Eva Pater
The Not-So-Gentle Side of Dolphins
The mythical stereotype of dolphins as always good-natured, gentle, playful and kind has been present in various human cultures since ancient times. It is likely that it is the dolphins’ permanent “smile” that makes people perceive them in such a positive light. The myths and legends of their inquisitive and friendly attitude towards humans certainly contributed to the stereotype greatly. It is also additionally strengthened by stories of their altruistic actions to help other animals and humans as well. Recent scientific observations do not support that stereotype however. It turns out dolphins can be quite mean, devious and even brutal when dealing with other dolphins (Connor, p. 124).
It was the research carried out in the 1980s in Monkey Mia, near Shark Bay in Western Australia that gave scientists valuable insight into the dolphin society. Americans Rachel Smolker, Richard Connor and Andrew Richards, among others, spent several years in Monkey Mia observing bottlenose dolphins and recording their day to day activities, behavior and interactions both with each other and with humans. They discovered that dolphins form very unique social relationships: male bottlenose dolphins always travel in pairs or triplets and those alliances seem to be life-long, whereas females do not form such bonds and travel in groups that are more fluid (Smolker, p. 139).
The male alliances showed to be very useful to males when they tried to take advantage of females and when fighting with other dolphins. One example of herding an unwilling female was observed by Rachel and Richard on one of the usual, hot and sunny days in Monkey Mia. The researchers saw three male dolphins that they knew very well swim near the shore. They were Snubby, Sicle and Bibi who were often seen there together, but this time there were two other dolphins with them: a female with an infant. The males seemed to be escorting the female, always staying close to her. Suddenly, the female turned and started swimming fast, apparently trying to get away. The males followed immediately in what Richard Connor described as a “hot pursuit” (p.125). As they closed in on the female they began splashing and trashing and produced loud popping sounds. The female’s escape was unsuccessful because she was smaller and slower than the males, and she had an infant to worry about. She was quickly brought back to the shore by the males. A little while later she tried to escape again, and again the males chased after her with much aggression and brought her back to shore.
The researchers were confused having observed how tense and violent the males were. At that point, like most people, they thought the dolphins to be gentle and good-natured creatures. It was rather difficult for them to accept that the dolphins were not playing, that obviously they had a darker side. They continued their observations.
On August 19th, 1988, another event took place that gave the researchers another insight into dolphins’ not-so-gentle side. It was a clear and calm morning and Rachel, Richard and Andrew were planning to take a boat out into deeper waters. Before doing that they decided to take a walk to the beach and see what the dolphins in the shallows were up to that morning. They could see from the distance that there was a lot of commotion in the water. Something was up.
“Holeyfin is back, and the guys are pretty keen on her,” a park ranger they ran into close to the beach informed them. The “guys” were Snubby, Bibi and Sickle. They were swimming around Holeyfin with a lot of splashing and excitement. They were rubbing against her and showing off their tricks in front of her. It became clear to the researchers that she was being herded by the males.
Rachel, Richard and Andrew shared the dolphins’ excitement realizing that they were given another opportunity for observation of dolphins’ unique behavior. They got their equipment out and got busy recording what they were seeing. Rachel was using a hydrophone to record the dolphin vocalizations and Richard was speaking as fast as he could to the tape recorder.
For several minutes the triplet continued their display of power and agility keeping the researchers’ attention. It was not until the dolphin activity subsided for a moment, when the researchers noticed that there were other dolphins around. They were Trips and Bite, two males who normally traveled with another male Cetus. They were bobbing on the surface giving an impression of being at rest. Their heads, however, turned and bodies adjusted as they were clearly making note of what was going on. They tried not to show it, but they were quite interested in all the excited activity.
After about half an hour, Trips and Bite left and headed offshore. Richard had a feeling that they were up to something and decided to follow them in his boat. Rachel and Andrew stayed in the shallows and continued to watch Snubby, Sickle and Bibi harass Holeyfin.
Not much time passed when Richard announced over the radio: “Look out, here we come!” He was coming back towards the shore with five dolphins in front of his boat. And then, as Rachel Smolker put it “the hell broke loose” (p.157).
The shallows became a scene of true chaos. Through her hydrophone Rachel could hear what she described as nasty growling and grunting sounds. Dolphins were furiously charging around. Snubby, Sickle, Bibi and Holeyfin took off at great speed but the rest pursued after them very closely. Richard’s boat followed and several minutes later Richard gave the rest of the anxiously waiting researchers a report.
