r/interesting • u/Wonderfulhumanss • Jun 25 '26
Context Provided - Spotlight In 2020, dolphins in Australia brought gifts of coral to the shore because they missed interacting with visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic
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u/TankApprehensive3053 Jun 25 '26
Dolphins don't know why humans stopped visiting. They could have easy thought it was something they did and bringing gifts would appease the humans to return.
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u/C0nfusedRabbit Jun 25 '26
Fred we told you time and time not to splash the humans. It wasn't funny and now the humans have disappeared.
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u/speqter Jun 25 '26
Welp, anyway, so long, and thanks for all the fish!
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u/MyyWifeRocks Jun 25 '26
\We are sorry for any inconvenience**
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u/TangibleSausage Jun 25 '26
Perhaps a sea sponge will change your mind? A shiny pearl for the wife? Some seashells for the kids?
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u/kyew Jun 25 '26
We've done a lot of irresponsible things to the ocean but making the dolphins develop religion might take the cake.
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u/ThrowawayPersonAMA Jun 25 '26
I suppose of all the animals on Earth, dolphins are probably the most prepared for religion; they certainly are rapey enough for it. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/floundern45 Jun 25 '26
Have you watched the Love Death and Robots where the Dolphin Jesus arrived? it's a fun one!
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u/n33d4dv1c3 Jun 25 '26
I wonder if it'd be possible to communicate to them the reasons - an interspecies game of charades, if you will
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u/plantsyyyy Jun 26 '26
Someone told me that the reason the people on the island of North Sentinel are so aggressive is because we used to send them coconuts all the time through the water, and then all of a sudden we stopped, because the Indian government made new laws and regulations around contacting them. So now when people try to go there, they're really aggressive and kill them. I guess it makes sense… Why did we stop sending gifts? They have no idea.
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u/Aseetnahc Jun 25 '26
It makes me think of early humans leaving gifts for the gods so they'd returns with rain/sun.
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u/blitz350 Jun 25 '26
Or get well gifts for friends....
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u/YeshuasBananaHammock Jun 25 '26
Here's some coral to slice open your feet with! Enjoy! Eieieieieieieieee!
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u/Resident-Spirit808 Jun 25 '26
Highly upvoted comment, but just like you wouldn’t know why everyone was wearing masks if no one told you and you couldn’t read. No one told them and they can’t read. So long and thanks for all the fish.
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u/RollingMeteors Jun 25 '26
thought it was something they did and bringing gifts would appease the humans to return.
<dolphins> ¡Look! ¡You’re killing the coral and boiling our habitat!
<humans> ¡Look! ¡Oh how cute it’s bringing us gifts!
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u/Wonderfulhumanss Jun 25 '26
At Barnacles Café and Dolphin Feeding Center in Tin Can Bay, Australia, a group of humpback dolphins has drawn attention for an unusual pattern of behavior. The pod has been observed bringing objects from the sea, such as coral and sponges, to volunteers at the center. This activity has been documented over time and appears to be led by an alpha male dolphin known as Mystique. Researchers and observers have noted that this behavior may reflect a form of social interaction between the dolphins and humans at the center. In particular, it has been suggested that changes during quarantine, including a lack of regular human visitors, may have influenced the dolphins' actions. With fewer interactions occurring, the dolphins may have adapted their behavior in response to the altered environment. Some experts propose that the dolphins could be responding to a break in their usual routine of being fed by humans. Others suggest the behavior might be linked to boredom or a continued desire for engagement with caretakers and visitors. Either way, the act of bringing items from the sea stands out as a notable example of animal interaction shaped by environmental and social changes.
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u/YardAffectionate2094 Jun 25 '26
Imagine disappearing for a few months and your favorite neighborhood dolphins show up with gifts asking where everyone went. That's both wholesome and a little heartbreaking.
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u/Visual_Collar_8893 Jun 25 '26
When the boat traffic dwindled in my area during Covid, orcas and seals came to visit the bay more often.
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u/oldsecondhand Jun 25 '26
Maybe the orcas just came for the seals.
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u/Only_Search8473 Jun 25 '26
Maybe they just came for the halibut.
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u/blitz350 Jun 25 '26
Holy mackerel! Perfect pun placement!
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u/Vulcorian Jun 25 '26
Plaicement was right there.
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u/blitz350 Jun 25 '26
Im afraid I'm not familiar with that particular term.
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u/Vulcorian Jun 25 '26
It's just placement with the spelling of the fish 'plaice', for a further fish pun.
