DOLPHINS SAVE MAN FROM SHARK ATTACK

Tales of dolphins rescuing stricken humans from death at sea have been documented as long ago as ancient Greece.

But as yet there is no scientific evidence to prove that the marine mammals empathise with another species’ dire situations.

While it is not known if dolphins are merely curious or go out of their way to rescue people, one ecologist has shared a story of how the marine mammals came to the aid of a suicidal girl off the waters of Los Angeles, California.

Maddalena Bearzi, president and co-founder of the Ocean Conservation Society, shared the account in her latest book, 'Dolphin Confidential: Confessions of a Field Biologist', an extract of which was published by National Geographic.

She said that her team was following a school of bottle nose dolphins near the shore to study their behaviour, when one individual suddenly broke away from a feeding circle and set off into deeper waters.

The rest of the group set off in pursuit, much to the researchers' surprise who were used to tracking the animals back and forth within a few hundred metres of the beach.

They followed the speeding dolphins to around three miles (5km) off the coast. 

‘The dolphin group stopped, forming a sort of ring around a dark object in the water,’ she wrote.

Dr Bearzi’s assistant saw the a lifeless girl, who she described as pallid and fully clothed.

‘As the boat neared, she feebly turned her head toward us, half-raising her hand as a weak sign for help.’

The researchers radioed the lifeguards and lifted the girl out of the water before racing back to the closest harbour, Marina del Rey.

Upon examination, one of the team said that the girl had severe hypothermia and they wrapped her in a blanket and hugged her to keep her warm.

They discovered that the girl, thought to be around 18, could speak little English and was on holiday. 

Emergency doctors later told the scientists that the girl would make a full recovery but had been found with a suicide note.

‘If we hadn’t found her, if the dolphins hadn’t led us offshore when they did, to that specific place, she would have died,’ Dr Bearzi wrote.

As the scientists were busy trying to save the girl, they had not continued to track the dolphins’ behaviour.

‘What might they have done with her if we hadn’t been there? Might they have tried to save her?’ she asked.

There are many accounts of dolphins scaring off sharks or guiding humans lost at sea to shore. Some scientists think that intelligent dolphins are merely curious when coming to a human's aid. 

In April, British swimmer Adam Walker was joined by dolphins to protect him from sharks on a gruelling eight hour swim across the Cook Strait near New Zealand

They also swim under struggling members of their own species to push them to the surface, so may be doing the same with humans in the water.

Dolphins have been observed coming to the rescue of a stranded pod of whales as well as rescuing a human that was bitten by a shark, in recent years. They seemingly drove the predators away so the man could be rescued.

In the Red Sea, a group of dolphins reportedly surrounded 12 divers who were lost for over 13 hours, repelling sharks living in the area. People aboard a rescue boat also reported that the animals seemed to be trying to show them where the stranded divers were.

However, many scientists do not think that the animals deliberately save humans and no evidence exists to prove otherwise.

‘That day I witnessed coastal bottle nose dolphins suddenly leave their feeding activities and head offshore. And in doing so, they led us to save a dying girl, some three miles offshore. Coincidence?’ Dr Bearzi wrote.