It is a poignant mourning ritual that is rarely seen –
and even more rarely captured on camera.
Struggling against the rough seas, a dolphin carries her dead
baby on its final journey.
While a boat full of tourists watched the heartbreaking
scene, the baby dolphin slipped from its mother’s back five times
as she battled against the tide
But on each occasion, she plucked it from the waves and
continued her lonely voyage.
The dolphin was thought to be moving her dead calf away from
the shore to lay it to rest in deeper water. A large gash,
approximately a foot long, was visible across the calf’s
belly.
It is possible the infant was killed by the propeller of a
boat – perhaps even one of the many that take visitors out on day
trips.
The pictures were taken by tourists in China’s Guangxi Zhuang
region, which is known for its dolphin-watching tours.
In the past, researchers have observed dolphins carrying
or pushing stillborn calves or those that die in their
infancy.
They sometimes stay with their dead baby for several days.
Mourning rituals are rare in the animal kingdom, but have also been
observed in whales, elephants, chimps and gorillas.
While experts are reluctant to attribute human emotions to
animals, the behaviour seems to show that dolphins have some
awareness of mortality – and may even contemplate their eventual
death.
Researcher Joan Gonzalvo, of the Tethys Research
Institute in Italy, observed a similar scene of a
mother carrying its dead calf on its back. He said that the
mother seemed unable to accept the death.
A year later, he witnessed a pod of dolphins trying to
help a dying calf – lifting it to the surface and swimming around
the sick creature in a frantic and erratic manner.
He said: ‘My hypothesis is that the sick animal was kept
company and given support, and when it died the group had done
their job.
‘In this case they had already assumed death would
eventually come – they were prepared.’
