Since you have no empathy or understanding about these creatures why are you imposing your ignorant opinion I work with dolphins before and since they are highly intelligent social animals that live with pods, yes there are bullying involved. If you are undersized or born with something different dolphins will isolate you. Since they are pack animals-their point is this dolphins will not survive alone and the lone dolphin, like the wolf cannot survive alone..that is their reason for concern..

for timberwolfgirl2:

It has nothing to do with empathy. It sounds a bit stupid just like when people anthropomorphize pets with human emotions.

It always strikes me as hypocritical when people get more emotional about an animal that is ousted from it's pack or pod in this case, than they do about atrocities being committed in the Sudan or Columbia against human beings.

If someone wants a name for this cutie, how about 'Dolph'.

Really? This is news? Marine experts are "watching around the clock"? Observers think the dolphin can find its own way back to the ocean? I can't even imagine the amount of hubris it takes to even entertain the idea that dolphins need human marine experts and observers to exist in the kinds of relationships we think they should have.

(sarcasm) I think we should capture and detain all dolphins until they admit that bullying is wrong before they are released to continue to live in the wild.

Maybe bullying is a natural thing now. If it happens in other animal lifeforms, then it must be something people are born with in also.

Actually, I think this is bs. No one really knows what happened here with this dolphin. As far as we know, he/she could have alzheimers, or just got off track for some odd reason.

Only in CA will a reporter come up with such a bs story to write about. Write about something of importance, like, East LA killings and Gangs, or the homeless problem that is growing out of control.

Porrohman

I don't really have any KitKat's on me right now, and that's a little insensitive of you to ask at a time like this! There's a poor, stranded, lonely dolphin in need of some TLC right now.

MSnbc will do anything to distract readers with all kind of stupid s*@t to divert attention from a crappy condition this country is in economically. Call California legislature to have them enact a marine anti-bullying bill

Well, now that all the amateurs have spoken on this topic, let a real pro educate everyone..

Not only do I work with dolphins, but my second cousin and my grandfather are both actual dolphins.

We spoke directly to this particular dolphin's lawyer...he is being bullied and will take his grievance to the court of public opinion on dateline NBC this Friday night. he is being represented by none other than the famous Johnnie Cockran, no not of OJ fame but of aquatic mammal fame. he has represented famous aquatic celebrity's such as The Little Mermaid in her sexual harassment suit against Aquaman, even though she lost that case it was proven once and for all that Aquaman is gay. he also represented Moby Dick in his harassment claim against captn Ahab. As the triumphant Moby said, "Just because its called a "blow-hole" doesn't mean you can force yourself upon me". No means no. And in his most famous case, he represented the Creature from the Black Lagoon. This was the biggest stereotyping case in history. The Black lagoon doesn't mean the hood from Compton, it simply means a place of diversity for all.

Lighten up people.

Okay, we get it. Bullying is bad. Movies, articles, TV commercials... It seems everywhere we go now, we hear about bullying. But this is over the top. Perhaps marine biologists can drop speakers into the ocean and play pre-recorded anti-bullying messages in dolphin speak!

It's only a matter of time until bullying is linked with climate change, and then we will have the mother of all media blitzes!

I'm a huge animal lover, but this...goes beyond the realm of WTF.

The animal kingdom has it's issues, has it's hierarchy and all that. But seriously? Bullying?

Why is this word such a buzzword now day that we have to apply it to animals. Again, I love animals, I'd stop and help an injured pet, but this is just kind of bordering on ridiculous.

Yeah, seriously now... wtf... dolphins are smart, I get it. Social animals have always bullied eachother, as much as humans do - because we too are animals. Great.

But seriously now, it's a dolphin. This one should count itself lucky for just being dolphin-bullied and not torn apart by another predator.

It is probably a female. Dolphins are very intelligent but are also known to use young females as sex slaves ...just like us humans have been known to do. She probably just got fed up with it and resisted. She will be accepted back in the pod as an adult female now. Maybe we should take a lesson from this and realize that when we we blow ourselves up or die off from some biological warfare weapon or just poison ourselves to death from our love of toxic chemicals...there will be another species just like us that will inherit the earth...and maybe the dolphins will grow up as a species and learn from our mistakes and not kill themselves off.

