A quick glance in the media shows a considerable amount of people who claims to have lived an incredible experience, in which a dolphin or a group of dolphins saves them from the danger that the sea involves, even without realizing it. Do you want to know some?

Why saving humans if they are different species? There are some theories.

A FEW STORIES

In 2002, a 36-year-old Australian man named Grant Dickson was fishing in northern Queensland along with other people. Hours later the vessel collapsed in the water, and Dickson found himself alone in the middle of the ocean, holding only to the remainings of the boat. He had some wounds bleeding profusely, and with horror, he discovered a group of sharks swimming around him. However, he watched with amazement how a pod of dolphins began to circle him, scaring away the sharks they might have attacked them by confusing his legs with some prey because of the blood. In the end, Grant Dickson was rescued safe and sound.

In 2004, a group of lifeguards and a young woman from New Zealand were training at sea when a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) about 3 meters in length suddenly appeared in front of them. But fortunately soon a small pod of dolphins arrived surrounding the group and the woman. They waved their tails and created lots of noise to dissuade the shark from attack them until it decided to go away.

Todd Endris, a 24-year-old surfer, was practicing his favorite sport on August 28, 2007. He could not imagine that moments later a great white shark was going to wallop him and then gave him two severe bites. The terrified young man saw his death close when suddenly about 15 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) appeared and surrounded him to form a barrier between him and the shark. This protection allowed Todd to get safely to the shore, although with severe wounds from what he later recovered.

Hardy Jones is a wildlife activist. In 2003 he was filming a pod of dolphins when he realized that a shark approached him. Maybe he would have to get attacked if four dolphins had not approached to protect him.

In 2004, five British scuba divers were adrift in the Red Sea with no more company than the animals around. They feared dying right there until a boat rescued them. They believe that dolphins deserve their gratitude since the crew of the rescuing boat said they saw a group of these cetaceans swimming in the direction of divers, probably to draw attention to that place.

WHY DO DOLPHINS RESCUE PEOPLE?

Dolphins show behaviors at times similar to that of humans. In the wild they usually help the sick pod mates, supporting them to reach the surface so they can breathe. Females are loving mothers devoted to their offspring while they feed on breast milk and even long time after weaning.

But, why do dolphins save humans, if they are a different species? Many theories exists that try to explain the reason, but until now none is widely accepted.

Researchers think that sometimes the relationship between humans and dolphins have nothing to do with empathy and rather it is a symbiotic relationship of help-reward. A sample of this is the case of dolphins which help fishers to find fish or other prey since, in the end, these cetaceans receive a portion of the fish obtained. The question here is why did they begin to do this if no one taught them?

The act of defending humans from an animal that can attack them, like sharks, is similar to the behavior of mothers protecting their offspring. Many disabled swimmers or divers claim that were held and transported to the surface with the aid of a dolphin, action used with other cetaceans.

Another explanation may be related to the comparison between body characteristics of dolphins and humans since both are intelligent mammals. Thanks to its sense of echolocation, a dolphin can hear the heartbeat and realize when a person is helpless. It is the moment when they act as they would do it with a mate.

There are only two cetacean attacks on record against people, one from a killer whale that confused a surfboard for a seal and the other by a cranky dolphin mother who had just given birth and its calf was taken away from her.

DOLPHIN HEROES

In Greek and old sea stories, there are dozens of claims of dolphins helping drowning sailors, rescuing people from sharks, and making themselves useful as guides through treacherous waters.

Dolphins and other cetaceans also help injured members of their family groups and newborn babies to the surface by swimming under them and nudging upward, just as some reports describe them doing with humans. Interestingly, there are some real stories of dolphins helping other cetaceans. In 1983 at Tokerau Beach, Northland, New Zealand, a pod of pilot whales ran aground during ebb tide. The Zealanders who lived there came out and did their best to keep the whales alive, sponging their skin and calming them, until the tide came back in. But even then the whales were having trouble orienting themselves.

Dolphins came to the rescue. Somehow, a pod of dolphins who were nearby figured out what was happening. They swam into the shallows, putting themselves at risk, and “herded” the pilot whales out to sea, saving 76 of 80 whales. Five years earlier, a similar incident had occurred at Whangarei harbor. If dolphins are smart enough to help other cetaceans in that manner, why not humans.

