A heartbreaking video of a mother dolphin clinging to the body of her dead calf is a yet another testament to the idea that humans are not the only mammals capable of grief.
In the footage shared on Twitter this week by Florida canoe-maker See Through Canoe, the dolphin can be seen pushing the lifeless body through the water and fighting to keep it afloat as she swims.
Another dolphin seen swimming close by the mother’s side even appears to help her get the calf back to the surface when it drops below.
It’s far from the first time this type of behavior has been observed in the highly-intelligent creatures, and adds further evidence to the hypothesis that they, just like us, often have trouble letting go in the face of death.
See Through Canoe, which shared the latest footage on its official Twitter account on Monday, admitted the scene was ‘hard to watch.’
The dolphin and her deceased calf were spotted in Florida’s Indian Shores.
Evidence of grief-like behavior in animals, particularly among aquatic mammals, has been documented in numerous studies over the years.
A paper published just last year in the journal Zoology, for example, logged 78 instances of ‘attentive behavior’ to the dead in several species of whale and dolphin.
While it was common throughout, dolphins were 18 times more likely than others to exhibit this type of behavior, often holding onto the body of a calf or juvenile long after death.
And, the latest case seems no different.
‘Mother dolphin not ready to let go of her dead calf and pushing it through the intracoastal waterway,’ See Through Canoe tweeted.
‘It’s hard to say for sure without examination, but the calf may have been hit by a boat,' the company added. 'Please don’t assume that because dolphins are fast that you won’t hit them.’
The 42-second video shows just a glimpse of the mother’s struggle to hold onto her calf’s body in the water.
