# Man's kind porpoise **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 18, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-kind-porpoise/925916 "2020-11-18T21:15:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-kind-porpoise/925916/1 "2020-11-18T21:15:09Z")
So what is really behind dolphinses seeming benevolent interactions with humans? > **[Why do dolphins seek out encounters with humans?](https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/dolphins-often-seem-to-want-to-befriend-us-do-they-know-something-we-don-t-10493809.html)** > > Why, despite our frequent cruelty to them, do dolphins seem to actively seek out encounters with humans? Are they trying to tell us something? Do they think we have something in common? In her new book, Susan Casey explains all ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2020, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-kind-porpoise/925916/2 "2020-11-18T21:28:41Z")
We don’t taste fishy enough to eat? Blech! Land critters! Spit it out Junior, spit it out! But they’re still curious because we are kinda weird by their standards and they are kinda smart at about the dog level? And mostly because all the small boats capsized and people drowned over the years by these wanton murderers aren’t being added into the lady’s statistics? So all we have are the survivor’s encounters to relate? ETA: in case it isn’t obvious, I’m just spitballin’ here. Haven’t had time to read her book yet. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-kind-porpoise/925916/3 "2020-11-19T00:14:13Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > In her new book, Susan Casey explains all Didn’t Douglas Adams have that explanation nutted out yonks ago? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-kind-porpoise/925916/4 "2020-11-19T03:46:59Z")
You always hear those stories about dolphins pushing drowning people back to the shore. Yeah, of course you do. You never hear from the drowning people that they pushed farther out to sea. The above remark is only semi-facetious. When I worked with dolphins in Hawaii, one of our associate directors made that remark, seriously, on several occasions. Dolphins are known to be highly social animals. They need companionship and social interactions – with their own kind, most usually. I’ve seen it suggested that the occasional wild dolphins that seek out humans might be outcasts from their school for whatever reason. In the wild, from all I’ve ever read, most dolphins are fairly timid of humans. Newly captured dolphins usually take a few weeks to become tame. Recommended reading: Lads Before The Wind by Karen Pryor, if you can find it. A memoir of her adventures in running Sea Life Park, the dolphin show place in Hawaii. (Not the same place I was working, but we all knew each other.) ETA: If you’ve read and believe all the books John Lilly wrote about dolphins, forget it. He was a drug-addled nutcase. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-kind-porpoise/925916/5 "2020-11-19T05:02:16Z")
“Kind”? They’re rapists and child-murderers! > **[Can a Dolphin Really Commit Rape?](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/03/animals-rape-murder-morality-humans/585049/)** > > Nature isn’t cruel—it’s just careless. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-kind-porpoise/925916/6 "2020-11-19T05:26:07Z")
Man is bad, Fa. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2020, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mans-kind-porpoise/925916/7 "2020-11-19T09:08:33Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > You always hear those stories about dolphins pushing drowning people back to the shore. Yeah, of course you do. You never hear from the drowning people that they pushed farther out to sea. Bah. There’re good dolphins on both sides.