'Grieving' dolphin carries dead calf

Passengers on board a whale watching safari in California have filmed the rare sight of a "grieving" bottlenose dolphin carrying its dead calf on its back.

The whale-watchers noticed the adult dolphin when it swam past their boat this week with an object wrapped around its dorsal fin.

In video of the incident, Captain Dave Anderson can be heard explaining the dolphin's unusual cargo to passengers.

"It seems to me that...it's a dolphin that unfortunately is no longer alive, and it could be the calf of this female," he said.

A pod of dolphins can be seen surrounding the dolphin as it swims with the calf on its back, moving many passengers on board.

Story | Video

While it might be speculative emotional reasoning, it is hard not to find the idea of a possible dolphin funeral procession touching. I'm sure it must have been quite an experience for the passengers on this boat. It's a good reminder that we are not the only beings that grieve when we lose a loved one.

All warm-blooded mammals have limbic systems in their brains. The limbic system is what makes feeling emotions possible.

The story you share is a beautiful and touching reminder that many forms of life on this planet are sentient and can feel pain, loss and grief. It should serve to remind us that we are actually more similar that we are different, whether we have skin, fur, feathers or fins.

Poor likkle bugger .
Why do I cry when Iam a 38 year old man?

We could learn a lot from dolphins.

Unfortunately, we don't even try to learn from ourselves.

Yeah, I do wish more people had an appreciation for what we share with animals than calling any comparison athropomorphizing animals. It's very obvious that mammals have the same base emotions as us. We've layered a lot of meaning and language and consciousness on top, but our fear and joy and pain are the same. Animals have felt their heart skip a beat and break. Anyone with a dog has seen an animal go from happy to sad. This video is definitely heartbreaking.

And since this is a conspiracy site I'll add that after transhumanism that transanimalism would surely follow. I think the more consciousness in the universe the better.

Many of the world's leading scientists have signed the Caimbridge Declaration on Consciousness. The document acknowledges Dolphins to be one of the world's most conscious creatures besides humans.

Funeral observances in birds and other animals have been observed, leading researchers to realize that most animals are self aware, understand death and can learn/evolve.

This story sounds to me like a dolphin funeral if you will.

Great post! Thank you for the reminder of how much animals are like us.
I got a lil teary eyed too. Poor baby. Poor mama dolphin.

I am going to give my animals some treats & love now.