While we have more work to do, our research has identified several specific criteria necessary for the sanctuary to succeed. It will be an outdoor, seawater facility in a tropical year-round climate, ideally located where dolphins already exist in the wild. The site we choose will be significantly larger than the dolphins' current living space, in a setting that provides more natural stimuli for the dolphins, such as fish and marine plants. Humans will care for and interact with the dolphins for their entire lives, and the operating principle will be "dolphins first" with emphasis on the individual needs of the dolphins. An important function of the sanctuary will be to allow qualified scientists to carry out studies not feasible in either an open-ocean or aquarium setting, in fields like communication, behavior, cognition and bioacoustics.