OTHER CASES

Several years ago, in the Gulf of Akaba, a British tourist was rescued by three dolphins from sharks. Near the Sinai Peninsula, a ship captain had stopped his boat so several passengers could watch dolphins playing. Three of the passengers decided to swim with them, and one stayed a little longer than the others. To his horror, he was bitten by a shark – and more were coming. Suddenly, three dolphins placed themselves between the tourist and the sharks, smacking the water with their tails and flippers, driving the sharks off until the crew rescued the man.

In 2004, a ten-foot great white shark confronted a group of swimmers off the northern coast of new Zealand. A pod of dolphins “herded” them together, circling them until the great white fled. There are several other examples from the area of Australia about similar incidences.

In another case in the Red Sea, twelve divers lost for thirteen and a half hours were surrounded by dolphins for the entire time, repelling the many sharks that live in the area. When a rescue boat appeared, it seemed that the dolphins were showing them where the divers were, leaping in the air in front of them.

As we can’t talk to dolphins, we can’t understand what their motives are in these situations. It is, however, very possible that they are indeed trying to help and protect fellow mammals in the ocean to safety. If this is true, it means that they are the only animals, besides humans, which show true altruism.

References

http://www.afd.org.au/images-and-videos/extraordinary-stories/mans-real-best-friend-stories-of-dolphins-rescuing-humans

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/nov/24/internationalnews

Commercial fishing can be a risky business, but not when you have the right members on your team! In some locations, fishermen are getting help from self-trained Bottlenose Dolphins! This is a winning outcome for the dolphins as well as for the fishermen that are reaping such rewards. What is really interesting in this study in Brazil is that the dolphins were never formally trained for such an outcome.

What has occurred is that the dolphins are successful with getting the fish into a central location. Then they send out signals to the fishermen that inform them where they should drop their nets to catch the fish. It is very evident the social and cooperation skills of these dolphins are extremely well developed.

Additional research on these dolphins also shows they are extremely social and cooperative within the group. This is based on information that has been published in the Royal Society Biology Letters if you are interested in finding out more. It is believed that these factors help to explain why some of the dolphins in the wild do help humans and other don’t take part in it.

The behaviors are well synchronized and fishermen have been able to rely on those signals. They often include tail or head slaps in the water in given locations. The fishermen are able to quickly put their nets in the right place. This allows them to get the fish instead of guessing where to put the nets and hoping for the best. Such information has been observed and documented by Fabio Daura-Jorge of the Federal University of Santa Catarina.

Along with several colleagues, he has been able to see the outcome of such experiences. So what is in it for the dolphins? They get to dine on the fish that find their way out of the nets. They are patient and wait for that moment to arrive. Such observations were noted by Daura-Jorge and his team through boating surveys that took place over the course of a 2 year period.

They used photos to identify the dolphins. This allowed them to classify the groups as cooperative or non-cooperative based on their interactions or lack of interactions with the fishermen. The use of computer modeling allowed for the social relationships among the dolphins to be successfully identified.

What was found is that those dolphins that were cooperative spent far more time with each other, even when they weren’t participating in activities that helped the fishermen. It is believed that there are many factors at work here that determine if a relationship will occur naturally between humans and dolphins. They include genetics, social learning, and ecology. 

It is believed that information transferred from one generation of the dolphins to the next is very important here. The older dolphins teach the younger ones to be able to successfully help the fishermen. There have been numerous documentations about such behaviors within groups of dolphins in various areas. One that is widely discussed is the process of sponging by the dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia. If you aren’t familiar with sponging, it is the process of these Bottlenose Dolphins tearing pieces of sponges and covering their snout with them while they forage for food. This protects them from damages to that part of the body. 

There are plenty of unique behaviors identified within dolphin groups, and their intelligence level is believed to be a big part of them. According to Lori Marino from Emory University, the size of the dolphin’s brain should be used to help measure their intelligence. She and many others believe the dolphin ranks #2 – right being humans.

Source: http://news.discovery.com/animals/helpful-dolphins-120502.html

Dolphins have helped people in many ways, and there is a large number of stories about dolphins helping people since the ancient Greece.

Sometimes, dolphins have helped humans in the ocean by protecting them from shark attacks which are usually done swimming around the person and making sharks go away.

Other anecdotes relate how boats avoided wreckage by following dolphins during thick fog conditions until they managed to pass through dangerous waters.