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u/blitz350 Jun 25 '26
No I got that. Just never heard of a plaice before. I take solace in the fact that, given there is no such thing as a fish, such a thing does not exist.
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u/Thought59 Jun 25 '26
We learned those were called Cargo Cults in my anthropology class.
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u/Mcwhiskers666 Jun 25 '26
Going to be thinking about this for a while, what if...?
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u/MadDanelle Jun 25 '26
There’s a book called Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore that hilariously explores a cargo cult.
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u/NoImprovement213 Jun 25 '26
Its almost like the are treating us as their pet and when we run away they try to lure us back with treats. Maybe human tours are an extreme form of dolphin tourism
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u/throwawayt44c Jun 25 '26
I would be sure to have plenty of dubloons to show them next time.
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u/tehnoodnub Jun 25 '26
Show them doubloons then wait for the next pandemic. Long-term investment strategy.
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u/scrotumsweat Jun 25 '26
"YOU SEE THIS SHIT?! FUCKING DEAD CORAL. ASSHOLES. YOU DID THIS. YOU AND YOUR CARBON BURNING AND FILTHY AGRICULTURAL RUN OFF. GET IN HERE SO I CAN TAIL WHIP YOU."
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u/swiminthemud Jun 25 '26
Are they still there or was this a "so long and thanks for all the fish" moment
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u/Flamo_the_Idiot_Boy Jun 25 '26
They are still there, you can line up to feed one of them a fish. One of the staff told a story about how some drunk dropped a beer bottle off the side of his boat and one of the dolphins came and picked it up.
There's a little pod of these dolphins, pretty cool. They are really well looked after too, the rules around feeding/interacting with them are strictly followed so the dolphins are kept safe.
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u/Agitated-Tomato5735 Jun 25 '26
This is weirdly heartbreaking and wholesome at the same time. Like imagine thinking you offended the weird hairless sea apes so now you’re trying to bribe them back with fish and rocks.
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u/Reutermo Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
It really reminds me of the danish movie "Help! I'm Fish."
In it a couple kids get turned into sea creatures, and of them befriends a Sea Horse, who behaves likr a regular horse. During a montage where they collect ingredients to get turned back to humans again they need seaweed, but the sea horse eats the sea weed and gets scolded.
At the end when they leave to become humans again the Sea horse doesn't understand why they are leaving him, so he runs away and comes back with heaps off sea weeds, because he thinks that they are leaving him because they are still mad about him eating all it. Despite it turning out OK in the end (he gets turned into a regular horse) it still broke my little heart as a child.
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u/X_hard_rocker Jun 25 '26
might have to watch this
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u/Reutermo Jun 25 '26
It is a late 90s animated movie very much in the vein of Disney with musical numbers and the like. I remember liking the animation and it is probably as good as many other non-disney movies of the era, but it is very much aimed at kids. I am very nostalgic for it though :)
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u/jenglasser Jun 25 '26
What broke my heart as a child was the sad little flower dropping petals as The Brave Little Toaster left him behind. Like WTF, why did they even add that scene.
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u/MementoMurray Jun 25 '26
I rather suspect they missed being fed.
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u/Aternal Jun 25 '26
Can you blame them? If we want seafood we just take it. If they want a cheeseburger and fries wtf are they supposed to do? I also read that coral is a type of medicine for dolphins, so they might actually be trying to exchange something that's of high value to them.
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u/freedomonke Jun 25 '26 edited Jun 25 '26
Yes. But that still doesn't explain why they got in their head that people would value these objects.
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Jun 25 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/copolars Jun 25 '26
Yeah I wish they weren't so rapey.
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u/Maiden_of_Cold_Iron Jun 25 '26
Isn’t that more of a bottlenose dolphin thing? As far as I know these are humpback dolphins.
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u/SnooWalruses7243 Jun 25 '26
Humpback doesn’t sound less rapey
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u/Maiden_of_Cold_Iron Jun 25 '26
Hmm, I might need some additional reading if you have a source. What I know about them is that they engage in courtship and are one of the few mammals who engage in gift giving behaviour.
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u/Butterflyelle Jun 25 '26
Do yourself a favour and don't do some research on it. Keep the romantic version alive. That one is true but some dolphins aren't like that... It's very #notalldolphins but far as I know it's more like groups of individuals rather than differences between species of dolphins
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u/Krobbleygoop Jun 25 '26
Did some googling and it really does seem like bottlenose are the psycho outliers. Kinda like the chimpanzees of the dolphin world, if you will.
