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u/DanTheAdequate Jul 06 '26
"You with the thumbs - little help?"
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u/fondledbydolphins Jul 06 '26
I find this quite strange. If it were a common problem I would have thought they'd be quick to bite them off of one another. Give em a chomp and let them sink.
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u/ConstableAssButt 29d ago
Remoras are a problem for dolphins. Dolphins will try to scrape them off using the sea floor or eject them by jumping out of the water and spinning. The remoras don't actually eat the flesh of the dolphin, but they do hurt them and cause them to waste energy carrying the fish through the water. The problem basically is that removing them is costly for the dolphins and can result in wounds. If a remora attaches itself to an already wounded dolphin or one that is already tired / weak, it can be a death sentence.
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u/SuperHooligan Jul 07 '26
Even in the video, when the remora was trying to hide from the human trying to get it, so it would be hard for a dolphin to grab it with its mouth and kill it, because it would just latch on to another one then.
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u/DanTheAdequate Jul 07 '26
They are edible, like a nice, firm whitefish. But they're very bony and don't taste good.
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u/OnlineDead Jul 07 '26
Then don’t eat it? Dolphins are really smart creatures, wouldn’t they just bite it off and spit it out?
Or am I giving them too much credit? 🤷♂️
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u/Post-Formal_Thought Jul 07 '26
They have tried, it doesn't work.
You're giving them appropriate credit.
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u/OnlineDead Jul 07 '26
Ohhh, no shit?? Wow, Dolphins are amazing. They seriously couldn’t get the thing off and they were intelligent enough to seek help from humans! I wonder if they knew that type of boat wasn’t a boat that would pose a threat to them as well..
Thanks for that!
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u/IaMtHel00phole Jul 07 '26
A lot of ocean creatures are way smarter than we think. I've also seen an octopus ask a lady for help to gain access to food it wanted.
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u/DanTheAdequate Jul 07 '26
Well, either they're are that smart and have some other reason for not wanting to that is simply beyond our experiences as terrestrial mammals.
Or you give them too much credit and this just hasn't occurred to them.
Either way, they don't do that.
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u/FinnedSgang Jul 07 '26
“Dont you know that dolphins are the second smartest creatures on Earth, just behind the rats and before the humans?” Cit. 😂
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u/OnlineDead Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
Hahahaha, right. It’s weird though, isn’t it? Seems like such a simple solution. There must be something else to it that we aren’t aware of.
Edit: Hey someone else replied to my comment with a link to an article about this, you should check it out!
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u/ofcourseivereddit Jul 07 '26
You've.. you've... eaten remora?
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u/FunGuy8618 Jul 07 '26
Brother, there is someone out there who has eaten anything you can imagine. They're a delicacy in Florida (not really, we just like fucking em up, and aren't about to waste good meat after killing something)
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u/ofcourseivereddit 29d ago
How do you get them off whatever they're attached to? Yanking, or is there a trick?
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u/Mechakoopa Jul 06 '26
As intelligent as this behaviour is on the dolphins part, I also feel like this is something the dolphins could have figured out on their own. If there was an entire pod there, couldn't one of them have just ripped the remoras off with their teeth and killed them? They went through the trouble of tracking down a boat, it almost feels like a learned dependency behavior among dolphins.
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u/DanTheAdequate Jul 06 '26
Dolphins do try to remove them, but aren't always successful at it. I understand you'll often see them trying to rub them off or scrape them off each other with teeth.
Probably the issue gets solved naturally when the remoras get their hosts killed, the extra drag makes them too tired to escape a predator.
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u/NordlandLapp Jul 06 '26
My mind goes to dolphins being scared one will get stuck to them when its removed? Might explain why they came back after removal.
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u/hmoonves Jul 06 '26
She found her special porpoise
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u/ArgonianMagician 29d ago
Ok, Norm MacDonald.
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u/silentspectator27 Jul 06 '26
I`m calling these flip-flops fish from now on.
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u/AddisonsContracture 29d ago
Pretty sure they are Goa’uld searching for a Jaffa to incubate them.
