# Ex-Dolphin swims 9 miles to shore

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [January 14, 2015, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770 "2015-01-14T00:40:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/21 "2015-01-15T15:20:24Z")

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> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> I have actually seen a video of a real dolphin doing that. It won “behavior of the year award” at the 1983 (give or take a year or two?) annual conference of the International Marine Animal Trainers Association. (Okay, it was a volleyball, not a beach ball.)
> 
> (ETA: Okay, is that what the video linked by **Sage Rat** is showing? I can’t view videos on this mochine. At the time I saw the IMATA video back in (circa) 1983, it was an utterly unheard of thing for a dolphin to do.)

If dolphins are so amazing, why did they only have an 8-8 season?

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**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/22 "2015-01-15T15:22:41Z")

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> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#):
>
> And hey, don’t forget about [Guðlaugur Friðþórsson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%B0laugur_Fri%C3%B0%C3%BE%C3%B3rsson). [His story is freaking incredible](http://www.cracked.com/article_21518_5-epic-disasters-at-sea-survived-by-un-killable-badasses.html)!

Amazing that his core body temp didn’t give out. But he shouldn’t have discarded his boots: they can be held upside down as flotation devices. I recall the story of a Marine who fell off his ship, and used his training to survive in the water: took off his pants, tied the ankles shut and kept flapping them full of air to use as water wings.

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**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/23 "2015-01-15T15:29:29Z")

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> [@Slithy\_Tove](#):
>
> Amazing that his core body temp didn’t give out. But he shouldn’t have discarded his boots: they can be held upside down as flotation devices. I recall the story of a Marine who fell off his ship, and used his training to survive in the water: took off his pants, tied the ankles shut and kept flapping them full of air to use as water wings.

We learned that technique when I took swimming lessons in middle school. We had to be able to jump in wearing shoes, jeans and a shirt (over our suits), strip, and use our shirt and pants as life preservers. That was for my “Advanced Swimmer” Red Cross card.

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**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [January 15, 2015, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ex-dolphin-swims-9-miles-to-shore/709770/24 "2015-01-15T17:24:32Z")

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Did the boat make it to the Bahamas without him?

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