Who is paying these people to watch it around the clock. They must be State and Federal funded employees.

Lets get that dolphin an attorney, so he can sue the hell out of those other dolphins.

That has got to be some kind of dolphin racial discrimination!!!!!!

If Wallerstein is being paid in any way shape or form with Federal Tax dollars, he needs to find other work. Let the dolphin do what dolphins have done in the past and give the Tax Payer" paid employees sitting on the bridge watching the dolphin swim something more constructive to earn their wages.

I pray the dolphin can eventually escape the clutches of the California liberals! Many humans haven't been so lucky!

WTF, humans are so quick at anthropomorphizing animals - oh wait it's happening in California, now I get it! Has anyone stopped to think that dolphin may have committed some sort of dolphin crime - maybe it ate another dolphins baby - and has been sentenced to excommunication by the rest.AND all the do-gooders don't have a clue at what they are doing and are just aiding and abetting a dolphin criminal.

Come on people give it a break - it's natures way!

Are other dolphins teasing you? Are they making fun of you because you can't wade on the top of the water with your caudal fin? Are the stronger males taking your kill away after you have done all the work? If so, call Flipper and Flipper, Our experienced lawyers will fight for your aquatic rights. No salt-loving mammal should be subjected to such humiliation. Call Flipper and Flipper now and collect the mackerel award you deserve. Regain your self-respect on the high seas.

Maybe it committed a crime and the other two dolphins are Andy and Barney, seems to be a minimum security prison.

If it can swim out at anytime and it is feeding on fish why are the do gooders f**cking with it. Maybe the other dolphins aren't its pod or there has been a power struggle and it is in exile which is common among male dolphins. Leave it alone and go get a real job. If it is in exile forcing it back into the pod does not seem to be a correct action. In the animal kingdom males fight for position and it is well documented that dolphins have this trait. To call it bullying is ludicrous and subversive.

Dolphins kill dolphins from other pods. It's a survival thing. This is one time that Darwinism applies, but no one besides me has mentioned it or made the connection. The "experts," are not. Just leave the animal alone and let nature take its course.

You can tell humans are more advanced than dolphins. When we know a human is going to grow up in poor conditions, with health problems or in a potentially poor environment, we just kill them in the womb. We wouldn't want an "undersized" human, now would we? Humanity has evolved so well. Dolphins need mothers that are more human like.

This has got to be very disappointing news to those people who elevate animals above humans, typically sighting animal behavior as superior to that of humans, especially since marine mammals are one of their favorites. Animal nuts, meet reality, embrace it, deal with it.

Has the dolphin seen a councilor? Perhaps some depression meds should be prescribed. Another option would be to enroll the dolphin in some martial arts classes so it can kick the you know what out of those bully dolphins. All humor aside, I hope the dolphin finds its way to the sea. As for the concerns of animals over people goes, there is no danger of the world running out of people anytime soon. Animals and plants on the other hand are seeing some hard times considering we are experiencing a global extinction event caused by pollution and habitat destruction. I believe humanity is due for a plague, quite frankly.

Bullying? why use that term its natures way we used to refer to it as the pecking order the week are driven off to preserve the species health. all the thing needs to do is stand up for itself, but no you want to send the other dolphins to a anger management class. its survival of the fittest natures way of preserving the gene pool. maybe the other dolphins know that it does not have what it takes to survive and just don't want to deal with it, maybe its a cheating slut and the other females wont tolerate that behavior, possibly gay and wont breed, whatever its natures way, I know! its a cry baby and the others are just tired of it. its a California dolphin so it has issues. probably tried to mate with a Tuna and the others are just not understanding about it. nature has its way of sorting things out so let nature handle it.

Maybe we should pass some anti bullying laws to protect the dolphin, then follow that up with some welfare programs since he/she wont be able to cope on their own. We can start some new committee to look into the issue to determine the real problem.....

A few weeks age, dolphins were gay. Just maybe this one is.........a loner?

Maybe his pod financed an expedition to find new passage across the land to the east. They are smart you know.

Maybe we screwed up the ocean enough they need to find new living conditions. We are kind of ignorant you know.

Maybe they are forcing out their political leadership. By God they are smart.

Man, those Dolphins need to go to a bullying class. Shame on them!!

