07/23/2026
A friend sent me this video a few days ago. Today, another friend mentioned it and, before sending it, she asked if I wanted to see it. She knows how deeply I care about dolphins, and she did not want to place something heartbreaking in front of me without asking first. Most of the time, we exchange funny videos and memes, not moments like this.
What stayed with me most was not the video itself, but her response after she watched it.
"I had no idea dolphins did this."
We spent a long time talking about what we were seeing. A mother refusing to leave her calf. A pod remaining together. She quietly said, "It almost looks like they are moving in a line toward a burial."
I had never thought of it that way, but there was something profoundly moving about her observation.
The more time we spend truly connecting with the natural world, the more impossible it becomes to see it as simply "wildlife." It becomes family, community, relationship, grief, joy, and love.
I often say I have spent hundreds of hours observing bottlenose dolphins. One day, I hope that becomes thousands. Every hour reveals something new. Every observation reminds me that we share far more with God's creation than we often realize.
A coworker recently received a Bird Buddy feeder, and we have talked often about how taking the time to watch another species has completely changed the way we see the world. Connection has a way of awakening something within us. It replaces indifference with curiosity, curiosity with admiration, and admiration with responsibility.
When my friend told me she never knew dolphins mourned their dead, I could see the wonder in her eyes. In that moment, I realized this video should be shared.
Dockside Flippers exists to celebrate bottlenose dolphins in their natural habitat and to inspire appreciation, connection, and stewardship of God's creation. Most of what I share is joyful because there is so much beauty to witness.
But nature is not only joy.
Sometimes it is heartbreak.
There is something extraordinary about watching another species grieve in ways that feel so familiar to our own. It reminds us that life is precious, that love leaves an imprint, and that loss is not uniquely human.
I have witnessed moments like this from the same filming location more than once. They have forever changed the way I look at these remarkable animals.
May God watch over this mother and her pod.
And may moments like this remind us that we were never meant to simply rule over creation, but to care for it.
