With their friendly faces and playful natures, it may seem that wild dolphins are always friendly.
But a bottlenose dolphin has been reported to have deliberately pushed a man underwater while he was swimming in the sea off County Cork, in the Republic of Ireland.
The animal is said to have ‘lashed out’ at the swimmer twice with its tail, prompting experts to warn swimmers to keep out of the water near the large predators.
The incident occurred on July 26 off Sherkin Ireland, according to a report made to the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) which stated that the animal acted ‘aggressively’. […]
‘Do not confuse the shape of their jawline with a smile. They can and do cause serious injury to humans and have killed in the past.’
It is not known exactly why dolphins attack humans or large animals like porpoises as, unlike sharks, they do not eat their victim.
An expert from the IWDG told BBC News that it is impossible to known if the dolphin was deliberately attacking the man, or if it was trying to play with him.
Dolphins often engage in rough play, holding each other down and giving chase, so it is possible that the dolphin was playing, but some dolphin experts claim that the creatures sometimes attack humans when they are feeling amorous.
Bottlenose dolphins can display violent mating practices where they act in groups to chase and mate with a female of their own species over weeks, whether she is interested or not.
Male dolphins are also known to fight and kill rivals and offspring, suggesting they could also turn on humans mistakenly.
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