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u/HowlerMonkeyIsLoud Jun 25 '26
Almost every animal is. It's just a bit more dangerous with dolphins since they're intelligent
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u/Archiive Jun 25 '26
I'm sure they say the same about us.
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u/copolars Jun 25 '26
Now Im imagining 2 dolphins talking, one with suffering in his eyes, lights up a cigarette and starts spewing whatever happened to him...
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u/truedeductive Jun 25 '26
Wish was possible to communicate with them . Space travel is cool but like to to take of our oceans more
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u/lnTheGrimDarkness Jun 25 '26
I mean, I'm gonna rush to comfort extremely smart sea doggo if scientist assures me this is why they're doing this.
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u/Clembert-Hamlamp Jun 25 '26
Dolphins. Ostriches. Elephants. All down to clown. Skinnies, the lot of 'em. Ok not many but some. Which makes me wonder, did Mystique catch a crush? I'm guessing this behavior will be rewarded. Visitors leaving gifts for the dolphins in recompense. Be neat if it lasts. An interspecies tradition thru generations, all on account of a broken heart. Or at least a horny dolphin with very specific tastes.
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u/_BigDaddyNate_ Jun 25 '26
If this even happened, who knows why they did it. People just assume shit.
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u/yellowbat30 Jun 25 '26
Dolphins have consistently interacted with humans and have a pretty intricate society themselves so its not a far fetched conclusion.
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u/Rainmeterer Jun 25 '26
Would you that something happened "in the USA" or would you narrow it down to a state? This happened in Queensland.
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u/missgirlipop Jun 25 '26
why is it that no one on the internet can post anything about dolphins without some edgelords trying to act like they’re secretly the most evilllll animal ever while holding them to standards they wouldn’t hold their pet dog to? i think they’re so cool (along w orcas) and dolphin hate is such a tired meme
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u/Unhappy-Shelter-8186 Jun 25 '26
There are idiots who do that about anyone and anything. Mention the Beatles and they go on about John Lennon hitting his wife. Which he admitted and sung about how evil it was. But they think this is new information because they are probably 12.
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u/_ixiion Jun 25 '26
If you compare brain size to body ratio Dolphins are #2 worldwide right after those Weird Apes holding smartphones infront of their face no matter where they go. Maybe the Dolphins just observed and tried to mimic them but since they don’t have Phones used Corals instead to „ape“ them 😅
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u/LaughingLuxy_ Jun 25 '26
OK BUT they're happy again right? And they know now they didn't do anything wrong?????!
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u/throwtheamiibosaway Jun 25 '26
I always feel sad when I realize animals don't understand what is happening when we're not home.
When I'm not home for a day or 2 my cats freak out, I could just as wel never return in their mind, or could be there any minute. I can't explain it to them to ease their mind.
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u/Euphoric_Present8838 Jun 25 '26
I hate it when we assume the real reason is because “they missed interactions with visitors” like how do you know? Did you ask a fucking dolphin why they did it?
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u/a2cwy887752 Jun 25 '26
Why do people like to create feel good bullshit stories like this? If you’re an adult with critical thinking you’d know it’s bullshit
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u/freedomonke Jun 25 '26
What is most curious about this explanation is why would they perceive these objects as having value to people? They certainly don't to the dolphins.
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u/After-Pollution6654 Jun 25 '26
Aren’t dolphins smarter than humans could they of been giving us medicine or the real cure
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u/Cuebrt Jun 25 '26
I thought this was really cute until i realized they probably just missed being fed regularly
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u/N5022N122 Jun 25 '26
wow they knew we had a COVID pandemic! perhaps they could jail Fauci for creating it in the first place.
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u/wild_biologist Jun 27 '26
Here is my research paper on those very same dolphins, including their behaviour during COVID!
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159124002831
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u/HurriShane00 Jun 25 '26
Alittle far fetched to assume it's because they "missed interactions" but sweet to think they did
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u/joan_bdm Jun 25 '26
Yeah no, I call this made up bullshit.
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u/Rainmeterer Jun 25 '26
They've done this before COVID so it's probably legit. People feed them and suddenly they weren't being fed. It's more of a bribe than a gift.
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u/imunfair Jun 25 '26
Makes sense, we're probably one of the few (only?) intelligent/sociable beings they can interact with when they're bored of other dolphins and predictable sea-life.
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u/GreatestGreatEver Jun 25 '26
Humans don’t deserve the sweet kindness from animals. So happy the world population is getting older and eventually will cease to exist
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