In the spring and summer of 1997, a relationship between the Lilly team and the scientists working for Earthtrust was begun. Its had been nearly 20 years since John Lilly's last experiments with live dolphins, using computers to create a language interface between humans and dolphins. Many advancements in computer technology since 1978, have brought us to today, with Earthtrust's touchscreen (thanks to the generousity of CarrollTouch), displaying programs running on Apple computers (thanks to the generousity of Apple).

The goal of this research is the ceasation of the mass murdering of cetaceans by humans worldwide, by scientifically proving the dolphins intelligence and self-awareness.

It is the additional goal of this research to expand our knowledge of communication, between all species and/or individuals and/or neurons, and communication's relationship to intelligence, self awareness, and experience.

Although the dolphins in the experiments are captive, they participate on a completely voluntary basis. The dolphins can swim into other tanks as they wish, away from the touchscreen. No food reward is ever used, nor any reward other than the sound and picture the computer creates, and the reaction by the humans.

In the interest of saving the Cetacea, in the interest of raising human awareness about these highly intelligent beings, and in the interest of pure exploration in the vital area of interspecies communication, the Lilly team pledges its support for the Project Delphis program run by Earthtrust