Myth that dolphins keep you safe?

Question

I remember hearing somewhere that for ships if there are dolphins swimming ahead or nearby the ship will be safe. Explanation is that the dolphins can sense thunderstorms, and will not be there if there is an impending storm or something. Don't know if I got that quite right though, does anyone know? thanks!

Answer 1

I was told when I worked at Marineland that the legend concerning dolphins around a ship, in the days before propellers and speed became a threat, was while they're present and easily seen, the waters are open and fairly deep. To people who were uncertain about the area, knowing that hidden reefs and grounding weren't going to happen must have been a relief.
One named Pilot Jack did make himself famous by guiding ships through a narrow channel safely.
Also when a pod is playing in the boat's wake, it indicates they are well-fed and free from danger, which to the sailors meant there were fish in that area and no sharks. It would be the best place to lower the nets and take in the fish.
During studies, marine biologists did note that dolphins sense hurricanes, earthquakes, and changes in the tides, but nothing was recorded about thunderstorms.
Hope this was some help.

Answer 2

It makes sense to assume that dolphins can sense storms, but whether it's true or not, I don't know. From experience however, I could say this isn't true. I usually go scuba diving when I go on vacation, and often dolphins chase the boat, always behind it. I've never had them swimming along side or in the front, and there hasn't been a storm any day I've ever gone out.

Answer 3

I don't know if dolphins can sense storms - though it wouldn't surprise me. (My cat acts up before storms)

I do know why dolphins are attracted to boats and will swim beside them ... boats have people and people have food. A few years ago I was boating with a friend in FL - she fed some shrimp to a dolphin that came up to the boat - the entire pod followed us around for the rest of the day. It was pretty cool to watch them playing and stuff - but there were several babies and so we couldn't swim because we were not sure how they would react.

Answer 4

I don't know about ships, but here in Marineland in Napier New Zealand; you can swim with the Dolphins. They are quite gentle and even little children swim with them. A truly amazing story was about a pal of mine. He was surfing just off coast here, out quite far, when he suddenly spotted dorsal fin of shark coming quickly towards him. No wave to get onto. He thought- God this is it. All of a sudden there was a rush of water beside him and two dolphins attacked the on-coming shark.How's that for bravery? Yet we kill dolphins for fun. Yes! Dolphins are magical.

Answer 5

I have never heard of any evidence that dolphins can foresee storms of any kind, not to mention there's no logic in a sea creature being able to foretell a meteorological event (in the SKY, remember) better than a human could, so I'm pretty sure that's just another nonsense superstition.

Answer 6

No that is just a sailor myth... Because they will also follow a ship in a storm... But there have been several occasions when a dolphins has save someones life by keeping him or her afloat and bringing them to shore. And believe this or not someone was save in the same way by a killer whale.... Just remember that they are both very wild animals and very un-predicable and they could harm you instead... So no matter how cute they are keep your distance........................................................................

Answer 7

animals often are able to sense storms and such. for example, in 1975 Chinese officials ordered the evacuation of Haicheng (a city of over 1 mil. people), just days before a 7.3-magnitude quake partly because they noticed animals acting strangely.

nobody really knows why, but animal just seem to know when something's going to happen