Once we saw them as gods these soaring spirits of the sea.
How else to explain their boundless grace and energy,
the way they inspire our joy.
Today, dolphins seem like part of the family.
They enchant us with their willingness to please and perform.
But the dolphin ' s true home - the sea
is an alien world and here a different side emerges.
Cunning, powerful and relentless, dolphins are consummate predators.
They are social creatures that communicate and cooperate
for danger can strike from anywhere.
The quest for prey, the quest for mates, nothing comes easy out here.
For the ocean is as unforgiving as it is boundless.
Join us as we explore the world of dolphins in the wild.
In the salt marshes of South Carolina is a rich ocean estuary
a nursery for fish and shellfish
and a lure for all kinds of predators.
Every day as the tide ebbs,
the broad mud banks become exposed.
It is then an extraordinary event occurs.
Seabirds vie for a front row position.
They have an intense interest in what is to come.
The predators regroup for another coordinated attack.
These are bottlenose dolphins among the most inventive
and intelligent hunters in the sea.
Here they locate schools of small fish in the turbid channels.
Then in a stunning maneuver,
they rush up the mudflats
creating a bow wave that drives the fish ashore.
Using their excellent above-water vision,
they snatch up the fish stranded on the banks.
How dolphins locate the schools of fish
and coordinate their attack is not entirely known
They may use either audible or visual signals
For some reason
the dolphins always rush up the banks on their right side
Over time the teeth on that side will
actually be worn down from chewing as much mud as fish
Occasionally they will work themselves
completely out of the water
Being stranded up here could be fatal
As they shimmy up the mud banks it's almost as
if they're evolving into the land creatures they once were
Some fifty million years ago
the ancestors of these air-breathing
mammals ventured into the seas
To follow dolphins in the wild is to discover
one of the most remarkable adaptations in the natural world
They use their intelligence to survive
changing or inventing strategies to suit their environment
Spinner dolphins leap in what appears to a display of exuberance
In fact,
they may be signaling others to join them,
or coordinating movements of the pod...
A kind of long distance communication.
At close range,
dolphins "speak" through clicks and whistles.
These signals can mean anything from
"Food's over here" to "Watch out! There's danger!"
They also communicate through touching.
Dolphins are notoriously affectionate and extremely sensuous.
When dolphins mate,
they swim in rhythm with the female on top.
Sex is as frequent as it is casual.
It's not always for reproduction
Often it's a social tool
used to strengthen and maintain bonds
Whether old or young
male or female - all dolphins engage in caressing and petting
But beneath this veneer of harmony
lies a darker side... marked by conflict and violence
Surprisingly the beloved bottlenose we know
as "Flipper" may be the most aggressive dolphin species
In the Bahamas
two male bottlenose harass a male spotted dolphin
At first the interaction seems harmless enough
but it quickly escalates
The bottlenose take turns assaulting
the spotted perhaps to assert their dominance
Next they turn on a spotted dolphin half their size
It's only a calf
Bottlenose are among the very few wild creatures
that will kill for reasons other than hunger
Swimming in formation
a group of adult spotteds rush in to intercede
In the flurry of threats
the calf escapes to the surface
Bottlenose are even more prone to clashing
with members of their own species
These males in the Bahamas bear many scars
including those from fierce battles
A first sign of impending trouble is "jaw clapping"
a clear audible threat
When fights break out
they're marked by head ramming
biting
and blows from powerful flukes
Many dolphins have evolved their own
sometimes brutal
aspects of society
Shark Bay in Western Australia
where vast sea grass beds support
a large community of bottlenose dolphins
Here an international team of scientists
investigates dolphin aggression
The waters of Shark Bay are in the throes
of what appears to be a gang fight
Groups of males are observed chasing down other males
It can go on for hours and cover miles of territory
The battles are over females
part of an extremely complex social system only now being unraveled
by Dr. Richard Connor from the University of Massachusetts
He's spent his professional life studying dolphins in the wild
And his work has changed our image of the dolphin
I think in the 1960's the myth was generated
that dolphins were all sweetness and light
And almost incapable of aggression
At least that was the public perception
carried on a large part until today
Dolphins are capable of a lot of aggression
They can be quite nasty depending on the circumstance
They are complex
intelligent social mammals and that carries
with it a range of behaviors from the nice to the not so nice
Just like in our own species
And like our own species
dolphins are highly individualistic
To study their relationships
Connor needs to clearly recognize individuals
He does this by their unique fin markings
He's studied them in Shark Bay since 1982
and he knows over three hundred dolphins by name
and Minnie right there between them.
And here comes Bad Ghost and Poltergeist.
