A woman who works in animal research revealed for the first time she had sex with a dolphin during a NASA experiment in the '60s.
Margaret Howe Lovatt joined the NASA-funded experiment, stationed on the U.S. Virgin Islands, to teach the intelligent marine animals how to speak English, Lovatt said during a BBC documentary, the Daily Mirror reported.
In 1963, researchers flooded a house with knee-deep water to turn it into a dolphinarium and gain easy access to the mammals. That was the same year Lovatt met Peter, a young, sexually-maturing dolphin she later formed a physical relationship with.
"Peter like to be...with me. He would rub himself on my knee, my foot or my hand and I allowed that," Lovatt said according to the newspaper.
"It was sexual on his part- it wasn't sexual on mine, sensuous perhaps," Lovatt said.
Lovatt revealed her brush with dolphin amour in an upcoming BBC documentary titled "The Girl Who Talked to Dolphins."
The animal researcher said she first encouraged Peter to associate with the other female dolphins. But as time went by she found it easier to just let him be near her.
"I wasn't uncomfortable- as long as it wasn't too rough," she said. "It was just easier to incorporate that and let it happen, it was very precious and very gentle, Peter was right there, he knew that I was right there."
In fact, the encounters became routine as Lovatt tried to teach the dolphin English, according to the Daily Mirror.
"It would just become part of what was going on like an itch, just get rid of that we'll scratch and we would be done and move on."
But the experiment took a scandalous turn when rumors spread about the dolphins suffering from drug abuse from LSD tests, according to the newspaper. There was also suspicion surrounding the nature of Lovatt and the dolphin's relationship.
The documentary airs June 17 on BBC4.
