Dolphins: the good, the bad and the ugly

By Sarah Ward

Living Seas Officer

We were tasked to come up with ideas of different “heroes and villains” of the natural world. When it comes to the marine environment, there are a few species that have been “vilified”, mostly by Hollywood - sharks being the obvious example. 

Dolphins on the other hand, have been made the heroes, making us think they’re gentle, caring and friendly creatures.

Whilst this isn’t wholly untrue, dolphins also exhibit a number of traits that suggest they're more complex in the “heroes and villains” stakes than they may first appear. Which is true of all creatures, and probably true of most humans we tend to hero worship (or villainise).

Dolphins are known to attack and kill baby dolphins. It is understood that this is because males see new calves as “competition”, so may try and see off the baby, so that the mother is free to make more babies. 

And male dolphins are ruthless when it comes to mating. Males can form “gangs”, isolating females from other pods. 

You’ve probably seen footage of dolphins playing. However, sometimes it may be that they’re 'playing' with other animals. A well-known example is a group of dolphins using a baby shark as a make-shift volleyball.

To humans, these behaviours may seem shocking, but it’s important to remember that scientific literature suggests these are quite normal, albeit somewhat violent, behaviours. Dolphins don’t have the same concept of consent as humans do.

All this being said, dolphins are absolutely amazing creatures that never fail to excite and interest me and it’s always lovely to hear about dolphin being spotted off the Sussex coast.