Wild Dolphins Observed Giving Gifts to Humans

I heard a story about an aboriginal tribe that had a way to get free fish from dolphins. A lone person would walk slowly up and down the beach while affecting a limp and looking lame. Apparently the dolphins would see him and feel sorry for him I guess and start throwing fish onto the shore.

I've been surfing for about 25 years. These guys are always swimming through the lineups and riding waves with us. Never had them give me an actual "gift" but the act of just being in proximity to them and watching them playing was great for me....maybe that's the gift? Wonderful creatures....the reincarnation waiting list to be one is probably infinitely long.

There are lots of things we can learn from the animal kingdom...We are just starting to scratch the surface....Lets face it ,most animals live a healthier,happier,more useful life than most of us do...We have shaped our lives in synthetic forms ridiculed by the rest of the species....Nature is trying to tell us how to heal,if we listen to it carefully.

My friend had a small experience with a dolphin while in Cuba. He was swimming with them wearing his sun glasses when a wave knocked them off his head, thinking they were just a cheap pair and seeing them disappear the to the ocean floor he thought they were lost. As he swam back to shore a dolphin popped up next to him with the sun glasses in its mouth .. So the dolphin hadnt gave my friend a gift as such but had returned his belongings

When you consider what it takes to train a dog to do a "trick" and then consider that the dolphins are learning their "tricks" with little or no training or incentive it says volumes about their comparative intelligence.

When you consider the life they lead; eat, play, love and sleep, you have to wonder who really is the more intelligent species, them or us???

"Goodbye and thanks for all the fish"

So we didn't actually go goodbye and now maybe they're giving all the fish back?

Originally posted by dc4lifeskater
just wait until they start gathering all the trash we put in the water and throwing it up on the beach for us to clean... then maybe it will get people attention.

I wonder how hard it would be to train wild dolphins to do that? I fear though that it wouldn't be safe for them.

Interesting, This gift behavior is also observed in cats. There is this big fat cat, who after the other cat has eaten mostly, does the dishes. Whenever we put him on a diet, attempt to should I say. He will hunt and often bring home food then drop it at the other cats feet, or someone in the homes feet. Not being a vocal moggy you know when he has pray, as he also announces his gift. I have often seen this, as his version of contributing.

A really sad / nice YouTube video, Sentient beings in action.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=


Basically a dog risking its life, attempting to save another dog. And many still treat animals with little to no respect. We used to see a lot of dead wombats on the roads here, now we only see a few.

Dolphins and humans in Brazil cooperate together for fishing..

But still..

Mind officially blown..

S n F

Yes, brilliant animals. How ever they are also known to rape, and kill humans, as well as their own babies. Pretty wicked creatures dolphins are.

Deep dark dolphin secrets.

reply to post by korathin


The US Marines, and US Navy, train dolphins to find and clear mines as well as plant explosives on enemy vessels. I'm sure if they can handle the dangers involved with clearing an underwater mine designed to decimate modern naval vessels they could handle a little trash.

My guess as to why they don't do this, not enough people care to put in the time to train hundreds if not thousands of dolphins to collect garbage, when you could do the job faster and in larger quantities with an ocean skimmer.

reply to post by cartesia


I think that was "killer" wales (or that a similar events took place with them).

They might be doing offerings. I've heard that some tribes that had seen airplanes go over them would setup religious symbols and would make offerings to the planes.

Here is a link about it:
en.wikipedia.org - Cargo cult...

...When the war ended, the military bases closed and the flow of goods and materials ceased. In an attempt to attract further deliveries of goods, followers of the cults engaged in ritualistic practices such as building crude imitation landing strips, aircraft and radio equipment, and mimicking the behavior that they had observed of the military personnel operating them.
..........

Of course, subscribing their behavior to some sort of cult or religious activity seems extreme. On the other hand, how do we know that dolphins don't have primitive spiritualism? Also take note that the observed behavior was also rooted in their extensive ignorance of modern technology.

Ever seen a child make something (sloppily) and then give it to a parent as a present or gift? Could this be similar? Might dolphins see us as sort of a guardian or parent?

Maybe, just maybe, they saw people fishing more than once and started to understand we were doing it for food. Maybe this is how the whole thing started. It might tie into all of it.

On the issue of cats offering gifts I'll enter into a discussion about cats and dogs...

My cat offers love. I think that's the best gift. Dogs do the same.

