Meet Cloud a 3 year-ol black lab living in Key Largo, Fl. Now the idea that the sense of smell for some animals is so strong that they have been able to detect cancer cells in people is nothing new. In fact I remember the story of a cat that lived in a retirment home and refused to leave a patients side once it sensed they were about to pass. Though both of these stories are amazing, Cloud may just have them beat. You see Cloud has the ability to detect dolphins that have washed up on shore and gotten stranded. Dolphin strandings tend to regularly all over the world and for now scientists are at a loss as to why it occurs. According to Beth Smart, director of the Dolphin & Marine Medical Research Foundation of Palm Beach, Fl. “Strandings don't occur with any rhyme or reason. They occur when you least expect it and you have to be prepared for that.”  Yet thanks to Cloud, we may just have a way of detecting when they occur before it’s too late. Says her owner Chris Blankenship” I remember one time I had thrown it (a vial) into about three feet of water and she was in an area where she couldn't see what was going on. I put her on her alert and she went like she was going to go get her ball. She literally put her head into the water and pulled up the pipe with the sample. So we know it works. Her sense of smell is just very, very astute and just dead on accurate.”

While Cloud and her trainers work on toning her skills, the pup has already saved has succeeded to find stranded animals during three separate events. As for Smart’s thoughts on the future use of Cloud’s abilities “She is what I would say is the Coast Guard of dogs in waiting for that mass stranding when it does happen. She is there and she is going to be ready to go and she will be there to speed up locating any missed dolphins and whales.”