Dolphins Assisted Therapy

Dolphins And Animal Assisted Therapy
By Joy Cagil

Some scientists who work with dolphins believe that these sea-dwellers show a sense to the disability and physical trauma associated with function and pain in humans, therefore making the cranio-sacral therapy possible. Dolphins, with their internal sonar or echo-location can feel where the person hurts the most and are able to gently nudge and play without hurting the person.

Once, two dolphins saved a writer while he was swimming far off the coast of California. The man was a good swimmer and swimming had become his daily routine. One day, far away from the shore, he felt very tired, too tired to lift his arms or kick. Suddenly, two dolphins came to his rescue. They swam with their bodies touching him and they propelled him forward by fastening their nose under his arms to keep him afloat, until they came close to the shore where there were other people. By this time, the writer had regained enough strength to swim a few more yards to safety. He says the dolphins didn't leave immediately. They kept leaping off shore to make sure he made it to land safely.

Many incidents of dolphins saving people at sea have been reported. Some time ago, it was in the news that a pod of dolphins defended a group of swimmers by circling protectively around them to fend off the attack of the great white shark. The swimmers were on a lifeguard training swim about hundred yards off the shore. At first, the men didn't understand that there was a shark. One of them swam away but was pushed back into the circle by the dolphins. At that time he saw a nine-foot shark two yards away from him. The men spent about forty minutes before in that circle before the dolphins let them swim back to the shore. Since sharks are dolphins' greatest enemies, it is possible that they protected the men as if the swimmers were their own offspring.