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Last Breath


 Ahem, so I just woke up in the middle of the night, carefully and cautiously put aside the hands of the 'she' holding me. I felt like doing a random read. I like reading random things in the middle of the night when out of the blue I wake up, more often I make amazing discoveries.  I reached for my phone and typed “something to read” the result was, 23 life-changing things you can read right now. I was not in the sulks of changing my life at 2 am in the morning. What’s even there to be changed?

That didn’t tickle my fancy so I kept on wandering… poking my nose into everything that seemed interesting.

In the furthest corner of the internet, I met Margaret Howe. Something heaved me to her, the picture. She was an amazing lady, I could tell, sceptical and curious like a ten years old me. She was pretty as pretty could be. Her third name was Lovatt, her bizarre relationship with a dolphin during a NASA-sponsored experiment makes her one of history's strangest characters. Dr. John Lilly, a neuroscientist, and astronomer Frank Drake teamed up in the 1960s to raise funds for research into how to build a conversational bridge between humans and dolphins.

They developed a lab that served as both a workspace and a dolphin cage, and Margaret Howe Lovatt, 23, came to see it when she heard about it. The director of the lab eventually consented to let the curious young woman assist him.

She gave daily training to the dolphins with the purpose of assisting them in producing human-like noises. She became engrossed in her work to the point of living in the lab. She developed a special bond with one of the dolphins, Peter, and he was particularly interested in her.

Peter was smitten with Lovatt and would rub his body on her to indicate his sexual desires. Howe eventually gave in and began manually gratifying Peter's desires so she wouldn't have to return him to the female dolphins every time he felt a certain way.

It wasn't sexual on her part. Perhaps sensual. It appeared to her that it strengthened the tie. Not because of the sexual activities, but because she won't have to break as often. And that was the end of it. She went to meet Peter and learn more about him. That was an element of Peter's personality.

The lab eventually ran out of funds, and Lovatt and Peter's relationship ended when he was transferred to a facility in Miami. Peter was heartbroken and committed suicide in his tank after being separated from his LOVE.

Huhh yes, Peter committed suicide. Dolphins do not automatically breathe air like we do... Every breath is a deliberate act. When life becomes too much for the dolphins, they just take a breath and descend to the bottom.

Maybe not with a bullet, a knife or a rope on the ceiling but suicide is suicide. I’m imagining how Peter arrived at this decision and it just feels crazy.

To some, Lovatt and Peter's strange connection may appear to be a sad love story, but to others, Lovatt just qualifies as one of the world's strangest people.

For me, its nothing short of a sad love story.

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