While the writers have been striking for the past five months, Stephen Colbert — aside from launching a podcast with the other late night hosts — has apparently been wiling away the hours on the seven seas.

In the clip above from his first Late Show back, Sailor Colbert is approached by a friendly sea chum, a dolphin, and informed that the strike is over.

"The WGA strike is over?" he asks. "But how did they deal with the AI issue?"

The dolphin squeaks in response.

"Oh, I see, artificial intelligence can be used, but it can't be credited as a writer or be a source of literary material! That makes sense, why did that take five months?"

A short while later Colbert is on the back of the dolphin, speeding back to the studio.