There's no doubt that, aside from homo sapiens, dolphins are among the most intelligent species on the planet. These mammals are highly emotional and problem-solving. They have loving interpersonal relationships, and the bonds shared by family members are almost as intense as those experienced by human beings. Check out this incredible video of a pair of dolphins spotted in a Louisiana river:  [[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/U1RbdnHG-dkXnENEs.mp4||U1RbdnHG]] If you want proof of this then all you need to do is take the example of this mother and child: a pair of dolphins were spotted by a cameraman off the coast of Naples in Italy, and he managed to capture footage of their heartwarming reunion. <img class=" wp-image-12550160" src="https://img.vt.co/2019/09/429f2c67-screenshot-2019-09-06-at-09.42.08.png" alt="An image of a dolphin. " width="567" height="441" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Facebook/Mario Polizzi]] Recently, Mario Polizzi was out on the open sea in a boat near the scenic Italian island of Procida, when he spotted something alarming: a young dolphin calf had become entangled in a fishing net and was struggling to free itself. <img class=" wp-image-12550159" src="https://img.vt.co/2019/09/62ef97ff-screenshot-2019-09-06-at-09.41.50.png" alt="image of a dolphin." width="579" height="494" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Facebook/Mario Polizzi]] However, when the fishermen worked to free the innocent animal from the net, and it swam back to its parent, the mommy dolphin leapt out of the water several times; as if she was jumping for joy at being reunited with her baby. The mommy dolphin broke the surface of the water three separate times before swimming away. <img class=" wp-image-12550161" src="https://img.vt.co/2019/09/c9c9d7a0-screenshot-2019-09-06-at-09.42.18.png" alt="An image of a dolphin. " width="544" height="413" />[[imagecaption|| Credit: Facebook/Mario Polizzi]] Dolphins are highly social animals, often living in pods of up to a dozen individuals, where they establish strong social bonds. They care for injured or sick individuals, sometimes even helping them to breathe by helping them swim to the surface if needed. Dolphins leap from the water for a variety of reasons: such as to decrease friction while swimming, and to dislodge parasites - but they can also jump while playing, or to express pleasure and/or happiness.  Check out this awesome video of a great white shark: [[jwplayerwidget||https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/SD5OjcUu-izxriqNH.mp4||SD5OjcUu]] But this isn't the first time we've written about these majestic creatures, and sadly many of them still languish in captivity. Tragically, <a style="color: #0000ff;" href="https://vt.co/animals/stories/baby-dolphin-dies-mid-performance-at-water-park-after-being-overworked/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a baby dolphin at a waterpark has allegedly even died of overwork</a>, as a result of being forced to perform for humans.

Mother dolphin 'jumps for joy' as fishermen release her baby

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