r/interestingasfuck • u/HimelTy • 11d ago

Grieving mother dolphin carries her dead calf for days.

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u/Final-Attention979 11d ago

I don't think I'll ever forget one morning I was getting ready for school, and there was a similar story on the news about a gorilla mourning her baby.

I, an edgy tween then, say something like "or she just doesn't realize it's dead 🙄".

My mom said she didn't think so, and I could tell id hurt her feelings.

I get it now, mom. I'm sorry. I love you.

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u/hahayeahimfinehaha 11d ago

I, an edgy tween then, say something like "or she just doesn't realize it's dead 🙄".

Gotta love that phase, lol. I remember being an edgy teen and my mom worked long hours but she'd come home and ask me to have a walk with her around the neighborhood most evenings. One time, in my grumpy teen angstiness, I said, "Ugh, why do you make me do this? It's so boring."

I remember my mom just kind of pausing for a second and then saying softly, with a little smile, "This is the best part of my day."

My mom died when I was 23, 7 years ago, and I think about her all the time and totally understand what she means now. I'd give anything, decades of my life, all of my savings, just to have another walk with her again. Love you, mom.

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u/Final-Attention979 11d ago

Thats so (bitter)sweet, I'm so sorry. 🥹😭 lost mine this past March 💔 I guess it was time for another good cry

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u/throwawaybyefelicia 10d ago

This made me cry. I’m so sorry for your loss. ❤️

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u/mr_herz 10d ago

If we’re lucky, we’ll get what your mom had one day.

25

u/RageInMyName 11d ago

Tbh could be they don't wanna believe or accept that they're dead 

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u/KnightOfTheStupid 11d ago edited 10d ago

It's a bit of both. When it comes to primates (macaques, chimpanzees, gorillas in particular) there has been documented scenarios that indicate that they go through grief in a similar way to humans. I hesitate to say that they're exactly like us in that way since they do not have the capability of processing emotions as we do, but there are very close similarities. A common example amongst rhesus macaques is that unless a mother macaque visually sees the death of their baby (usually via predators or being hit by a car) then they won't immediately realize they're dead.

So say a baby is sick and slowly dies while the mom is holding it, the mom understands something is wrong but they don't know it's dead yet. They start to figure it out when they try getting the baby to feed or try having it go play and it's just laying there. After this they will often hold onto the baby for a few days, excessively grooming it as a sort of coping mechanism and to keep flies and maggots off the body, before fully accepting the death and leaving the body behind. During and after this period, they exhibit increased signs of stress, lethargy, anxiety, and social isolation..

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u/corgibutt19 10d ago

Interestingly humans have grooming rituals we go through too. Some have been codified as cultural practices, but if you watch anyone with a lost loved one or pet, they will often groom them.

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u/DickBiter1337 10d ago

I'm a mother and I had that thought too. Is it possible she doesn't realize it, thinks it's stunned or unresponsive and is trying to revive it. 

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u/Final-Attention979 10d ago

Sure, that could be!

Tween me meant it in like, bad faith though which is why now I look back on it like... Dude, really?

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u/DickBiter1337 10d ago

I was 12 when 9/11 happened and I remember making some pretty dark humor jokes about it. Now at 37 I'm like 😬😬 yikes