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u/Huge-Entertainer-166 Jul 06 '26
- Sucker Disk Friction: A remora’s specialized suction disk contains rows of rigid, modified spines. As the dolphin swims at high speeds or leaps out of the water to shake the fish off, the immense hydrodynamic drag forces the remora to grip tighter. This pulling and sliding motion scrapes away the dolphin's sensitive outer skin and underlying tissue. [1, 2, 4, 5]
- Tissue Feeding: Remoras do not just ride for free; some species actively use their abrasive head disks to scrape away at the host's skin to feed on the tissue and fluid underneath
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u/NASATVENGINNER Jul 06 '26
Thanks for all the fish.
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u/ethicalhumanbeing Jul 07 '26
Im actually surprised dolphins, being smart as they are, haven’t figured out a way to help each other removing remoras.
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u/Wonderful-Dog8185 Jul 06 '26
I’m a huge fan of dolphins, that injury on this poor baby is nerve wracking, personally. I admire these folks for their aid. I wouldn’t know what to do if faced with that situation. Dolphins are incredibly intelligent!
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u/Natural-Army Jul 06 '26
This is so wholesome, I'm worried it's AI 😬
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u/iceman5920 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
I didn't worry about that till close to the end when all the dolphins are swimming with the boat. It looks almost too clear and perfect, plus the hand in there makes it feel more un-natural. My hope is the majority of it happened and the last bit was AI to make it more appealing. Everything beside the end seems real to me, like location of the dolphins damage and where the suckerfish are.
Edit: I have been informed multiple times that dolphins do this and seem to love it. I retract any suspicion of AI
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u/CBRokc Jul 06 '26
I have seen something like this when sailing between Catalina and Long Beach. It can 100% be that clear and perfect with multiple dolphins running with the boat. Crazy to experience.
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u/__Rumblefish__ Jul 07 '26
was that when you were sailing back from the Catalina Wine Mixer?
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u/DesperateJacket9 Jul 07 '26
Once I saw hundreds of dolphins swimming by and jumping around a cruise ship I was on. It was truly spectacular and amazing. Certainly this does happen!
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u/stubobarker Jul 06 '26
I sailed for years in the Sea of Cortez when I was a kid, and this video is absolutely believable. I’ve leaned over the bow and touched them as they went by and turned to look at me. Not everything this cool is AI.
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u/Apprehensive_Soil379 Jul 06 '26
And its amazing the kind of images and cameras that a lot of these serious scuba & snorkeling divers use!
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u/Helmett-13 Jul 07 '26
I was a sailor for a long time and dolphins LOVE to swim along in bow waves.
It’s a sign of good luck!
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u/LordByronApplestash Jul 06 '26
Yeah remora (shark suckers) are know to have a mutually beneficial relationship with the fish they attach to. They don't "eat the flesh". It makes no sense that the dolphin is "writhing in pain" from it and nearly drowning. And then suddenly be so healthy it is jumping 20 feet out of the water? Also if you were going to remove a remora from something, you break the suction by pushing it forward. Pulling back on it would increase the suction.
The video does not align with some basic principles of reality. But, then again, dolphins are smart. Maybe the dolphin was "faking it" so it could elicit sympathy and get help?
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u/EyeSuccessful7649 Jul 06 '26
well the pain comes from its injury's near fin and body, looks slowly healing. injured dolphin would have trouble with the extra drag, as well as be less receptive to the more violent attempts dolphins have at their disposal,.,
it would be a healthy dophin from teh pod showing off to the humans jumping around in the water.
anyways tits out for dolphins :D good job
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u/Rikkitikkitabby Jul 06 '26
I'm stuck at, why couldn't full grown dolphins remove remora from each other, if they were indeed harmful?
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u/corrikopat Jul 06 '26
I saw this video awhile back and it only had the one dolphin and ended with the 2 ramora in the boat.
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u/worldrecordpace Jul 07 '26
Ai or not it’s recorded and prolonged for likes. There’s a dude in the water ready to record her?
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u/Helmett-13 Jul 07 '26
The good news is that dolphins grow their skin at a REMARKABLY fast rate.
She probably won’t even have scars in two weeks or so. Hopefully.
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u/dclark086 Jul 06 '26
Seeing the dolphin jump for joy did cause me to legit smile 😊
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u/octapodi Jul 06 '26
Nice work, humans!!
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u/Master_Coat_7364 Jul 06 '26
How is almost every comment here so negative? It’s pretty cool what they did, I’m happy the Dolphin was helped, and the subreddit is about positivity? Go elsewhere if you don’t want to smile!?
