HAIFA —A dolphin's best friend may be you or me.  In other words, a human.  This is the conclusion reached by Dr. Oz Goffman of the University of Haifa , one of the world's leading experts on this solitary marine mammal.

In the first investigation of its kind, Goffman studied a female, Indo-Pacific, bottlenose dolphin named “Holly,” which had been exiled from its group "for reasons we will never know."  He found that solitary but social dolphins apparently can "independently find a sufficient temporary substitute with humans for social connection."  Once they befriend humans, he saw, such dolphins seem to abandon continuous social connections with their former natural group.
            
A member of the University's Institute for Maritime Studies and the Department of Maritime Civilizations, Goffman studied Holly for nearly a decade, or almost since the time the female dolphin arrived off the Bedouin village Nuweiba- M'zeina, in mid-1994. She very soon began to interact with members of a Bedouin tribe that frequented the beach area.  She was then 9 years old and sexually mature. 
        
The research focused on the development of long-term relationships between humans and a solitary dolphin. Goffman documented and analyzed changes over time in the dolphin-human underwater behavioral patterns of Holly toward different groups of humans. The database of the current investigation is made up of underwater video recordings of dolphin-human interactions, collected for 2-3 consecutive days each month and analyzed in the laboratory.

The study spanned a time period of 5.5 years, which included two gestation and calving cycles. The researcher also compared Holly's interaction with humans to that of a female bottlenose dolphin named "Pita" from the Bahamas . Pita's behavior was recorded by a San Francisco Oceanic Society team.

Examining the effect of the number of swimmers on the dolphin’s interactions, Goffman found a preference for a variety of behaviors, including body contact and play, when the swimmers' group was small (fewer than 5). He detected a rise in aggression level in the presence of a larger number of swimmers.

There was an increase in the number of swimmers in the water over the years, and with it came a higher rate of unsolicited attempts to touch the dolphin.  The researcher concluded that the increase in the number of swimmers contributed to the higher level of aggressive behavior observed in the dolphin Holly over time.

The dolphin's interrelationships with humans lasted about six years. Then, during the last three years of her life, Holly would visit with humans less and less on a regular basis.

"Dolphins are advanced mammals with advanced social interactions," the University of Haifa dolphin expert explained. "The hierarchal structure is similar in nature and complexity to those of chimpanzee and human societies," he continued. "When the dolphin school is of a permanent nature, with a consistent size and membership, the complexity of its social structure may be understood.

Beside the basic scientific interest, Goffman also paid attention to practical aspects that may contribute to "do and don’t do" rules.  He sees such rules as part of an educational framework of regulations for potential participants in encounters with free-ranging dolphins. The rules, he believes, are formulated in such a manner that "a full measure of the experience may be enjoyed without posing a risk to either partner.

The study, Goffman emphasizes, was conducted with the help of members of the Sinai Bedouin tribe Nuweiba-M'zeina.  He also received assistance from volunteers from IMMRAC, the Israel Marine Mammals Research and Assistance Center , which Goffman co-founded in Michmoret, just south of Haifa . The research was supervised by Prof. Ehud Spanier and Dr. Dan Kerem from the University of Haifa and Prof. Joseph Terkel from the University of Tel Aviv . Prof. Kari Lavalli from Boston University acted as adviser.

Schwab is an intern in the external relations department of the University of Haifa