During one expedition, the researcher and his team witnessed a heartbreaking scene between a mother dolphin and her deceased newborn calf. The mother could be seen repeatedly lifting the corpse to the surface, presumably in an attempt to get it to breathe.

“This was repeated over and over again, sometimes frantically, during two days of observation,” said Gonzalvo. “The mother never separated from her calf…. [She] seemed unable to accept the death.”

Gonzalvo experienced a similar scene a year later, when he came across a pod of dolphins that appeared to be assisting a 2 to 3-month-old dolphin that was having difficulty swimming.

“The group appeared stressed, swimming erratically,” he said. “Adults were trying to help the dying animal stay afloat, but it kept sinking.”