Begging dolphins spotted in the waters of Sevastopol

Groups of bottlenose dolphins and common dolphins, begging fishermen for fish and allowing themselves to be petted, were seen in the waters of Sevastopol. Animal rights activists have been watching the group of these mammals since the beginning of spring. In the beginning, the animals showed natural behavior.

We are currently observing a group of five bottlenose dolphins making contact with humans, with three of them doing so on a daily basis.— quotes «Sevastopol newspaper» employees of the Serenity Sea Dolphin Rehabilitation Center. — The habit of begging took root in them literally before our very eyes.

At the same time, public figures are sure that these are not the same dolphins that were released into the sea in Omega Bay from the Sevastopol dolphinarium in winter. These are absolutely wild animals, but they were fed.

Such behavior of dolphins, both in the Black Sea and in other seas, is not uncommon. Along with bottlenose dolphins, at least five more common dolphins beg in the same water area on a regular basis.

The Dolphin Rehabilitation Center warns that people’s desire to connect with nature can often end badly for the dolphins themselves. People fish from boats, from which they feed animals, not realizing that fishing line and fish hooks in the water are dangerous for mammals. Dolphins get entangled in them, which leads to chronic traumatization and even amputation of body parts, and if swallowed, hooks get stuck in the larynx and suffocation.

Center for the Study, Rescue and Rehabilitation of Marine Mammals «Serene Sea» is a socially oriented autonomous non-profit organization that brings together specialists in marine mammals and conducts independent activities for the rescue, rehabilitation and research of Black Sea cetaceans. It has been operating since 2016 throughout the Crimea and in Sevastopol.