There ' s Wow resting at the surface. There ' s Myrtle, there ' s Hobo.
Xxx and Horton? Beautiful, look at that! All together.
Connor is especially intrigued
by relationships between the males
To him, it's like cracking the code of a secret society
They follow a mature male with
a jagged dorsal fin named "Bottom Hook"
He's usually observed swimming with another male called "Pointer"
They're almost inseparable forming what Connor calls an alliance
Some of these alliances last for a dozen years or more
Today a female is seen swimming between them
as if she's being herded
In fact, she is their captive
They guard her night and day
Very rarely do you see the female off to the side from the males
They like to keep her between them
That basically eliminates avenues of escape for her
We've seen them keep females for over a month at a time
Bottomhook and Pointer are vigilant
Their strategy is to keep her from mating with other males
To limit the female's choice to themselves
We've often seen the males use alot of
aggression to keep the female with them.
Even so, it's likely that the female wants to mate
with these males as well as other males in the bay
The males are trying to sequester
the female simply to increase the chance
that they will be the father of the offspring
Eventually, the hungry males must break formation to feed
Pointer races off to chase a fish
It's a risky move because in the
confusion the female may try to escape
One male will be close to the female for a while
The other will be off foraging catching fish
And then they'll switch.
And the one that was off chasing fish
will come back and stay close to the female
Now here Pointer is rushing back towards her now
As Pointer resumes guard duty
he warns the female with a popping sound
It means: "stay close"
For other male alliances are prowling
the bay in search of females to capture
and they'll kidnap them from rivals
But not without help
Connor found that different alliances
will join forces to kidnap females
or to defend against attacks
Some of these groups have joined together
to form a nearly invincible super-alliance
It consists of fourteen males
and their captive females
Unique in the animal kingdom
Connor calls them the "wow crowd"
We suspect from what we can see
the "wow crowd" seems to dominate
interactions in this area
Probably by being in such a large group
they are able to defeat other alliances
But we suspect that the way they're always changing partners
is required to maintain friendly bonds within the group
They have to take turns cooperating
with each other to sort of keep things
on a friendly basis between all the alliances
Maintaining relations in such a large
group is a delicate proposition
But the pay-off is clear
Like a fierce tribe
the "wow crowd" dominates other alliances
and can aggressively pursue its goal of capturing females
It's easy to lose sight of the females' role in all this
In fact, she is the motivating force behind
much of this Machiavellian male behavior
The females of most dolphin species
have a mating strategy of their own
And it calls for multiple sexual partners
So in spite of the males' best efforts to
restrict the females' choice
it's not entirely successful
This spotted dolphin female in the Bahamas
mates with a number of eager males
Any one of these partners may end up being the father of her calf
In a surprising way
this strategy may protect her future offspring
A female dolphin will usually give birth to a single calf
after a year long pregnancy
It'll be a few years before this one becomes spotted like its mother
After giving birth the female is unreceptive
during the calf's first few years
She will spurn the advances of courting males
But young males can be dangerously persistent
Adult male dolphins may do more than simply harass females
They are strongly suspected of killing dolphin calves
a possible strategy for making the female receptive again
This time the mother fights them off
In Shark Bay, a female, Nicky cruises the shallows with her calf
She's being herded by Bottomhook and Pointer
Like most female dolphins she's mated with a number of partners
So the scientists are not sure who the father of the calf is
But then neither are Bottomhook and Pointer
And in their uncertainty, the calf is spared
Finding food is the mother's top priority
and here in Shark Bay she's discovered
some surprising resources
There's something enchanting about
coming in contact with dolphins in the wild
The activity is carefully monitored to
avoid potential harm to dolphins or to humans
Please, please don't reach out to her head, please
That's Nicky; she will bite you
Trust me
She hasn't bitten anybody since yesterday...
If you're lucky enough to be called out
Just step out
Hold the fish by the tail
Not the dolphin...
