Dolphins live in complex social environments that demand a sophisticated toolkit of socio-cognitive skills, including the ability to pay attention to what others attend to. In addition, captive dolphins often undergo specialized training in which they must attend to and interact with human trainers in exchange for rewards. In other words, captive dolphins’ skills and experience may make them sensitive to human attentional states.

Read more at my Animal Minds blog: Dolphins Understand Human Gaze.