“This is like science-fucking-fiction!” he yelled excitedly over the radio. “Trips and Bite went out north and joined up with Cetus, and then the three of them joined with Realnotch and Hi, who are herding Munch. Then all of them together came steaming straight back in here and stole Holeyfin from Snubnose, Bibi and Sicklefin. She’s with them now” (Smolker, p.158).
Richard also saw that the defeated triplet charge the victorious group once again after they started swimming away from the shallows, but it was enough for the larger group to simply turn around and give them a stare and the three gave up. Snubby, Bibi and Sickle soon came back to the shallows and found consolation in being fed huge amounts of fish by the tourists.
Having witnessed the fight, Rachel, Richard and Andrew no longer had any doubt in their mind. Dolphins can be aggressive and unkind to each other. Later in their research, they observed more examples of dolphin aggression and witnessed appearance of new bite marks on some dolphins’ bodies after similar battles.
In addition to the observations recorded in Shark Bay, there also have been some reports of dolphins’ violent behavior towards humans when, for example, the animals strike boats as if with an intention of capsizing them. Moreover, in contrary to often cited stories of dolphins saving humans from sharks, Toni Frohoff, an expert in the study of swim-with-the-dolphin programs, says it happened that the dolphins she was observing abandoned her and actually left her in the company of sharks (Frohoff, p.67).
The fact that those always “smiling” and seemingly friendly animals have the dark side to them may be disturbing to some people, but they need to realize that dolphins are just like any other species on this planet. They are complex wild animals whose behavior, as far as we know, is governed both by their intelligence and their instincts. The fact that they may sometimes behave according to rules different than what humans consider politically correct should not affect our appreciation for them. The dolphin society rules are simply different than those of humans. Plus, nobody in this world is perfect anyway.
Works Cited
Connor, Richard C., and Dawn Micklethwaite Peterson. The Lives of Whales and Dolphins. 1st ed. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996.
Frohoff, Toni, and Brenda Peterson, eds. Between Species. 1st ed. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 2003.
Smolker, Rachel. To Touch a Wild Dolphin. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2001.
The Not-So-Gentle Side of Dolphins
The mythical stereotype of dolphins as always good-natured, gentle, playful and kind has been present in various human cultures since ancient times. It is likely that it is the dolphins’ permanent “smile” that makes people perceive them in such a positive light. The myths and legends of their inquisitive and friendly attitude towards humans certainly contributed to the stereotype greatly. It is also additionally strengthened by stories of their altruistic actions to help other animals and humans as well. Recent scientific observations do not support that stereotype however. It turns out dolphins can be quite mean, devious and even brutal when dealing with other dolphins (Connor, p. 124).
It was the research carried out in the 1980s in Monkey Mia, near Shark Bay in Western Australia that gave scientists valuable insight into the dolphin society. Americans Rachel Smolker, Richard Connor and Andrew Richards, among others, spent several years in Monkey Mia observing bottlenose dolphins and recording their day to day activities, behavior and interactions both with each other and with humans. They discovered that dolphins form very unique social relationships: male bottlenose dolphins always travel in pairs or triplets and those alliances seem to be life-long, whereas females do not form such bonds and travel in groups that are more fluid (Smolker, p. 139).
The male alliances showed to be very useful to males when they tried to take advantage of females and when fighting with other dolphins. One example of herding an unwilling female was observed by Rachel and Richard on one of the usual, hot and sunny days in Monkey Mia. The researchers saw three male dolphins that they knew very well swim near the shore. They were Snubby, Sicle and Bibi who were often seen there together, but this time there were two other dolphins with them: a female with an infant. The males seemed to be escorting the female, always staying close to her. Suddenly, the female turned and started swimming fast, apparently trying to get away. The males followed immediately in what Richard Connor described as a “hot pursuit” (p.125). As they closed in on the female they began splashing and trashing and produced loud popping sounds. The female’s escape was unsuccessful because she was smaller and slower than the males, and she had an infant to worry about. She was quickly brought back to the shore by the males. A little while later she tried to escape again, and again the males chased after her with much aggression and brought her back to shore.
The researchers were confused having observed how tense and violent the males were. At that point, like most people, they thought the dolphins to be gentle and good-natured creatures. It was rather difficult for them to accept that the dolphins were not playing, that obviously they had a darker side. They continued their observations.
