Dolphins have long played a role in human culture. Dolphins are common in Greek Mythology. The Ancient Greeks welcomed them - a ship spotting dolphins riding in their wake was considered a good omen for a smooth voyage.
In Hindu Mythology, the Ganges River Dolphin is associated with Ganga, the Ganges River's deity.
Whales, e.g. the Orca, played a role in the culture of several Native American tribes, especially in the Pacific Northwest.
Dolphins are an increasingly popular choice in animal-assisted therapy for psychological problems and developmental disabilities. However, this practice is criticized on several grounds; for example, it is unlikely that dolphins are more effective than common pets.
In more recent times, the Flipper movie and series contributed to the popularity of dolphins.
Well known from more recent time is the movie Free Willy. The unsuccessful attempts to actually free Willy after years of captivity highlight the problems of captivity.
The renewed popularity of dolphins in the 1960s resulted in the appearance of many dolphinariums around the world, which have made dolphins accessible to the public. Though criticism and more strict animal welfare laws have forced many dolphinariums to close their doors, hundreds still exist around the world attracting a large amount of visitors.
A number of militaries have employed dolphins for various purposes from finding mines to rescuing lost or trapped humans. These programs have drawn much criticism and their merit remains highly questionable.
Dolphins are common in contemporary literature. A good and very funny example is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which dolphins try in vain to warn humans of the impending destruction of the planet. Their behaviour is misinterpreted as playful acrobatics, however.
Dolphins also appear frequently in non-science fiction literature.
A quote:
"...Some of the cetacean-humaninteractions seen today could originate from the time when humans firstestablished coastal communities. The curiously friendly relationshipbetween dolphins and humans is certainly not new and is celebrated inearly myths, legends and art.
Some legends suggest that the benevolentnature of dolphins towards humans results from the fact that they werethemselves human beings, before being transformed into their currentdolphin forms. Peoples living along the tributaries of the Amazon Riverin South America tell a rather different story.
According to a local legend, thePink River Dolphin emerges from the river in the form of a red man andhis visits are conveniently used to explain unexpected pregnancies onthe local population.
Dolphins are also featured on many early Greekartefacts and in many stories. The most famous legend concerns the poetand inventor, Arion, said to have lived in Corinth in the late 7thcentury BC. Having been thrown into the sea by pirates, he then charmeda dolphin with his music and the dolphin carried him, on its back,safely to shore.
Arion’s story may be the first reported example ofdolphin rescue, but it is certainly not the last. Accounts of dolphinsaiding humans in distress come in two forms: firstly as reports ofdrowning people being helped to the surface or even the shore by one ormore dolphins and, secondly, as incidences where dolphins have drivenoff sharks. The question has often been asked whether the dolphins setout deliberately to help, or if their actions are purely instinctive.Certainly, dolphins protect their own schools by attacking sharks anddriving them away.
Humans in the water nearby could be forgiven forthinking that such ‘brave’ actions were being undertaken for theirbenefit, whereas the dolphins might simply be protecting their own kin.Alternatively, it could be that the dolphins recognize thevulnerability of the swimmers and responded, or that their concept ofthe need to protect their school expanded to include the humans.
Dolphinsalso have a strong instinct to protect weaker members of their schools.There are many reports of sick, wounded and dying animals being helpedto the water surface by others to enable them to breathe. Could thishelp to explain the many accounts of drowning people claiming to havebeen saved by dolphins? Do the dolphins recognize the circumstances anddeliberately help, or is this merely an instinctive response?
We shallprobably never know for certain.
Nonetheless, several people aroundthe world are confident that they have been saved from drowning orshark attack by the intervention of dolphins. One extraordinary accountcomes from a group of fishermen from South Carolina, US. In June 2001they were fishing some 56 kilometres (35 miles) off the coast ofGeorgetown when their boat sank. The men drifted with the Gulf Streamand later described their situation in a letter to a local paper as‘surrounded’ by Mako, Hammerhead, Tiger and other sharks. The attentionof the sharks was so great that the fishermen were scraped and bruisedby them. Then, fortunately, a group of dolphins arrived and drove thesharks away. Even more remarkably, the dolphins stayed with the menthroughout the night and, the following afternoon, were still there torepel what the men reported as an attacking 2.7-metre (9-foot) GreatWhite Shark."
From: Mark Simmonds, Whales and Dolphins of the world