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Video: Dolphin asks for help, diver assists

BY Alyssa Kleven  on January 23, 2013 @ 6:31 am (Updated: 10:39 am - 1/23/13 )

The dolphin needed help - and without saying so in words, it asked for it.

Professor of Psychology at Hunter College Diane Reiss says it's conceivable and possible that the dolphin was looking for help.

"[Dolphins] have the cognitive ability to do that, whether that's what this dolphin is actually doing, we can't say for sure, but it certainly looks that way to me," Reiss tells Seattle's Morning News.

It started when a group was out diving off the shores of Hawaii's mainland. The dolphin approached and the diver motioned for it to come over, and it did. It was tangled in a line and the animal positioned itself so the diver could untangle it.

At one point, you can see the dolphin go up for air, and come back down so the diver can finish assisting him.

"What's amazing to me is seeing the calmness and the stillness that the dolphin showed in positioning and repositioning towards the diver," says Reiss. "It looks like [the dolphin] seems to understand that it's being helped."

Reiss says dolphins are smart. Their brains are big, and complex - packed with neurons much like our brains. Dolphins show complexity in their social interaction, they help each other in foraging and mating in various kinds of activities.

What's really compelling, says Reiss, is that for years there have been reports about humans being saved by dolphins. There are old Greek tales of dolphins saving humans, as well as modern day stories of dolphins coming to the aid of humans.

"The modern stories that are told seem to be indicative of the dolphins understanding something about the plight of others. What's lovely about this story," she says, "is evidence of a dolphin understanding its own plight."

Alyssa Kleven, MyNorthwest.com Editor
Alyssa Kleven is an editor and content producer at MyNorthwest.com. She enjoys doting over her adorable dachshund Winnie - named for Arcade Fire front-man Win Butler.
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Comments (3)


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  • lynnie wrote...
    Man is a most arrogant animal!
    January 23, 2013 8:03 am
    Why is it that we always use human intelligence as the barometer for how “intelligent” other animals are? Of course dolphins are intelligent – as are chimpanzees (some chimps evidence way more intelligence than a lot of people I know), as are dogs, cats, etc. And, for the most part, non human animals often show more logic and compassion than we do.
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  • O-town listener wrote...
    it's called having a frame of reference lynnie..
    January 23, 2013 11:14 am
    If I tell you a dolphin is 20% more intelligent than a chimpanzee, that means nothing to you without a frame of reference, ie, how intelligent is a chimpanzee compared with my own species. It's like looking at a close up photograph of a shoe - it may look like a 100 foot tall shoe if there is no frame of reference in the photo to compare against.
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  • longwayhome wrote...
    First of all
    January 23, 2013 6:46 pm
    lynnie, tune up your keyboard so you aren't posting in ancient Irish jibberish, secondly, maybe the republicans should take a lesson from the dolfins. republicans have a hard time communicating with normal folks, so if you guys need help (God knows you do) send a message to the Democratic Party with your request and we will get to you after Nov. 6th 2014, when the republican party will become redundant.
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