The Bullied Dolphin Won't Budge as Angry Comrades Wait for Him

A lone dolphin swimming close to shore acts as if he's hiding out in Bolsa Chica wetlands in Southern California. It looks as if the mammal that's spent the last five days swimming in a nature preserve is a victim of bullies.

Peter Wallerstein, director of Marine Animal Rescue, believes that the lone swimmer is prevented from leaving the Huntington Beach nature preserve by others from his pod. If this is the case, it's a rare occurrence as they are social creatures that travel in numbers.

Wallerstein said in a recent interview about their bullied visitor, "He was scared, he was intimidated, he was bullied." These mammals have a dark side as they're not always the gentle loving animals seen in movies, according to MSNBC.

When Wallerstein joined two other Fish and Game officers on paddle boards to try to shoo the seven-foot dolphin back out to the open water, two other dolphins appeared and wouldn't let the lone one pass.

The scared dolphin dove under the paddle boards and swam back to the reserve where it apparently felt safe. For now the dolphin is staying put and he's being fed on fish. He will be left to his own devices for deciding when he wants to return back to the ocean.

The marine experts are using a "hands-off" approach with the dolphin for now, but they're watching it around the clock. As crowds gather to see the bullied dolphin, people are starting to come up with names for the lone bullied swimmer.

Fred and Bolsa Chica Bob are names for the visitor that are the main contenders so far, although the sex of the lone swimmer is not known.

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