BOTTLENOSE DOLPHIN

(Tursiops truncatus)

Epimeletic Behavior

Epimeletic behavior refers to help that a healthy individual provides to a sick or injured individual. Several examples of this type of behavior have been observed in bottlenose dolphins. For example, dolphins have been observed helping other sick or injured individuals in captivity. Typically, an injured dolphin emits a distress call, which consists of two short whistles, until help arrives. A victimized dolphin might emit a distress call if injured, cannot breath, experiencing pain, isolation of young calves from mothers. A rescuing dolphin approaches and, after communication of the problem between the two dolphins, the rescuer attempts to provide relief from the problem. For example, the rescuer will support the injured dolphin and push its head to the surface. Two dolphins have been observed holding another one upright between them or one individual can use an inanimate object (such as a wall or a shallow surface) to help support the injured dolphin (Lilly 1963). Although young dolphins are always helped, adults do not always receive the same benefits. Researchers are unsure as to the reasons for this differentiation, but it could indicate the dolphins mechanisms for punishing cheaters or withholding help from unknown individuals, indicating reciprocal alturisitism. Because of the high predation and difficulty recovering in a dolphin's habitat, it is likely that dolphin will experience an attack at some point in its life. Within a dolphin's subgroup, it is "reasonably assured of assistance if the need arises" (Connor and Norris 1982).

Furthermore, dolphins in both captivity and the wild have demonstrated this behavior towards animals that are dead. Individuals have been observed transporting dead dolphins, typically juveniles, by carrying it in their moths or on their backs. In one example, an unidentified adult was carrying a young female and refused to let researchers approach and touch the cadaver. The dolphin had been dead for two to three days and was already beginning to decompose (Felix 1994).