Newly engaged Mandy Bruno (Marina Cooper) and Robert Bogue (A.C. Mallet) managed to sneak a little fun into their trip last week to Orlando, Florida. The pair spent an afternoon swimming with Atlantic bottlenose dolphins and relaxing on pristine beaches at Discovery Cove.


Dolphins can produce sounds in two ways. Underwater, they use sonar capabilities for a wide variety of purposes, including hunting, navigation, and surveying their environment. Above water, sound is produced by pushing air directly through their blowholes. They use the muscles inside the lining of their air hole to force air out of the blow hole. Dolphins can also produce sound with vocal cords inside their throats. Dolphins need to come up to the surface to breath, which is probably why they have a system for making sound both under and above water.


"They have such a complex language," Bogue remarked. "There are actually scientists who have hooked up underwater microphones that can pick up the sounds that the dolphins make so that they can try to isolate a specific sound and tie it to a particular behavior."


Bogue capitalized on the intelligence of one of the dolphins during his visit to Discovery Cove. The actor arranged for a dolphin named Jenny to retrieve a special toy and bring it back to Mandy. On the buoy was a special love note written to his new fiancée: "I love you, Mandy."


Bruno said that she skipped swimming in a tank full of rays, another of the activities offered at the park.


"Oh they're beautiful, but no," Bruno laughed.