Dogs are definitely more social than cats. However, dogs will crap just about anywhere. In that respect, they don't have much care. But cats will crap either in litter or in the dirt and then cover it up without being told. Cats have been known to learn how to use toilets. But dogs can be trained a lot easier than cats. That might be because dogs are so loyal. What this boils down to is I think cats are more "anti-social". But they're not necessarily dumb. I often will watch our dog and our cat play. The dog seems to have a superiority complex and will chase the cat. But when they're friendly, the cat never tries to chase the dog away. The cat could easily claw an eye out if it wanted.

Cats have a dumb but loving indifference. Dogs have a impassioned loyalty. I don't think I'll ever see a cat try to protect a home like a dog will. A cat will just hide if there's a stranger.

When the owner comes home after being away, dogs seem to go crazy and anticipate it the whole time. It's like seeing their owner after 20 years. A cat, by comparison, sleepily nods at you.

There're times I'll swear the cat is smarter. Other times I'll swear the dog is smarter. They're just different. Cats are lone hunters. Dogs are more like pack hunters. Different temperament. Domesticated, they've no need to hunt. But their innate instincts are still the same. A dog wants to be in a pack; a family. A cat is kind of a loner; uses its own cunning almost exclusively.

My personality type is INTP. I think that's why I prefer cats. I don't crave the attention of other things so when a cat lightly acknowledge my presence, it's affirming and I like it that way. And I don't want to clean up their poop, so it's nice that they take care of it themselves. When I want some love, they give it to me and I return it. But since neither of us craves it, we go our own way when we're done. There're many things about the cat I'll never know because of this. But I wouldn't want to intrude. I think even if I had hte opportunity, I would not understand the cat anyway.

Peace. Peace to the dolphins. Live long and prosper brothers and sisters.

reply to post by jonnywhite


I would think it odd for dolphins to worship us given the vast numbers of them we hunt or fishermen destroy every year.

Originally posted by Hijinx
reply to post by jonnywhite

 

I would think it odd for dolphins to worship us given the vast numbers of them we hunt or fishermen destroy every year.

Not so odd, we still worship a ton of different "Gods" who do far worse, in some cases, to us than we do to the dolphins.

I used to have a cat that brought me birds/mice and even SOCKS as a gift to me, the perfect recipe for a delicious meal. These dolphins have some catching up to do if they want to impress.

Originally posted by ssophia
My cats used to bring me giant spiders and birds when I was younger

I know he meant well..

Dolphins are so intelligent and beautiful, I had the privilege of patting and feeding pink dolphins in Singapore, and they were lovely.

They probably feel they are returning the favor to us

I had a cat like that too

Dolphins are wild animals and very intelligent, in so far as there apparent violent behavior? Given what humans are capable of today this is an issue of nature. Chimps in the wild engage in similar behaviors and then of course there are Elephants.

Originally posted by pauljs75
Probably some kind of tit-for-tat kind of thing. Maybe beached dolphins were saved there, or perhaps sick dolphins got treated for an infection, or they just get food and/or a good back scratching from the people that visit there. It is a gift giving gesture, but they wouldn't do it without some percieved benefit.

I remember hearing anecdotal stories about how if dolphins are treated well, they may even drive fish into a fisherman's nets. But if you look at it from a dolphin's perspective, hearding a school of fish is mush easier than catching them. So if a fisherman readily rewards you with more fish from his net than you could catch otherwise, as a dolphin, why would you not help him out?

If you look it at from a fisherman's perspective, catching fish which have conveniently swum into your net is much easier than herding a school of fish into the nets.

It appears that dolphins, like human fishermen, are good businessmammals.

Originally posted by fastbob72
It's just there way of saying 'So long and thanks for all the fish'.lol.

First thing I thought of was a cat bringing dead mice back for it's owners and they did say it felt similar.

Some believe this cat behavior is them attempting to train humans how to hunt for mice. They do this with their kittens--bring them small semi-dead creatures, to get them used to pouncing on them.

I think dolphins aren't doing this. They clearly have a more sophisticated theory of mind than cats---they have figured out from their own observations that humans can think, just like they do, and they can interact with them with this measure.

Note, in the oceanic world, almost all animals other than fellow cetaceans are dumb and boring. (Only octupuses seem to have any smarts, and they don't seem that playful). On land it isn't like that---but other animals typically use their intelligence for predation and hence are pretty dangerous.

So dolphins are smart, and bored, and generally don't feel in danger from any other animal, other than perhaps big sharks, but those are easy to defend against if you have numbers. Humans are their greatest amusement and greatest threat.