Nat Geo Sharkathon | 'Sharks vs Dolphins': Rape and infanticide, here's how the marine mammal can be terrifying
Dolphins are cute, right? After all, the marine mammal has been somewhat domesticated and paraded around in aquariums and dolphin zoos doing tricks, with visitors being allowed to pet them, feed them and even ride them. However, National Geographic's 'Sharks vs Dolphins: Blood Battle' has shown us that dolphins are fearsome predators in their own right. There are, of course, more terrifying facts about the marine mammals that might make you rethink your interaction with them the next time you see one in person.
The carnivorous creatures are highly intelligent, with their brains being equivalent to that of human beings. While they are friendly mammals, infanticide, rape and incest are also common among dolphins. According to The Straight Dope's Cecil Adams, "Gangs of male dolphins may isolate a female, slap her around with their tails, and forcibly copulate with her for weeks." Dolphin specialist Justin Gregg said, "Dolphins might use other tactics to persuade a female to mate with them, including committing infanticide (ie, killing calves) so that the females will come into estrus and be more receptive."
Gangs of two or three male bottlenose dolphins isolate a single female from the pod and forcibly mate with her, sometimes for weeks at a time. To keep her in line, they make aggressive noises, threatening movements and even smack her around with their tails. And if she tries to swim away, they chase her down.
Male bottlenose dolphins remember which females they have mated with. When a male dolphin comes across a strange female with a young calf, he will do his best to separate the pair and will then severely injure or kill the calf by bashing it and heaving it through the air. The reasons are purely evolutionary. If the dolphin calf dies, the mother dolphin will become fertile again in a few months, giving the male killer dolphin a chance to father her next calf. A dolphin calf usually nurses for three to four years, during which time she is not fertile, thereby making the male dolphin's wait long.
It has also been found that dolphins brutalize baby porpoises. In Scotland, scientists found baby harbor porpoises washed up with horrific internal injuries. The dolphins do not eat the porpoises nor are the latter rivals for key resources. Apparently, dolphins just like to torture them. A viral video captured by holiday-goers showed dolphins sending a porpoise's "body spinning round with such force that its back was broken and its soft tissue shattered". A research team described injuries on a dolphin-ravaged porpoise as "perhaps the worst example of inter-specific aggression any of us had ever seen. This young female had literally had the life beaten out of her." The dolphins even used their echolocation to aim their blow at the porpoises’ vital organs.
However, it is important to note that dolphins are ecologically very important and do not deserve to be villainized themselves because of their natural behavior. Dolphins play an important role in keeping their environment in balance. They eat other animals – mainly fish and squid – and are themselves a source of food for some sharks and other creatures. Without dolphins, the animals they prey on would increase in number and their predators wouldn't have as much to eat.
'Sharks vs Dolphins: Blood Battle' premieres on July 20 at 10/9c on National Geographic. An encore presentation will air on Sunday, August 9, at 7/6c on Nat Geo WILD.