A mother who is unable to resign herself to the death of her puppy and who does everything to try to support and transport her lifeless body: the scene, filmed two miles from the port of Ostia last July 17, stars a dolphin adult and what remains of his baby and shows the pain of a cetacean mother in all its deep and moving humanity.
A mother who cannot resign herself to the death of her puppy and who does everything to try to support and transport her now lifeless body: the scene, filmed two miles from the port of Ostia last July 17, stars an adult dolphin and what remains of her baby and shows the pain of a cetacean mother in all its profound and moving humanity.
It was the research team of the non-profit organization Oceanomare at Delphi, engaged in the 'Capitoline Dolphins' project, to observe and film the adult dolphin while 'nursed' a baby already in a state of decomposition, trying, repeatedly and desperately, to keep its body afloat.
"In the absence of specific information, we assume that the adult individual is the mother." - the researchers write in a Post note on You Tube - “In the vicinity of the mother-infant couple there was also another individual, who showed an accompanying and supportive behavior. The supporting and carrying behavior of a dead baby, called in English 'Carrying dead calf', was first described by Aristotle 24 centuries ago and is probably a consequence of the intense bond that exists between mother and baby: a bond strong enough to make the mother unable to leave her child despite the evidence of death. "
Numerous studies done in the past have shown how dolphins are endowed with a high level of intelligence and are capable of social behaviors similar to those of humans. In particular, although their brains are completely different from ours, dolphins feel pain and “mourn” the death of their own kind, just as we do.
And the case of the unfortunate mother dolphin of Ostia, whose touching and desperate obstinacy has quickly made its way around the world, bouncing on the web pages of newspapers and on social media, is further confirmation.
Lisa Vagnozzi
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