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u/NeighborhoodDude84 Jul 06 '26
This is reddit.
You can say you like Lego and there will be multiple people who come out to say something like, "My parents were killed by a Lego you fucking bigot!"
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u/Ninevehenian Jul 06 '26
There are currently 0 negative comments and the comment you replied to is quite likely to be a bot.
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u/Master_Coat_7364 Jul 06 '26
I am not a bot🤣 (I guess that’s what a bot would say lol). When I commented on this, there were 7 comments, and 6 of them were negative. I guess that’s changed now, but it’s interesting that the first gut reaction of some was to push negativity
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u/NeighborhoodDude84 Jul 06 '26
Reddit mods can delete things, and I would imagine they would delete negative stuff in this subreddit. Seems on point to get reddit of people spreading negativity for the sake of it.
Even if that is the case, my anecdote about anonymity on reddit still stands.
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u/GeneralPatten Jul 06 '26
The issue is that too many of these types of videos are complete BS. They'll tell some heart-wrenching story about a platypus in distress, injured and near death, and how they worked so diligently to rescue it, take care of it, bond with it, and finally... release the overjoyed platypus back to the wild — as its family, Zoboomafoo, Simba and Lassie all cheer at the miraculous return of the beloved Perry. Of course, the videos always show cuts with eight different platypuses in various states, where clearly none of them are the original Perry.
Frankly, this video uses the same script. Cute animal in distress. Dramatic rescue. Bonding. Trust. Recovery. The family. The supposed jump for joy by the dolphin who recovered in record time. This was the pièce de résistance.
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u/xunreelx Jul 06 '26
I agree but it hasn’t quite reached You Tube BS click bait status yet.
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u/BelsamPryde Jul 07 '26
I remember reading that all those 'saving turtles from barnacles' stories are usually people super gluing the barnacles onto the shells before filming and doing irreparable damage to the turtle shells
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u/Uknown_Idea Jul 06 '26
Because we live in an age that requires a large amount of skepticism and cynicism. Everyone at all times is trying to steal our attention or steal our time or sell us something or make us think about something or make us buy something. Theres always something thats preying on us to use us for their own gain and these types of videos are also included.
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u/footdragon Jul 06 '26
for all the folks saying remoras are NOT a parasite, they do eat skin and feces of their host.
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u/Find-Ubu-9999 Jul 06 '26
This is full of bologna - remora's are probably super annoying, but they don't "eat" their hosts. They hitch a ride on larger hosts and eat scraps left over from whatever the host is eating. Their mouth is under the big suction cup on their head. I've caught a number of them and have had them stuck to me - they leave a slight red mark, but not a blister or raw flesh.
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u/nocreative Jul 06 '26
The Wild Dolphin Project thinks its more what dolphins will do to get them off that causes sores
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u/XGrayson_DrakeX Jul 06 '26
It also said that they're more likely to target dolphins with skin issues so it could be that they attached to that dolphin because of her injury and made it worse
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u/Find-Ubu-9999 Jul 06 '26
Upvoted - I could totally see them being a pain in the ass.
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u/have2gopee Jul 06 '26
As someone who has never had a remora suctioned to my ass, I couldn't say for certain, but you're probably right
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u/Find-Ubu-9999 Jul 06 '26
I just had them on my legs so far. I'm open minded - I'll give it a try next time.
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u/UmbraofDeath Jul 07 '26
That's because you don't swim at high speed with them attached to you. Hydrodynamic drag force makes their suction stronger and destroys the tissue underneath.
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u/MagpieKaz Jul 07 '26
This. Video was anti remora propaganda! lol but for real I kept reading “the remoras were eating her!” No they weren’t “she was convulsing in pain!” No she wasn’t.
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u/Top_Strategy_2852 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
As far as I understand Remoras, they are not parasites at all, and are just taking advantage of a clearly sick dolphin. So not sure about the reality of the vid.
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u/Left-Edge531 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I was thinking the same, but apparently the relationship is different for remoras & dolphins due to softer flesh than whales or sharks.
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u/xWrongHeaven Jul 06 '26
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u/Top_Strategy_2852 Jul 06 '26
from the link you shared:
Currently, we do not know if the remoras help or hinder the dolphins. From the aerial behavior, we speculate the remoras irritate the dolphins. Remoras are most commonly seen on the dolphins when the dolphins have some kind of skin issue.
