So much can be said with flowers – whether it’s I’m sorry, congratulations or simply I love you, they’re a gesture most people can identify with.
And so, it seems, can dolphins. A curiously romantic side to these charming marine mammals has been revealed in a stunning new BBC TV series, the first episode of which was released on 3rd January.
Documentary crews have been able to observe a male bottlenose dolphin wooing his sweetheart with a garland of seaweed.
She poses coquettishly with her gift, before their love is sealed by mating.
Documentary-makers went to extraordinary lengths to capture the dolphins’ mating rituals, using 13 remote-control devices shaped like turtles, tuna, clams and squid in the ocean off the coast of Mozambique.
They found that dolphins can be pushy parents, loyal friends, and prone to adolescent bursts of machismo.
‘This is the first time the daily lives of dolphins have been filmed at close range in such intimate detail,’ says zoologist and film-maker Rob Pilley.
Full story: Daily Mail