Dolphins are amazing creatures, and many have dreamt of swimming with or simply petting one of these wild animals.
TikTok user Timo (@globetrottingtimo) posted a video of a man kneeling on a pier to pet what appears to be an incredibly friendly dolphin.
Timo wrote: “I’m in Spain right now and today I saw a guy with his dog just casually petting a wild dolphin in the harbor.”
Fellow TikTok users had plenty to say about the man’s encounter with the dolphin.
Many people found the encounter incredibly cute, such as the person who wrote: “This guy has probably been petting that dolphin for years. It’ll be part of his dog walking routine.”
Meanwhile, others pointed out the negative aspects of such human-wildlife interactions. One commenter explained: “Cute but we have bacteria that can be dangerous for marine life.”
A dolphin researcher shared their view in the comments section, saying: “I would discourage interacting with solitary wild dolphins. It looks cute, but it can put the dolphin at risk.”
While the interaction was indeed adorable, humans do carry bacteria that can be dangerous to dolphins and other marine life. Additionally, dolphins carry diseases and bacteria that may infect people, so this man was also endangering himself.
Something as simple as petting a dolphin can significantly harm it in other ways, too.
Repeated interactions with humans can disrupt the social structures within dolphins’ own circles, leading them to seek out humans more frequently than they do their pods. The dolphin in this video was also next to a pier, which means it was close to boats, and boats can interfere with a dolphin’s echolocation, making it harder to navigate and find food.
Additionally, although the dolphin in Timo’s video looked pleased, the outward appearance of a dolphin isn’t always an indicator of how they feel. Human-dolphin interactions may leave the animal stressed, leading to increased cortisol levels and heart rate, as well as eventual changes in the animal’s behavior.
Plus, dolphins aren’t typically thought of as aggressive, but if highly stressed or provoked, they will attack humans — biting them, breaking bones, or even dragging them underwater. This harms not only the person attacked but also can harm the dolphin, particularly when wildlife authorities choose to euthanize the animal responsible for an attack.
Rather than greeting a wild animal like an old friend, the safest thing to do is to stay back and admire it from afar.
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