China makes robotic dolphins for aquariums after wildlife ban

A special effects and technology company in San Francisco is pitching a surprisingly lifelike animatronic dolphin to aquariums and marine parks in China to help them deal with the country's recent ban on wildlife trade. The dolphin was developed by Edge Innovations, a company founded by special effects veteran Walt Conti, who previously worked on The Abyss, Anaconda, Deep Blue Sea, The Perfect Storm, among many others. The current prototype was modeled after an adolescent bottlenose dolphin, weighs around 595 pounds, and can swim for 10 continuous hours on a single battery charge. Edge Innovations has developed a shockingly lifelike animatronic robot that it's pitching to marine parks and aquariums in China as a cheaper alternative to real dolphins The dolphin was designed to mimic the skeletal structure of a real dolphin, and uses internal bladders and weight deposits to further match a real dolphin's swimming movements - and its teeth have been given a light yellow staining for extra realism. The dolphin requires a human operator to swim and can't operate autonomously, according to a report in Gizmodo..