BEHAVIOUR 



Figure lOO. Young Bottlenose Dolphins playing basketball. 1 he young male 'scoring a goal' 

 bears scars inflicted by the dominant bull of his school. Photograph: D. H. Brown, 



Afarineland, California. 



died on Opononi Beach near Auckland (New Zealand) had been the 

 playmate of children and adults for many years. Opo or Opononi George, 

 as they called him, allowed the children to ride on his back and played 

 ball with them. Similarly, Lamb (1954) described the antics of an Amazon- 

 ian Boutu which assisted fishermen by driving fish from deep into shallow 

 water. It responded to the men's whistles and would spend hours in the 

 vicinity of the boat. A third example of man's close contact with wild 

 dolphins was cited by Capt. Mörzer Bruins, who reported that in the 

 Bay of Dakar, Bottlenose Dolphins habitually mingle with the bathers, 

 and often try to snatch fish from skin divers. 



We might wonder why animals whose mode of life is so diflferent from 

 our own can be tamed so easily. The answer is quite simple. Cetaceans 

 have no natural enemies other than the Killer Whale and therefore need 

 fear little from other aquatic animals below, and nothing from animals 

 above the surface. Hence they are never suspicious and are naturally 

 inclined to be friendly and playful. 



They are, moreover, extremely inquisitive and like to investigate 

 everything that goes on around them. This has long been known by 