He was probably gay, or fat... or had smelly flippers

One of the world's largest gift shops use to be in Myrtle Beach SC. I know it existed until at least 1990.

It was called "The Gay Dolphin". Is it still in existance? With that name I wonder if it had to change for political correctness.

If you are undersized or born with something different dolphins will isolate you. Since they are pack animals-their point is this dolphins will not survive alone and the lone dolphin, like the wolf cannot survive alone..

That is called "nature" or "natural selection", not "bullying".

God makes dinosaurs, God destroys dinosaurs, God makes man, man destroys God, man makes himself a god, God ignores man, Earth destroys man, dolphins inherit the earth.

Might be so, I just checked his facebook page and he closed it... poor guy.

arguesforsport, It appears that most folks think that we should police the actions of nature when the truth of the matter is, we can't even police most human actions.

I just wonder what's next. I say, we outlaw tornadoes and ban earthquakes. Another thing....I am about damn tired of those bears @!$%#ting in the woods. Who do they think they are? Too lazy to use public facilities.

I sincerely hope that tooke is only trolling...

The ocean not a safe place for one dolphin. Lots of white sharks just waiting for a bite

If I lost my pod I head for a safe place too. Get these people to feed me for the next 10 years

Very smart

THAT'S the most idiotic thing you've heard all year? Have you even listened to one single GOP debate??? Just sayin'

famousamos.

THE most idiotic sound you get is when an electric current to a teleprompter is lost during a speech (current occupier)

Wow, only in California would they come to such a dumb conclusion that a dolphin was being bullied.

Seriously. Maybe it's not bullying. Maybe the lone dolphin is a rapist or pedophile, or committed some other heinous dolphin crime. And since CA doesn't have the death penalty, he's been sentenced to the dolphin equivalent of solitary confinement.

If you fry them wrong, they taste like Tuna.

timberwolfgirl2

If YOU had a well rounded education, which I highly doubt, you would have better manners and not have belittle or bullied (hey, that sounds familiar) someone else. But, if you do have a "well-rounded" education....shame on you! In any case, you should go back to swimming with the dolphins and leave us humans alone!!!

Sea World can also give him his own tank. He can't be bullied then.

Dolphins aren't fish.. Then again, anyone calling something a "dork" is probably highly uneducated.

Get off your moral high horse, its a joke from the comedian Bill Engvall.

Then it should have been quoted and noted. Plagiarism otherwise. And you can't expect people to know every supposed joke that has ever breached the lips of a comedian.. :)

Some people are just dicks.

Someone's got to @!$%# the pussies and @!$%#s. ;)

luke: There are worse things than being called uneducated by someone who can't even spell 'Jackal' .

Jackel: If you're gonna be a humorless pompous jerkwad, maybe learn to spell first.

TheJackel

Well said...you DORK! Excuse me, I should have said you insufferable, self-righteous DORK!

Hey Jakel,

Try decaf.

It's a fish fish fish...so now I called a dolphin a fish. cry me a river....I am liberal and quite the democrat...but still, saying the fish oops i mean mammal was bullied is f'ing ridiculous. Maybe it's not bullying maybe it's natural selection. I don't know and the "experts" seem just as clueless.

Who freaking knows, but to even use the word "bullying", the hot buzzword of the moment, is self serving at best and at worst diminishes the plight of "people" that deal with real bullying.

Next time I see a dolphin, I am taking it's lunch money.

Love it when people think intentionally misspelled names for a nickname are somehow a lack of spelling skills lol. And it's even worse when you see people think I am being "self-righteous" here. The hypocrisy and irony of that statement is quite precious.

Jackel: If you're gonna be a humorless pompous jerkwad, maybe learn to spell first.

What's funny is that I'm not the one that took anything here seriously, or failed to see sarcasm in light of the subject matter of the article.. You people really are dense! /sarcasm! <--- There, I made it obvious for you ;)

TheJackel

thanks for explaining yourself, but.........you're still a DORK!

LOL!

Hey Jackel......."Here's your sign"........

It's ok to be a Dork :) .. I'm an evil Dork :P

"Here's your sign"

That you are a REDNECK! Lets make some moonshine! :P

You think I'm a redneck?