Place right down into the dolphins mouths
Please do not be tempted to touch during the feeding
that's when we can have accidents
This kind of interaction between humans
and wild dolphins occurs in very few places
For some, it's a healing experience
For others a kind of mystical, New Age encounter
But to the hungry dolphins it's mostly about getting a fish
If there's a lesson here for the calf it's that
a dolphin must always be inventive in finding food
For out in the wild it's no easy task
Calves are dependent on their mothers for some three to six years
During this period
the young dolphin must learn how to fend for itself
Like humans, dolphins are not born with the skills to survive
The learning process may start through simple mimicry
The calf will imitate its mother's every pose
posture and action
If she stands with her tail in the sand
the calf will follow suit
Even though it may not have an inkling of why she's doing so
Dolphins are opportunistic feeders
and the young must learn many extremely difficult
and creative hunting techniques
The mother is using sound in a way
the calf may not be capable of just yet
The buzzing sound is a series of rapid fire clicks
part of a sophisticated sensory system called echolocation
The sound signals penetrate the sands
then echo back, giving a clear indication of what lies below
It's like X-ray vision
capable of seeing through almost any porous medium
Dolphin calves can create sounds shortly after birth
mostly whistles used for communication
The clicks required for echolocation may take months to develop
Like most intelligent predators
dolphins learn to hunt by making a game out of it
This trunkfish is not part of their diet
but for the young dolphins
it's a target to practice on
It takes an adult to demonstrate proper form
Calves often wander away from their mothers
sometimes up to half a mile
Though it can be dangerous
taking risks is an important part of learning
These young dolphins may not very adept
but at least they're catching fish on their own
The mortality rate for young dolphins is very high
In Shark Bay
fifty percent don't survive their first year
Much depends on how quickly the calf
can master new skills for survival
A mother leads her calf on strenuous runs in the shallows
The calf can barely keep up
This is basic training for a difficult
and dangerous fishing strategy
It's a skill passed on from generation to generation
The techniques that dolphin calves learn
are often unique to where they live
The steep cliffs of Cape Peron block the prevailing winds
creating calm clear waters along the beach.
Shallows can be dangerous places for dolphins
Strandings are not uncommon and here
they can easily be cornered by predators
But the shallow water is a hunting
ground for a small group of specialists
Here they practice a fishing technique
other dolphins find too risky
The shallows would seem to favor the smaller creature
But the dolphin has mastered the art of hydroplaning
skimming through mere inches of water
Sometimes breathing air has its advantages
The sea eagle
who's watched the chase with intense interest
times his swoop perfectly
Of the four to five hundred dolphins in Shark Bay
only a handful of females have mastered this technique
Often dolphins play with their catch before eating it
Just offshore a dolphin tosses a snake eel about like a ragdoll
The others approach the tossed prey with great interest
But they will not touch it observing some kind of protocol
Scientists have speculated it's a way of confirming
trust or simply avoiding a costly conflict
When calves catch their tiny fish they too make a great show of it
By five or six years old
young dolphins no longer need their mother's guidance
They will be part of a hunting culture that will
forever be as challenging as it is perilous
Dolphins have adapted to an alien world
that is hostile to air-breathing mammals
In the dark of night
dolphins need to know what's out there
Using their echolocation
dolphins can detect the size
shape- even the density of an object
But it's only good for a hundred yards
or so and is highly directional
detecting nothing from behind
It's so accurate they can clearly
distinguish between different species of fish
Even in daylight visibility is limited underwater
But using sonar can be risky because the
tell-tale clicks may reveal your presence to predators
So dolphins rely more on their excellent hearing
The best defense is to stay together keep silent - and listen
Success in hunting is knowing when to use your sonar
and when to turn it off
With its own sonar turned off
a killer whale moves silently through Alaskan waters - listening
It can hear the slightest splashing
the very breathing of distant prey
A group of Dall's porpoises just up ahead
These are among the fastest small cetaceans
so quick and agile they can elude most predators
They travel these icy waters in groups of two to ten
But for this small herd there's little safety in numbers
As quietly as possible
the killer whales are closing in
The slightest sound would betray their presence
The porpoises detect something
But it may be too late
The killers are capable of speeds up to thirty miles per hour
The porpoise zig-zags for its life
Killer whales are masters at cutting off the path of retreat
This one dives below a harbor porpoise
Like sharks killer whales don't always
finish off their prey right away
They'll often let the victim struggle until
it's energy is spent or it simply bleeds to death
Other members of the pod move in on a
Dall's porpoise that's been hit
It still has some life left and
tries to make it to calmer inshore waters
The males- like lions tend to leave the hunting to the females
Now they join in for the kill
Soon the restless seas are resonating
with the eerie calls of the killers
and the chilling sounds of teeth crushing bone
The porpoise had the unhappy fate to be pursued
by hunters with sensory capabilities as good as its own
For killer whales are dolphins
They are the largest member of the family and
the only dolphins that habitually hunt their cousins
Still, they're the most sociable of all dolphins
living in highly stable family groups
Most of the males never leave the group they are born in
Some will even teach the calves how to hunt
This unfortunate harbor seal is about
to become a living training tool
The killer whales circle the prey as if toying with it
In fact
they may be demonstrating to their young how to
cut off a prey's retreat or how to confuse it
More important the calves will learn how to
coordinate their efforts with others in the pod
Older males have been observed allowing calves to feed
before they themselves begin to eat
The young will grow into the ocean's top predators
Like killer whales, pilot whales are misnamed and are true dolphins
The second largest of the family
they can weigh up to four tons
Pilot whales dive to depths of a half mile
in search of octopus and squid
These pygmy killer whales may be every
bit as fierce as their namesakes
And like their bigger cousins, they're
believed to kill marine mammals
But pygmy killers are very rare and seldom observed in the wild
There are over thirty species of dolphins
and we know very little about most of them
The northern right whale dolphin is a gregarious
creature often found swimming with other species
like white-sided dolphins.
Dolphins come in a variety of sizes and shapes
What distinguishes them as a family are anatomical
features like the shape of the jaws and teeth
Dolphins are designed for the hunt
This fifty ton monster is a grazer not a hunter
And it's a true whale
Southern right whales are filter feeders
straining enormous quantities of water for tiny crustaceans
The windswept shores of Patagonia in Argentina
Once a year
right whales migrate to breed in the warm
shallow waters
Here they are greeted by dusky dolphins
Unlike their big lumbering cousins
duskys are small fast, and agile
In the summer months
they leave the safety of coastal waters to hunt miles offshore
In deep waters, locating
pursuing and catching prey is exceptionally difficult
But duskys have developed some extraordinary tactics
In the morning, small search parties set out
probing with their sonar
There may be twenty to thirty groups patrolling these waters
each pod separated by a mile or two
The leaps give them a vantage point for sighting prey
Seabirds have gathered up ahead a sign they've found something
This time of year Southern anchovies are here in vast numbers
For the penguins it's a feast
It's up to the dolphins to bring some
order to all this and they quickly do
The dolphin's strategy is to circle the school
and drive it into an ever tightening ball
They guard the outside perimeter by blowing bubbles
which frightens the fish
This takes advantage of the fishes' natural defense
to huddle together when attacked
As the fish ball gets tighter
the duskys take turns grabbing mouthfuls
of fish then retreat to guard the perimeter
Soon the ball is clustered so tightly
the fishes' escape response breaks down
Now it's simply a matter of the
dolphins' nipping food off the edges
As the feeding progresses
the dolphin calves are nowhere to be seen
For others drawn to the feast might prefer
young dolphin to a mouthful of anchovies
Mothers bring their calves to a sort of nursery
away from the chaos of the feeding area
For the rest of the group
the feeding's over and it's time to celebrate
The event is marked by exhilarating acrobatic displays
Dolphin groups that usually travel
apart now come together to socialize
In the world of dolphins that means
frequent sex with a variety of partners
The males- swimming upside down follow the females
They synchronize their movement with hers
all for a brief moment of coupling
Physical contact among these groups of
dolphins strengthens communal bonds
For cooperative hunters
these bonds are essential
The duskys are about to face a challenge
that calls for teamwork on monumental scale
Sixty feet below the surface, a monstrous swirl
of life undulates like a strange super organism
It's a mass of anchovies over a hundred feet in diameter
For these duskys
it's the mother Iode
Circling the fish with violent splashes
the duskys corral them closer together
A team of dolphins works below the school
herding it towards the surface
They must keep the enormous mass together
If it splits into smaller schools
they'll be hard to control
Finally, they succeed in herding the
great ball of fish to the surface
It serves as a wall, closing off one avenue of escape
Now sea lions are drawn to the scene
The dolphins struggle to keep the school together
but the sea lions are not team players
They plunge into the mass of fish to feed
The school is simply too large for the dolphins to control
Now the leaps serve a different purpose
High and acrobatic they're calls for help
From miles away, other duskys rush to the feeding site
They porpoise high in the air to keep sight of the action ahead
By the time they reach the school
there's a feeding frenzy going on
Chaos reigns and the ball is in danger of splitting apart
The new arrivals get right to work
and quickly coordinate their efforts with the other duskys
Now there are enough dolphins to guard
the perimeter while they take turns feeding
Finally all the dolphins' hard work pays off
The fish have been packed together
so long they've consumed too much oxygen
There's little chance the ball will split apart
For the dolphins who can now feed at will this hunt is over
To ancient mariners
the dolphins' mastery of the ocean world seemed magical
They were cast as heroes in myth and legend
Today we look for glimpses of ourselves in dolphins
And we find them in their conflicts
yes - but also in the ways they communicate and cooperate
their sheer inventiveness.
But there's no need to romanticize or humanize
dolphins to respect them for what they are
Strong and intelligent hunters in a wilderness called the sea