A number of beach lovers in Brazil jumped into action after they were joined on the shore by some unexpected visitors this week. As soon as a school of around 30 dolphins became beached, a number of good citizens ran into the sea to pull the creatures to safety within seconds.
The deed was captured on video and uploaded to YouTube, where it has received more than 1 million views.
Many of the comments on the video praised those who acted so quickly to help the dolphins back into the water.
“This is amazing and beautiful to watch. People are awesome. I’m sure the dolphins would save them as well,” commented YouTuber RytisB.
“If all the people were like this, life on earth would be 100x better !!!,” wrote Dzalissimo in a top comment.
Redditors, meanwhile, have come up with some interesting theories on how the mammals came to end up on the beach.
“Unfortunately, the probable reason for this is that a Naval ship came through the area actively pinging with their sonar,” wrote Teach2622 on the thread’s top comment. “This damages the inner ear of marine mammals and causes the animal to beach in order to escape the pain. Animals with severe damage do not survive. Mass beachings like this are common.”
thisisaninch, on the other hand, suggested the beaching may have occurred because “the dolphins were hunting in shallow water, as they often do.”
Other causes given by Redditors for beachings include the way shores slope having an effect on dolphins’ sonar, while some joked that the the rescuers interfered with a “dolphin suicide cult.”
Whatever the reason for the dolphins ending up on the beach, it’s a terrific advert for the human race that so many people ran to help the mammals so quickly.
Photo by Loren Sztajer