I have to, we are bullying.. Otherwise we will be violating the essence nature of this article :( .. YOU JERK! >:)

Now THAT'S funny!

ba dum tss

That was grrrrrreat! :)

They're just trying to wipe that damn smile off his face.

RE: "it will apply to anyone/thing that isn't a groupie!"

Ummmm.....don't you mean "Grouper" ?

I had a baby dolphin once, but it got too hard to take care of so I had to flush it down the toilet.

freedman1, I laughed so hard I almost spit my coffee out!

The most interesting thing about this is that no one seems to have read beyond the headline. The quoted expert says it IS NOT A CASE OF BULLYING. Dolphins don't do that. What the person goes on to say is that it maybe the resistance to discipline that is keeping the dolphin at bay.

As to the story, it's a "human interest" story. Journalism has done them since journalism began. You cant relentless bang the drum of news. It makes people tone deaf.

mj-1451595

One form of human resistance to discipline is to write dribble onto comment sights, say MSNBC, which keeps themselves at bay with anything dealing with reality.

This has not only made some people tone deaf, but causes them to skip words written in a story they "read" , so as to reinforce truths they hold as undeniable.

But to offer up an excuse for them, I must say that journalism sure has changed of late. It is hard to tell what actual news is these days, the way it is writtren.

Maybe, skeeter & mj, yet the reverse is probably equally extant.

“He was scared, he was intimidated, he was bullied,” Wallerstein told the Los Angeles Times.

This is the quoted expert - Peter Wallerstein, director of Marine Animal Rescue.

It was Dennis Kelly, an instructor of Orange Coast College, that disagrees with the quoted expert, according to the article.

So really, there are no excuses necessary for the commentators, only for those who erroneously think the commentators did a poor job of reading the commentary.

No, what's retarded is the person who doesn't think it's possible that animals can display emotions similar to what us humans can. Fear, hate, love, loyalty etc etc.

"Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior manifested by the use of force or coercion to affect others, particularly when the behavior is habitual and involves an imbalance of power."

Seems to me that this fits what happened.

I'm afraid you are right Mike-826197, This is the world we live in. Amazing, simply amazing.

RE:"A dolphin being bullied? Really?"

Just by reading your post I can tell that you haven't been around animals much.

It happens with horses, dogs, wolves, kittens, birds that flock (geese, ducks, chickens in the yard crapping everywhere), prides of lions, fish (in aquariums), and the beat goes on. Basically any group of living things that are social and live in a group (sometimes its just verbal or even typed. Hmmmm......)

Why is this happening?

Could be illness, its different, its young and broke rules, possibly tried to asuume an Alpha role and P.O.d the current leaders and I'm sure many other things.

Maybe someone should ask it or have him/her on Dr. Phil ;)

They are doing best just by observing. If the other dolphins don't accept it back then they have to make a choice. It won't survive to well on its own. So its capture it (which could injure it or someone) or let it die. That would be a shame but if we don't intervene thats nature at work.

I say we beat the hell out of him for being ignorant.

Seems to me that this fits what happened.

Seem a lot more likely that there is simply something wrong with the dolphin and the rest of the pod chased it off to protect themselves.

Skup - I'm not sure that's logical. Why actively prevent this dolphin from leaving if they don't want to be around it? Dolphin's aren't people but they are complex social creatures and more then capable of bullying if not (or maybe they are but it's hard to say) fully capable of feeling the emotional pain of being bullied as humans.

Well we can always kill the dolphin and perform a necropsy. I'm sure that will prove it wasn't bullied, right? Otherwise, all we can do is speculate and guess and try to use what we've learned in the past to define the cause of this and the other dolphins' behavior. Experience has shown real cases of bullying in the animal kingdom and specifically with dolphins.

Sounds like a plan to me, a pilot program in D.C. should provide the needed data sampling on the efficacy of the project.

Get back to you in ten years.

Yea, bullies like Dan Savage, for example.

Curt is obsessed with homosexuals.

First off, dolphins are MAMMALS, just like whales and porpoises.

A dolphin is a porpoise, unless you are talking about the dolphin that is a fish. Then is that situation it is not a mammal but you guessed it, a fish.

Wikipedia is not an official reference. Of course, that doesn't mean you're wrong either.