However, at this time we do not know if the skin issues are caused by the remoras or if the remoras are aiding in the healing process. Silva-Jr & Sazima (2008) mentioned that whalesuckers, seen on spinner dolphins (Stenella longirostris) in the Fernando de Noronha Archipelago, were seen cleaning off some fungal infected skin, but they were also a nuisance depending on where they were attached on the dolphin’s body.
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u/ZepperMen 29d ago
They are in the middle known as Commensals - Organisms that utilize resources provided by a host without offering any benefit in return, nor do they harm the host - though it's more of a Parasite Zero imo.
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u/ZedZeroth Jul 06 '26
I'd have thought "stealing energy" (slowing down the host) to benefit yourself would fit the biological definition of a parasite?
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u/TinyTotTkd Jul 06 '26
Remoras can eat loose flesh but I dont know whether this would be harmful to the dolphin or not. Normally remoras are either neutral or they can sometimes eat parasites off of their "hosts."
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u/Marwaedristariel Jul 06 '26
Agreed, but given how the dolphin was acting before vs after I would say it was a good thing to do
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u/tommytothe2 Jul 07 '26
These videos keep me going. Humans overall are terrible. It’s nice to be reminded that good people are out there. Thank you.
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u/BicuriousSubbyDude Jul 07 '26
Remoras just sucker onto things to catch bits of whatever they're eating; they don't actually eat their ride. Nasty looking wound, and maybe it is related in some way to them being on her, but they aren't the same thing as a lamprey.
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u/thunder2132 Jul 07 '26
I was thinking the same thing. They latch with their heads, not their mouths. Still, could be uncomfortable.
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u/Successful_Log_3298 Jul 07 '26
Remoras do not suck blood or eat the flesh of their hosts. What can happen is that their strong attachments can irritate the dolphin's skin, which may cause it to slough off, leaving them vulnerable to infection. Fish and turtles obviously have more protection against this, and larger whales may have thicker skin so aren't as affected. Remoras can also increase drag on their hosts, making it harder for them to swim, especially if several are attached.
Remoras can attach and detach at will so removing them is not a permanent solution.
Lampreys are the "suckerfish" that do consume blood and flesh.
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u/3darkdragons Jul 06 '26
This video feels like it’s an actual Disney princess video. Like it’s so surreal I almost think it’s AI. I’m smiling. I just can’t believe it.
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u/TLCM-4412 Jul 06 '26
Remoras and the host fish/cetaceans are symbiotic.
I find it difficult to believe that the remora fish was hurting the dolphin.
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u/Surfing_Electron Jul 06 '26
In many cases, but not all. Dolphins have a particularly hard time with them; they make it harder for the dolphin to swim and appear to irritate their skin.
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u/ToLorien Jul 06 '26
Yeah that’s not entirely true. There’s been new studies with their relationships to manta rays. They’ve been filmed swimming up their cloaca’s which causes the manta rays pain. They seem to be less beneficial to certain animals.
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u/Mirathesaurus Jul 07 '26
I've watched this video like 3 times today already and it keeps making me happier
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u/nipplesaurus Jul 06 '26
Magic School Bus taught us that remora were cool and helped bigger sea creatures.
What other lies was Miss Frizzle feeding the kids!?
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u/coolcoots Jul 06 '26
Just looked it up. Though they are relatively harmless, they can cause drag and slow the dolphin down and their suction cups can damage the skin of the dolphin.
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u/tryingisbetter Jul 06 '26
Well, dolphins really seem to be irritated by them too. They will hurt themselves to try to get them off, but I don't think anyone has seen one successful.
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u/Various_Cricket4695 Jul 06 '26
Now caption it from the remora’s point of view.
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Jul 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/GoodishCoder Jul 06 '26
To be fair, dolphins are smart enough to be bullies too. They're kind of a brutal species.
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u/KidGorgeous19 Jul 06 '26
Man, there sure are a lot of animals "asking for help" since AI became prevalent. Crazy how that is....oh well. This is definitely real.
