Are dolphins naturally friendly?
A. Dolphin species vary in their degree of curiosity and interaction with humans. Individual dolphins vary to the same degree. Some species are very shy, others will approach humans with great curiosity. If dolphins have spent time in captivity, they can become very used to people touching them, riding along side of them, etc., but they also can become mildly aggressive; nipping, pushing, etc. We all heard of the famous stories about dolphin rescues where a human is pushed to the safety of the shore by dolphins. Bottle-nose dolphins seem to enjoy pushing items. (Of course we wouldn’t hear about the people being pushed out to sea!
