Dolphins are smart creatures who through years of evolution (and probably captivity) have figured out ways to exist with humans and even have fun with them.?
The now-viral story of this humpback dolphin that has formed a habit of bringing visitors gifts from the bottom of the ocean just proves how well they have learnt to co-exist with us.?
The dolphin named Mystique brings gifts to volunteers at the Barnacles Caf¨¦ and Dolphin Feeding centre on Queensland's Cooloola Coast.
The 29-year-old male dolphin goes to the depths of the ocean to bring out the choicest items such as bottles, coral and shells in his snout.
Talking to ABC a volunteer feeder Lyn McPherson said that Mystique has not been trained to bring the items. In return for the items he brings, Mystique gets rewarded with fish.?
ˇ°He gets under it [and] if he drops it too far out, or we say "come on, that's not good enough", then he gets underneath it and brings it to us. We swear he has a collection waiting to bring to usˇ±, Daily Mail quoted Lyn as saying.
Mystique Is one of seven dolphins in his pod but the only one to bring gifts.?Another male dolphin accompanies Mystique sometimes on his adventures in the hopes of also getting some treats.?
Come to think of it, dolphins have not just learnt to exist peacefully with humans. In a first-of-its-kind case known to humans, a bottlenose dolphin adopted a baby whale years ago and is still caring for it!?
A video released by National Geographic explains ˇ®In 2014, researchers of French Polynesia spotted a bottle nose dolphin mother caring for an unusual looking calf. The calf was a melon headed whale, a different genus and species than the mother.'
It goes on to say, 'Adopting is uncommon among wild mammals, with most occurring between related members of the same species. The whale orphan entered the dolphin group and stayed with the mother longer than even her biological offspring, who vanished mysteriously. It was even found nursing it at times.Female bottlenose dolphins have been known to 'steal' babies of other species for brief periods during times of conflict. In this case the mother made an enormous commitment to the orphan. During its 3 years of living with this pod of 30 dolphins, the orphan learnt several bottlenose dolphin behaviors, such as surfing.ˇŻ
Are dolphins the best or what?