Manoliño and other dolphins who approach people to escape their loneliness
A study documents how these playful cetaceans allow themselves to be touched, an unusual relationship that can pose a danger to their welfare and to the people they interact with
Manoliño, Spain’s most famous lone dolphin, was first spotted in 2019. Over time, he became a regular in the Muros‑Noia and Ferrol estuaries of the Spanish northwestern region of Galicia; he practically became one of the locals. For five and a half years, he approached boats and bathers, allowed himself to be touched in shallow waters near the shore, and even interfered with the work of divers who collected razor clams. He died in September 2025 after being struck by a ship’s propellers.
A study has analyzed his history and behavior alongside that of 16 other solitary social common dolphins — those that interact with people — recorded in Spanish waters since 1970, most of them (14) in Galicia. Among them is Nina, a female who was filmed by the celebrated environmentalist Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente as she played with children who hugged her and clung to her dorsal fin. They are not the only cases: between 1950 and 2022, solitary dolphins were recorded in 47 localities across 26 countries.
Dolphins live in complex groups where they form relationships that can last a lifetime. But occasionally an individual breaks the rules: it lives alone, comes close to the shore and seeks contact with humans. The reason is unclear. The study suggests several hypotheses: from searching for new territory to health problems, injuries or rejection by its group. Such behavior poses risks both to the survival and welfare of marine mammals and to the safety of people, who approach them as if they were pets. Nothing could be further from the truth.
“Manoliño, for example, who was a real sweetheart, was also a three‑meter, 400‑kilogram animal that, if it gave you a smack, would turn your head upside down,” notes Alfredo López, one of the study’s authors and director of the Coordinadora para el Estudio de los Mamíferos Marinos (CEMMA).
The dolphin was seen helping to lift fishing traps and helping children from a sailing club onto boats, showing freshly caught fish or playing with a dog. But there were also incidents because he removed divers’ masks and even the hoses that supply air to the navalleiros, the divers who harvest razor clams by diving 10 to 12 meters down.
From playing to biting
In the water, the advantage is always theirs. “They are lightning fast, not only in terms of agility but because their minds seem several steps ahead of yours. It’s as if they could anticipate what you’re going to do the next second,” López explains. Another problem arises when they approach a crowded beach and swimmers surround them. In those circumstances, they can feel harassed, as happened when Manoliño bit a woman on the leg, leaving several tooth marks.
Dolphins’ approach to people, driven by their need for social interaction, is gradual and goes through different stages. The study identifies stages 0 through 5. According to the expert, it is essential to prevent individuals in the early phases who are currently solitary from progressing to later stages and becoming social.
In stage 1, the dolphin begins to reveal itself, then starts to follow boats and show an interest in human activity. Once the distrust is overcome, social and tactile behaviors emerge, such as rubbing against boats or bathers. They can even use their penis as a tool to explore, touch or move objects such as ropes, without it necessarily implying a sexual purpose. “It is an exploration they perform with their whole body out of curiosity, and we may interpret it as sexual when it is not,” López clarifies.
In more advanced phases they can also show dominant behavior, such as swimming at high speed, forcefully exhaling, ramming with the head or leaping very close to people, even over them. The fifth and final phase would be the cetacean’s return to its fellow dolphins, something that can occur at any stage and is difficult to verify.
Some individuals are not strictly solitary, as was the case with Enol, who was seen for three years, mainly in the northern region of Asturias, between 1993 and 1997, always accompanied by his mother Ercina. He was not as friendly as Manoliño or Nina, and displayed aggressive, dominant and sexual behaviors toward the people he interacted with, in addition to biting many of them.
Gaspar, another case mentioned in the study, arrived in Galicia’s Rías Baixas in 2007 and slowly progressed through the sociability stages. He first showed an interest in oars, paddles and small boats, which he sometimes capsized. His favorite activities included putting his head into the outlet of the turbines where the water came out or getting entangled in boats’ ropes. He also wound ropes around his tail and fins and on two occasions was seen interacting with a dog in the port of Corcubión.
But he could also act dominantly when bothered. On one occasion he grabbed an underwater welder and dragged him five meters, breaking a rib. On another, he broke the arm of a person who jumped into the water to swim with him. He was last seen in 2010.
Manoliño also went through all the stages described in the study. At first he approached boats and people without interacting with them. By stage 3, he approached fishermen working in the estuary and bathers but did not allow them to touch him. In stage 4, which he reached quickly, he sought contact with anyone in the water. That behavior changed radically when he was speared in the left flank in October 2022: he reverted to stage 1. It did not last long and he gradually resumed approaching people.
But there were already warnings from the authorities: he should not be fed or touched. If on a boat, it was recommended not to approach him or to accelerate suddenly.
The most important thing is to prevent solitary dolphins from becoming social, the study warns, and that is achieved through education and management by the authorities. “We know that town councils are reluctant to restrict access to beaches or ports if such a situation occurs, but these measures could be included in a management plan for temporary application,” the scientists conclude.
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