Was the mother dolphin 'mourning'? Viral video of her keeping afloat a dead calf leads to discussion on animal behaviour | WATCH

A haunting video of a dolphin carrying the body of her dead calf has sparked a fresh discussion on whether animals experience mourning in a way that resembles grief. The footage, posted on July 20 by whale conservation group Geographe Marine Research, shows a mother dolphin swimming with the body of her two-week-old calf in waters south of Perth, Australia.

The group said it knew the mother dolphin, named Fraggle, and had followed her struggles over time. Fraggle had already lost three calves earlier, and the birth of a fourth during winter in the Southern Hemisphere had made survival difficult from the start. "We still had hope she had a chance to be a mum again," the group wrote in a social media post that drew wide attention. The organisation said the calf likely died of pneumonia.

Why scientists say the behaviour matters

Marine mammal experts say such behaviour is not unusual among dolphins and whales, which belong to the cetacean family. According to Lori Marino, neuroscientist and the founder of the Whale Sanctuary Project, dolphins are known to carry dead offspring for days, sometimes weeks.

"It’s absolutely clear that this is a mother grieving for her child," Marino said. She pointed out that the behaviour of the surrounding pod was also notable. In the video, the other dolphins stay close to Fraggle rather than scattering away.

"They are close to her," she said, adding that the pod appears to recognise that something significant is happening.

Grief-like behaviour seen in other species

Scientists say similar behaviour has been observed in other cetaceans as well. In one widely known case, an orca named Tahlequah was seen carrying her dead calf for more than two weeks near British Columbia in 2018. Experts said that was an extreme example, but not an isolated one.

The pattern is also not limited to marine mammals. Researchers have documented nonhuman primates, including chimpanzees, gorillas and baboons, carrying dead infants for extended periods.

According to doctoral researcher Abigail McClain, such cases raise important questions about how animals understand death. "Again and again we see mothers carrying infants for days to weeks, sometimes even when there is evidence that the mother knows the infant has died," she wrote.

A natural response, experts say

For Lauren Brandkamp of Whale and Dolphin Conservation North America, the reaction should not come as a surprise.

"It’s a natural behavioural response in animals," she said. "They form these bonds with their offspring, with other members of their pod or their species. And when a life is lost, they also experience that kind of mourning and sadness."

The video of Fraggle has now become part of a wider conversation about the emotional lives of animals, and how much more there is still to learn about grief in the natural world.

"What is most remarkable in these cases is that the mothers don’t have hands and live in an aquatic medium where they have to regularly surface to breathe as well as hunt," Susana Monsó, a philosopher and the author of "Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death," told The New York Times. "This makes holding on to the corpse something very difficult and shows a strong motivation on the part of the mother."