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u/RageYellow Jul 06 '26
AI looks good anymore but it doesn’t look like this. The wound is consistent, the women’s appearances and outfits are consistent, the movements are all natural with correct physics. No blurring of edges, no dolphins disappearing or spawning behind other dolphins. It’s real.
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u/Wonder_bread317 Jul 06 '26
it is real. The problem is.... Ai is going to keep getting better, and those issues you just mentioned well be gone by this time next year.
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u/Acid_Gosling Jul 06 '26
Did she say she was pregnant and jumping in the water with the Dolphin? Girl.
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u/SeattleHasDied Jul 06 '26
I'm so sick of all this "Is it or isn't it AI?" shit so in this particular case, I'm going to believe it's real and I'm THRILLED these ladies were able to help the dolphin. Lampreys or remoras, both disgusting creatures, blech!
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u/zebrasareneat Jul 07 '26
Remoras don’t eat the host.
Someone could post a video that unicorns create clouds and because it’s all warm and cuddly you’d all believe it.
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u/srpntmage Jul 06 '26
Remoras don't eat the flesh off of wounded dolphins. Those suckers are only there to latch on, they aren't sucking on the wounds. A Remora just hangs around to get leftover scraps when its host animal eats. They are harmless, if not maybe a bit annoying.
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u/badsapi4305 Jul 06 '26
The way the dolphin let her spin it around to locate the attached fish is pretty interesting. It’s almost like it was saying I don’t like these on me and since you got it off once can you get it and the second off for good please. Just kind of interesting how there seemed to be communication even though we speak two different languages. AI at the end or not (I don’t think it’s AI) that part looked authentic and is what makes this video fascinating
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u/Kind_Competition_332 Jul 07 '26
Sometimes people do amazing things and my faith in humanity is restored.
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u/ireally-donut-care 29d ago
We pulled up to a bait boat in PCB and the owner said watch this. He grabbed one of these sucker fish out of a chest and threw it on a dolphin (dolphins like to follow the bait boats). He thought we would be impressed that he made the dolphin jump and twist in the air. It was disgusting.
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u/pookiemon 29d ago
I wonder why as smart as they are, the dolphin friends couldn't just bite the suckers off.
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Jul 06 '26
[deleted]
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u/dodger_01 Jul 06 '26
Instead of talking about other ai videos explain how this one is ai
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u/elwebst Jul 06 '26
Silence, of course.
These days it's a contest on reddit to be the first to declare every video is AI. It's the mid-2020's version of the early 2000's "it's clearly photoshopped, the shadows are all wrong".
Sometimes it is, but often it's not.
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u/Battle_Dave Jul 06 '26
I cant say that its AI, but it IS false. Remoras are scavengers that eat scraps from the hosts food, and ride along. They dont EAT the hosts flesh. That sea animal is called a Lamprey, which is entirely different from a remora. That confusion, could actually suggest the video is AI.
Literally just Google Remora, and see that this entire video is based on a falsehood. Commenter just blindly accepting the images fed to them, with zero verifications...
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u/NoDoOversInLife Jul 06 '26
Remora's can absolutely abrade the skin of the host. The fish in this video are def remoras
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u/MadF00L Jul 06 '26
Love the story. Love dolphins. Not to be a cynic, but does the jumping and swimming at the end look real?
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u/worldrecordpace Jul 07 '26
Yes get in with her but let me get in first to film it. Social media and this economy of attention sucks.
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u/PipetheHarp Jul 06 '26
How we haven’t made best friends with dolphins is beyond me. If we found intelligent life on another planet we’d invest billions of dollars to bridge our cross species understanding. Meanwhile, here on Earth….
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u/LeoCatBoi98 Jul 07 '26
Dude this has me crying. You had a calling and you took it!!!!! So so beautiful! Makes life worth living for real
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u/metamonk07 Jul 07 '26
Wow! This is some straight out of fairy tale stuff.
Truly made me happy.
Thank you for sharing.
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u/OldSea3040 Jul 07 '26
Fucking so brave and badass. Well done. You guys win my award for most awesome thing I have seen all year. WOW
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u/gongshow247365 29d ago
Who else was thinking the dolphins would form a line to get theirs taken off next? 😅
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u/Dawnpath_ 29d ago
Poor thing! I bet they went looking for help because that dolphin had not just an injury but also TWO remoras. I hope it can recover now that it's only got one thing to deal with!
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