Dolphin Mourns Death Of Calf, Swims With It For Days (Video)

Dolphin mourns

A mother dolphin mourned the passing of her calf by carrying it on her back for days.

NDT China reported that the dolphin was spotted with her calf in Sanniang Bay of Qinzhou City in Southern China on July 8. It appeared that the adult dolphin, approximately 3 meters long, was using its back to help the baby dolphin, about 1.5 meters long, swim towards the deep sea. But it was later discovered that the baby dolphin was already dead.

"The little dolphin was dead for two or three days, but its mother still stayed with it and carried it day and night, which has touched all of us and the tourists. Just like human beings, dolphins also have feelings. A mother's love is noble and moving,"  Mr. Su, a fisherman, told NDT.

According to reports, the calf might have been hit by one of the tour boats that ferry around the well-known dolphin-watching area.

A Daily Mail report noted that the moving scene raises the question of whether dolphins are aware of their own mortality, which has long been debated by researchers.

Similar incidents have been recorded since 2007 and are seen as evidence that dolphins are capable of grief.

Meanwhile, a video of the mourning mother dolphin and her dead calf has went viral online. The video was uploaded on popular Chinese video sharing website Youku, where it has attracted more than 1.3 million views since it was uploaded a day ago.

Check out an NDT report about the dolphins below: