Grief comes in a variety of forms. And no matter if the grieving party is an animal or a human, the pain is obviously the same.
Michael McCarthy was canoeing near St. Petersburg, Florida when he saw a nearby dolphin. It was apparent the dolphin had with it a smaller fish that was completely limp. Michael’s first thought was that the dolphin had just caught its dinner:
“It took me a minute to accept what I was seeing when I first spotted the dolphin,” McCarthy told The Dodo. “I wanted to believe it was a large redfish or something, but it quickly became apparent that it was a dead calf.”
But the truth was plain: The dolphin was traveling with a dead dolphin baby. He reached for his camera and proceeded to film. The footage he captured showed the dolphin nuzzling at the still body of the calf and grieving over her loss.
Michael was surprised to find the grieving mother dolphin was not alone. Another dolphin swam along with her. And it was obvious the second dolphin was attempting to console the grieving mother.
Every so often, other dolphins would appear only to remain for a few moments and then disappear into the water. However, the dolphin that Michael saw comforting the mother originally never left her side.
Michael surmised the calf had been hit by a motorboat after observing the scar pattern on its tiny body. He says this is why he felt it so important to capture footage of the incident. He wanted to dispel a common misconception that is communicated by boaters. Many of them believe that dolphins move too fast to be hit by their boats.
Michael explains calves are in more danger when motorboats are near because they do not swim as fast as adults and must surface for air more often. Studies have been conducted that have shown the grief experienced by a dolphin when they lose a calf but Michael says witnessing it in person put matters in a different perspective for him.
He shared the video of the incident to Twitter where it was viewed 76,000 times in a single week. Many of the viewers expressed they were just as heartbroken by the scene as Michael was.
https://x.com/SeeThroughCanoe/status/1135586030558597120
Did you feel bad for the mother dolphin? Do you think something should be done to protect dolphins in places where people boat and ski? Send this article and video to everyone you know. You just might be responsible for saving the life of a baby dolphin.
