Dolphins are known to be very intelligent animals. Some dolphins even being trained! Dolphins. other than being smart. Are very social animals! Often living in pods of up to a dozen individuals, though pod sizes and structures vary greatly between species and locations.
in places with a high abundance of food. pods are merge tempoarily. forming a superpod. such groupings may exceed 1,000 dolphins. Membership in pods is not rigid; interchange is common. They establish strong social bonds. and will stay with injured or ill members, helping them to breath by bringing them to the surface if needed.
This altruism does not appear to be limited to their own species. The dolphin Moko in new zealand has been observed guiding a female pygmy sperm whale together with her calf out of shallow water where they had stranded several times. They have also been seen protecting swimmers from sharks by swimming circles around the swimmers. or charging the sharks to make them go away.
