Paulina - 8-25-2008 at 04:55 PM
Well, it seemed odd to me anyway, as I'd never seen this before.
On our way into Don Juan cove in Bahia de Los Angeles we came across a dead dolphin. It was floating not too far from the shoreline.
When we motored up to get a closer look and take another photo...
...a live Bottlenosed dolphin popped up right beside it and proceeded to nudge it away from our panga.
So we sat for a while and watched as it continued to stay close to the dead dolphin, guiding it further and further away from us and at the same time,
stopping it from washing up against the rocks.
It was kind of sad watching the dolphin work so hard to maneuver the dead one around. It's skin was marked up with the white flesh of the dead one, so
it had to have been at this job for quite a while.
Has anyone else ever seen this before, or know why it was behaving so?
Thanks,
P<*)))>{
Oso - 8-25-2008 at 05:07 PM
We are not the exclusive owners of so-called "human emotions". Elephants will come to the aid of wounded members of the herd. There are many known
incidents of higher mammals exhibiting behavior we think is ours alone.
Ken Bondy - 8-25-2008 at 05:23 PM
Paulina I have heard of this behavior from dolphin experts many times. Usually it is a mother/offspring thing (mom just can't give up) but I have
heard of it happening between presumably unrelated adults and juveniles also. Sad, but like oso said, it happens in other mammals also. ++Ken++
PS Paulina as I looked more closely at your remarkable photos it seems to me that the live one is a lot smaller than the dead one. This may be a case
of mom dying and the calf staying close, trying to nurse.
[Edited on 8-26-2008 by Ken Bondy]
jeans - 8-25-2008 at 11:15 PM
Wow...what a sad sight...Ken may be right. The live dolphin could have been a juvenile.
In any case it was you witnessed a remarkable scene...Thank you for sharing
longlegsinlapaz - 8-26-2008 at 08:18 AM
Amazing pics!! Sad sight, but it does show that humans aren't the only species capable of emotions!! Thanks for posting!!