Did Dolphins Save a Swimmer From a Shark?

What are you able to anticipate when dolphins and sharks occupy the identical waters — peaceable coexistence or one thing a bit extra violent? The title of 1 current Nationwide Geographic documentary — Sharks vs. Dolphins: Blood Battle — suggests the latter, however different documented occasions in nature supply a broader vary of interactions, from the contentious to the mild-mannered.

Earlier this yr, a photographer in Florida documented a shark biting a dolphin’s tail — however its aim wasn’t about making a meal of the dolphin as a lot because it was about making off with the fish the dolphin deliberate on consuming. A extra contentious interactions between species was filmed off the coast of South Africa, the place a pod of dolphins banded collectively to drive off an awesome white shark — a traditional case of energy in numbers.

And there’s a case that was documented in one other nature documentary, this one titled Saved From a Shark. As Dwell Science reported, the movie documented the expertise of 1 man who was swimming within the Crimson Sea when a mako shark attacked him till the arrival of a bunch of dolphins drove the shark away. The swimmer credit the dolphins with saving his life.

A few of the specialists cited within the documentary really feel that the dolphins had been appearing much less out of altruism and extra to guard their very own lives. In different phrases, saving a human life might need been a aspect impact, however the dolphins had been actually out to guard their very own neighborhood.

Till we’ve labored out a option to talk with whales and dolphins, we’re unlikely to know precisely what their motivations are. And it’s additionally doable that if that theoretical technique of communication does come to cross, dolphins might need a number of different issues they’d wish to convey as much as us people.