When you are asked to describe dolphins, you automatically think of those dolphins in ocean parks or the ones featured on nature shows. They are funny, smart, sweet, friendly, and many other positive adjectives. However, this essay reveals a darker, more sinister side of dolphins, particularly when mating.
Dolphin courtship and mating are not common knowledge to most people. Behind their sweet exterior lies a complex system of strategic alliances and male dominance. Male dolphins, being social creatures, often travel by pair or triplet. On some occasions, they are lucky to have with them a female. However, when females become fertile, a war among the male dolphin groups ensues. A dolphin group that spots a fertile female in another group would want to steal and mate with her. In order to overpower the enemy group, they will have to team up with a third group as a favor. Most likely, the 2 groups will win over the enemy group and get the female. Then, the 2 groups will part ways with only one group able to mate with the female. The twist however is that the next day, the third group could team up with the enemy group to steal back the same female from the first group. Clearly, human beings are not the only animals to engage in fleeting alliances and betrayal.
This new light on the life and ways of dolphins make them even more comparable to humans. There always seems to be two sides to the same coin. While dolphins are friendly, charming and social creatures, they can also be aggressive, cunning and brutal, especially in competitions. We only know a sliver of the complexities and wonder of the animal world, and this essay is one step closer for readers to understand a world other than our own.
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