On August 19th, 1988, another event took place that gave the researchers another insight into dolphins’ not-so-gentle side. It was a clear and calm morning and Rachel, Richard and Andrew were planning to take a boat out into deeper waters. Before doing that they decided to take a walk to the beach and see what the dolphins in the shallows were up to that morning. They could see from the distance that there was a lot of commotion in the water. Something was up.
“Holeyfin is back, and the guys are pretty keen on her,” a park ranger they ran into close to the beach informed them. The “guys” were Snubby, Bibi and Sickle. They were swimming around Holeyfin with a lot of splashing and excitement. They were rubbing against her and showing off their tricks in front of her. It became clear to the researchers that she was being herded by the males.
Rachel, Richard and Andrew shared the dolphins’ excitement realizing that they were given another opportunity for observation of dolphins’ unique behavior. They got their equipment out and got busy recording what they were seeing. Rachel was using a hydrophone to record the dolphin vocalizations and Richard was speaking as fast as he could to the tape recorder.
For several minutes the triplet continued their display of power and agility keeping the researchers’ attention. It was not until the dolphin activity subsided for a moment, when the researchers noticed that there were other dolphins around. They were Trips and Bite, two males who normally traveled with another male Cetus. They were bobbing on the surface giving an impression of being at rest. Their heads, however, turned and bodies adjusted as they were clearly making note of what was going on. They tried not to show it, but they were quite interested in all the excited activity.
After about half an hour, Trips and Bite left and headed offshore. Richard had a feeling that they were up to something and decided to follow them in his boat. Rachel and Andrew stayed in the shallows and continued to watch Snubby, Sickle and Bibi harass Holeyfin.
Not much time passed when Richard announced over the radio: “Look out, here we come!” He was coming back towards the shore with five dolphins in front of his boat. And then, as Rachel Smolker put it “the hell broke loose” (p.157).
The shallows became a scene of true chaos. Through her hydrophone Rachel could hear what she described as nasty growling and grunting sounds. Dolphins were furiously charging around. Snubby, Sickle, Bibi and Holeyfin took off at great speed but the rest pursued after them very closely. Richard’s boat followed and several minutes later Richard gave the rest of the anxiously waiting researchers a report.
“This is like science-fucking-fiction!” he yelled excitedly over the radio. “Trips and Bite went out north and joined up with Cetus, and then the three of them joined with Realnotch and Hi, who are herding Munch. Then all of them together came steaming straight back in here and stole Holeyfin from Snubnose, Bibi and Sicklefin. She’s with them now” (Smolker, p.158).
Richard also saw that the defeated triplet charge the victorious group once again after they started swimming away from the shallows, but it was enough for the larger group to simply turn around and give them a stare and the three gave up. Snubby, Bibi and Sickle soon came back to the shallows and found consolation in being fed huge amounts of fish by the tourists.
Having witnessed the fight, Rachel, Richard and Andrew no longer had any doubt in their mind. Dolphins can be aggressive and unkind to each other. Later in their research, they observed more examples of dolphin aggression and witnessed appearance of new bite marks on some dolphins’ bodies after similar battles.
In addition to the observations recorded in Shark Bay, there also have been some reports of dolphins’ violent behavior towards humans when, for example, the animals strike boats as if with an intention of capsizing them. Moreover, in contrary to often cited stories of dolphins saving humans from sharks, Toni Frohoff, an expert in the study of swim-with-the-dolphin programs, says it happened that the dolphins she was observing abandoned her and actually left her in the company of sharks (Frohoff, p.67).
The fact that those always “smiling” and seemingly friendly animals have the dark side to them may be disturbing to some people, but they need to realize that dolphins are just like any other species on this planet. They are complex wild animals whose behavior, as far as we know, is governed both by their intelligence and their instincts. The fact that they may sometimes behave according to rules different than what humans consider politically correct should not affect our appreciation for them. The dolphin society rules are simply different than those of humans. Plus, nobody in this world is perfect anyway.
Works Cited
Connor, Richard C., and Dawn Micklethwaite Peterson. The Lives of Whales and Dolphins. 1st ed. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996.
Frohoff, Toni, and Brenda Peterson, eds. Between Species. 1st ed. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 2003.
Smolker, Rachel. To Touch a Wild Dolphin. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 2001.
posted by Eva Pater at
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