghardt (Eds.) The cognitive animal: Empirical and theoretical perspectives on animal cognition. pp. 275–283. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Herman, L. M. (2002). Vocal, social, and self-imitation by bottlenosed dolphins. In C. Nehaniv & K. Dautenhahn (Eds.). Imitation in Animals and Artifacts. pp. 63–108. Cambridge, MA. MIT Press Mercado, E. III, Killebrew, D.A., Pack, A.A., Macha, I.V.B., Herman, L.M. (2000). Generalization of 'same-different' classification abilities in bottlenosed dolphins. Behavioural Processes, 50, 79-94. Herman, L.M., Abinchandani, S.L., Elhajj, A.E., Herman, E.Y.K., Sanchez, J.L., & Pack, A.A. (2000). Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) comprehend the referential character of the human pointing journal. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 113(4), 347-364. Braslau-Schneck, S. (1994). Innovative Behaviors and Synchronization in Bottlenosed Dolphins. Unpublished master's thesis,