# Dolphin Gang Rape **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 27, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457 "2005-03-27T13:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/1 "2005-03-27T13:32:06Z")
Some information given in [this Thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=308851) surprised me. > [@MLS](#): > > Hasn’t it been determined that in their natural environment young male dolphins engage in something that in humans would be described as gang rape? > [@Sample\_the\_Dog](#): > > male dolphins will gang up and “steal” females. What’s the Straight Dope on this behavior? I have never heard of dolphin gang rape before reading it here. Do they do it on porpoise? I’d appreciate any info Dopers can provide. Please excuse me for not Googling “Dolphin Gang Rape” at work. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/2 "2005-03-27T16:40:30Z")
Interestingly, if you DO google exactly those words, what you get is mostly links to other message boards! The closest to a purely factual and reliable description of this behavior I found was [here](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/29/TRG1R8DJID1.DTL) in an article about dophin encounter expeditions near Hawaii. > [@](#): > > Behind those perpetually goofy grins are wild animals. Bottlenose dolphins sometimes kill much smaller harbor porpoises, apparently just for kicks, and engage in aggressive mating that looks, to humans, a lot like gang rape. Occasionally they attack swimmers who get too close. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/3 "2005-03-27T16:53:24Z")
The workings of dolphin societies isn’t that well explored. Different regions/pods seem to have distinct social setups. Here’s a [NWF article](http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=19&articleID=155) with a little more meat on it. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/4 "2005-03-27T19:51:25Z")
Excellent article. That’s the kind of thing I was looking for and couldn’t find. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/5 "2005-03-27T22:19:11Z")
Yes, it’s pretty neat stuff. When you read something like: > [@](#): > > An alliance of two male groups may prowl the sea together, or a new, complicated twist might take place: A third group might appear, bond with one of the other groups already in an alliance and then team with that group to drive off its former ally. The social undercurrents driving these shifting alliances remain unknown. You’ve got to wonder. Not to anthropomorphisize, but what kind of negotiations just happened? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/6 "2005-03-27T22:53:08Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Do they do it on porpoise? You know, when I perfect my invention that allows me to deliver a painful electric shock through the internet by remote control, you’re first on the list for testing… ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/7 "2005-03-27T23:26:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You know, when I perfect my invention that allows me to deliver a painful electric shock through the internet by remote control, you’re first on the list for testing… I’ll pop for the batteries. 😉 I also saw a story on PBS (I hope it was) that said that dolphins sometimes humans. Yep, women and men. mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Teelo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@Teelo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teelo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/8 "2005-03-28T05:19:01Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > You know, when I perfect my invention that allows me to deliver a painful electric shock through the internet by remote control, you’re first on the list for testing… What? ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/9 "2005-03-28T07:35:56Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I also saw a story on PBS (I hope it was) that said that dolphins sometimes humans. Yep, women and men. We need a verb, Senator! ---
**Author:** ![kimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f0a364/32.png) [@kimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kimera)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/10 "2005-03-28T08:13:58Z")
If it isn’t dolphin gang rape it’s [gay necrophiliac duck rape](http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/research/story/0,9865,1432991,00.html%22)! What is this world coming to?? ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/11 "2005-03-28T09:03:16Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > We need a verb, Senator! “pork”? ---
**Author:** ![1point618](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/c57346/32.png) [@1point618](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1point618)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/12 "2005-03-28T09:08:26Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > We need a verb, Senator! Methinks the verb is “mate with” or something more colourful. I’ve heard this same rumour too, is it true? But then, I’ve also heard that Dolphins are the only creatures who engage in sex for pleasure, although I find this very hard to believe, considering I know homosexuality is rampant in the animal kindom, as well as other non-breeding sexual activites. ---
**Author:** ![MrFantsyPants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MrFantsyPants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrFantsyPants)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/13 "2005-03-28T12:11:44Z")
> [@1point618](#): > > I’ve also heard that Dolphins are the only creatures who engage in sex for pleasure IANA dolphin, and I have sex for pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/14 "2005-03-28T14:17:37Z")
Well, periodically my wife and I go on a dolphin watching boat tour of Corpus Christi Bay (this tour is run by an old hippie couple who are extremely nice EXCEPT when someone gets them on the subject of aquariums, at which point they go on major angry rants about how Sea World and the like are “abusement parks”). This couple has come to “know” just about every dolphin in the bay, and they say that adolescent male dolphins are a lot like adolescent male humans. That is, they’re very aggressive, very horny, hang together in gangs, and harrass any female that comes close by. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/15 "2005-03-28T21:53:32Z")
> [@1point618](#): > > I’ve also heard that Dolphins are the only creatures who engage in sex for pleasure As Unca Cecil has pointed out before, _all_ animals engage in sex for pleasure. That’s what the orgasm is for. 😉 I think the more interesting distinction is whether or not humans are the only animals who engage in sex for something _other_ than pleasure… ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/16 "2005-03-28T23:47:28Z")
> [@zagloba](#): > > We need a verb, Senator! Sorry! “Hump”. There ya go. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/17 "2005-03-28T23:53:53Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > As Unca Cecil has pointed out before, _all_ animals engage in sex for pleasure. That’s what the orgasm is for. 😉 > > I think the more interesting distinction is whether or not humans are the only animals who engage in sex for something _other_ than pleasure… You’re going to have to specify “pleasure” there, **rjung**. Psychopaths do pretty much _everything_ fpr pleasure. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/18 "2005-03-28T23:55:50Z")
By the way: Today is National P for O Day. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dolphin-gang-rape/296457/19 "2005-03-29T05:16:19Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > By the way: > Today is National P for O Day. pwned? 😃