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-human interactions seen today could originate from the time when humans first established coastal communities. The curiously friendly relationship between dolphins and humans is certainly not new and is celebrated in early myths, legends and art.
Some legends suggest that the benevolent nature of dolphins towards humans results from the fact that they were themselves human beings, before being transformed into their current dolphin forms. Peoples living along the tributaries of the Amazon River in South America tell a rather different story.
According to a local legend, the Pink River Dolphin emerges from the river in the form of a red man and his visits are conveniently used to explain unexpected pregnancies on the local population.
Dolphins are also featured on many early Greek artefacts and in many stories. The most famous legend concerns the poet and inventor, Arion, said to have lived in Corinth in the late 7th century BC. Having been thrown into the sea by pirates, he then charmed a dolphin with his music and the dolphin carried him, on its back, safely to shore.
Arion’s story may be the first reported example of dolphin rescue, but it is certainly not the last. Accounts of dolphins aiding humans in distress come in two forms: firstly as reports of drowning people being helped to the surface or even the shore by one or more dolphins and, secondly, as incidences where dolphins have driven off sharks. The question has often been asked whether the dolphins set out deliberately to help, or if their actions are purely instinctive. Certainly, dolphins protect their own schools by attacking sharks and driving them away.
Humans in the water nearby could be forgiven for thinking that such ‘brave’ actions were being undertaken for their benefit, whereas the dolphins might simply be protecting their own kin. Alternatively, it could be that the dolphins recognize the vulnerability of the swimmers and responded, or that their concept of the need to protect their school expanded to include the humans.
Dolphins also have a strong instinct to protect weaker members of their schools. There are many reports of sick, wounded and dying animals being helped to the water surface by others to enable them to breathe. Could this help to explain the many accounts of drowning people claiming to have been saved by dolphins? Do the dolphins recognize the circumstances and deliberately help, or is this merely an instinctive response?
We shall probably never know for certain.
Nonetheless, several people around the world are confident that they have been saved from drowning or shark attack by the intervention of dolphins. One extraordinary account comes from a group of fishermen from South Carolina, US. In June 2001 they were fishing some 56 kilometres (35 miles) off the coast of Georgetown when their boat sank. The men drifted with the Gulf Stream and later described their situation in a letter to a local paper as ‘surrounded’ by Mako, Hammerhead, Tiger and other sharks. The attention of the sharks was so great that the fishermen were scraped and bruised by them. Then, fortunately, a group of dolphins arrived and drove the sharks away. Even more remarkably, the dolphins stayed with the men throughout the night and, the following afternoon, were still there to repel what the men reported as an attacking 2.7-metre (9-foot) Great White Shark."
From: Mark Simmonds, Whales and Dolphins of the world
