Scientists and wildlife observers have recorded a heartbreaking sight in the Indian Ocean, where a mother dolphin was carrying her dead newborn calf on her back, refusing to let it sink. The female bottlenose dolphin, named Fraggle by researchers, was filmed pushing her lifeless infant through the water, a scene that has left online users in tears. The video was shared by Geographe Marine Research, which is an Australian conservation and research organisation that monitors dolphin populations along the coast of Western Australia.
“Late last week we found dolphin Fraggle mourning the loss of her calf that was born only 2 weeks prior. Knowing that having a calf in winter was going to be a challenge for survival we still had hope she had a chance to be a mum again, she has now lost her last 4 calves,” researchers wrote in the caption while sharing the video. “Witnessing a high respiratory rate in her calf recently sadly we knew this day was coming.”
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According to marine biologists tracking the pod, this is tragically not the first time Fraggle has suffered such a loss. Researchers noted that she previously lost another newborn calf, making this repeated behaviour a deeply emotional window into marine life.
Understanding the “Mourning Ritual”
In the scientific community, this prolonged carrying behaviour is often described as a form of non-human grieving or a mourning ritual. Dolphins are highly intelligent, social creatures with strong emotional bonds.
When a calf dies, the mother will often keep the body near the surface to prevent it from sinking into the depths, sometimes carrying it for hours or even days.
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“Dolphins will carry their deceased calves during a period of mourning which can last for many days, at some stage she must let go and feed to survive, that day is near,” they added.
Observations show that other dolphins in the pod sometimes swim alongside the grieving mother, providing protection or briefly assisting in balancing the calf.
“With only a handful of dolphins that call the estuary home we don’t get to witness newborns most years and even then the survival rate is low. This day it seems some of her ocean going friends joined the locals to mourn alongside her showing the tight family bond they have.”