Dolphins are not actually porpoises.

@AnUnidentifiedMale

RE: "Curt is obsessed with homosexuals"

I'm sure its either just a simple case of Denial or Misdirection ;)

I think you are on to something here. This is most likely a hate crime. We need to put a bounty/reward on the other 2 dolphins.........................say $10,000 wanted dead or alive.

It is obvious to me, the other dolphins are hunting him down as a dog.

I think he's gay, look at those lips.

Well if he is gay, then she is not a fella, now is she?

Definately much longer than a knee-jerking moron such as yourself!

The first Flipper did.

This could be a case of bullying, but the fact is, nobody really knows. It's possible this dolphin is sick and this is their way of quarantining him/her. Or it's possible this dolphin committedsome taboo crime against the rest of the pod and now he/she is banished (similar to how humans imprison people for crimes).

The fact is that we really don't know what is going on and we should just leave them alone to their own devices. Dolphins are extremely intelligent and there is a recent case of a surfer in Australia who claims a pod of dolphins saved him from a great white shark attack.

Dolphins are smart animals and we should not be intervening in their lives in general. But if I am surfer facing the jaws of a great white shark, I do appreciate the dolphin's intervention :). And unless we are saving this dolphin from the jaws of a killer whale, there is no rescue needed.

Interesting opinion, Voice of wisdom, but I don't fully agree. Should left-handed people be bullied? It is rather odd to be left-handed, after all. How about people with extremely high levels of intelligence? They're oddities as well.

It sounds like you're suggesting bullying should be celebrated.

I'm not really "celebrating" it, just stating what I believe to be fact.

Nature isn't always, or even usually this noble, fair, all powerful being that gives to each in equal measure and metes out justice to the weak and oppressed.

It would be nice if it were, but it isn't.

The function at work is very primitive. It works on simple observations and reactions that often times would not stand up to critical analysis. Nature doesn't work that way, unfortunately.

This same natural force at work here is the genesis of most of the "isms," be it racism, or bias against any and all other perceived differences. 'My tribe is better than your tribe or my race is better than your race..." served early man well once upon a time. By favoring their own group they helped ensure its survival against other humans and natural forces working for and against everyone.

I'm not suggesting that we should all give in to these "natural" urges, but the groundwork is laid down in all of us as living, breathing creatures.

While, this could be "dolphin bullying" it's really speculation. All we know is that these other dolphins are intentionally imprisoning this other dolphine into these tidal areas as if to kick him/her out of the ocean.

No one really knoww why these dolphins are behaving this way. "Bullying" is a rather abstract concept. There is no way to compare human bullying to dolphin bullying. they don't have cell phones and facebook. The communication explosion in the last couple of decades have created a situation for bullyng to become a much bigger problem with humans than it ever was. The last I heard dolphins are not on that level.

My opinion is that there is some physical reason why this dolphin is being herded by the other dolphins. Most likely it is sick or a mental disorder and they want to isolate it from the rest of the pod.

John it's all "physical," even among human beings.

Think about it. The bullies on facebook or in the schoolyard or in the workplace basically try to belittle others to make themselves seem better, stronger, and more desirable. By tearing down others they are attempting to puff themselves up and make themselves seem more worthy of attention, friendship and so forth.

Also, whether animals or humans they are basically trying to rid the "herd," so to speak of individuals they perceive either as genuinely weak or some sort of threat. Whether animal or human it is all about self preservation, protection and self and group promotion.

Voice of Freedom, I completely agree. I guess that's why it's fascinating when people think they see human behaviour in other animals, i.e. this dolphin story.

It's possible that this dolphin is just experiencing a "spanking" from the other dolphins for some dastardly deed and eventually they will let it rejoin the pod. That would be a great ending and possible Disney movie :)

But the human bullying thing is a much bigger problem now than it was even 20 years ago thanks to telecommunications and pocket sized smart phones.

That's the real issue (human bullys), not the "bully dolphins" :)

Wow. Now I know political correctness has gone too far.

Maybe they're just douchebags.

As ridiculous as this article is, it seems even more ridiculous to turn it into a political issue. Kudos for one-upping the author.

The only thing I dont get is why the dolphins are smarter than the current choices for republican presidential nominition :)