Dolphins have an irresistible charm for people. They are extremely playful at all ages and often play alone, surfing the waves, leaping into the air, performing flips and striking the water with their tail flukes.
They also play with whatever they find in the ocean – sponges, corals, sticks, plastic bags and floating buoys.
Their play is also social. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), which live in temperate and tropical waters worldwide, including the African coasts, play with other dolphins in the first weeks of life. The mother is the first playmate and then the dolphin calf expands its social network. This species of dolphin offers an ideal model to study how animals communicate through play.
