Dolphins are not only the sweet-natured, lovable mammals we have all been led to believe. They also have a darker side—with some disturbing tendencies that may just surprise you! When you hear the word “dolphin,” you might picture a cute, silvery mammal frolicking happily in the ocean with his dolphin friends. Or perhaps you imagine a well-behaved trained dolphin at Sea World who is ever so happy to perform tricks for nothing other than a bit of a fish reward.

Since the 1964 TV show Flipper, the dolphin has been seen as a smart, sweet, and playful creature. I mean, at one point in our lives, didn’t we all want to grow up and be marine biologists so that our job could be to “play with the dolphins?”

While it’s true they are extremely intelligent (so much in fact that the U.S. Navy uses them), and they can be kind and playful at times, these beloved creatures have a darker side you might not be aware of. Here are ten reasons you may be happy you decided on another career.

Related: 10 People Killed By Animals You Wouldn’t Expect

10 They Can (and Do) Bite Humans

With 80 to 100 teeth, bottlenose dolphins have ample force to bite and tear their prey. But sometimes, they use those teeth to bite humans.

In 2012, an eight-year-old girl was bitten on the hand by a captive dolphin at Sea World in Orlando, Florida. The young girl was tossing fish into the dolphin’s mouth when she ran out and raised the paper plate up in the air. This is when the dolphin leaped out of the water and grabbed the little girl’s hand in its mouth. It then pulled her toward the water before letting go.

Wild dolphins also bite. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, dozens of bites have been reported, with people even being pulled underwater by wild dolphins.

One report includes a woman who started out by feeding a pair of wild dolphins. She then decided to jump in the water to swim with them. This proved to be a bad decision as one of the dolphins bit her leg and clamped down. The dolphin was not letting go, making the woman use force to rip her leg out of its mouth. Her actions caused injuries that landed her in the hospital for a week-long stay.^[1]

9 They Attack (and the Attacks Can Be Fatal)

Dolphins are not afraid to attack humans, and when they do, the attacks can sometimes prove fatal. An example is an attack from San Paulo, Brazil, in 1994.

Two men were on the beach and noticed a dolphin in the water swimming close to the shore. The men decided to walk into the water and approach the wild dolphin. At first, things seemed fine; the dolphin was floating on the surface and letting the men pet it. But then the dolphin turned and rammed both men. One of the men sustained internal injuries so damaging he sadly passed away. The most likely reason the dolphin attacked was that it was under stress. ^[2]

8 They Are Coordinated Assassins

Dolphins coordinate their attacks with one another, with each dolphin having a purpose in the hunt. One of the most popular methods dolphins use to trap fish is to corral them into a “bait ball.” The dolphins will act together and swim around the fish, closing in more and more so that the bait ball forms. As the fish swim in the small, tight area, the dolphins will take turns bombarding through the swarm, grabbing up prey as they go along.

If the dolphins live in shallower waters, the dolphins will work as a team and push the fish toward the shore. Once the fish are in place, the dolphins will thrust themselves on the shore. The force of their bodies forces the water (and the fish) to get pushed up with them. The dolphins simply open their mouths, and the fish slide right in.^[3]

7 They Hunt in Packs

While dolphin groups, or “pods” as they are called, are typically comprised of 10–15 dolphins, there may be more to the group when they hunt…a lot more. Hunting packs have been recorded to have 1,000 or more members. These are called “super pods” and would put fear into any prey they decide to pursue! ^[4]

6 They Beat Up Their Food

Remember your mom telling you not to play with your food? Yeah, dolphins didn’t get that message. And when they play with their food, things get downright violent.

One of the ways dolphins “play” with their food is called fish-kicking or fish-whacking. The name really says it all. In this method, the dolphins use their tail flippers much like a baseball bat to smack the fish. This sends the fish flying high into the air, leaving them stunned when they fall back down into the water. A stunned fish makes an easy meal. The dolphin simply swims over and swallows him whole.

Another meal they enjoy “playing” with is the octopus. Because the tendrils of an octopus can still be active even after death, the dolphins must make sure all the tendrils are inactive before consuming. They do this in a few violent ways.

The first way is to hold the octopus in its mouth, rise to the surface, and then slam the octopus down onto the water. They do this with such force that it breaks the octopus’s body apart. If that doesn’t work, with the octopus in its mouth, the dolphin will thrash its head side-to-side on top of the water, which also rips the octopus’s body apart. They will also toss the octopus across the water, thus breaking them into pieces.^[5]

5 They Murder Other Animals for Fun

Dolphins, unlike most other animals, seem to murder for reasons unrelated to food. Most of their aggression is directed to porpoises, although there is no known reason as porpoises are not a food source or rival dolphins in any way.

Emerging evidence shows that dolphins are “wielding their beaks as clubs and slashing away with rows of sharp teeth. They have been found to bludgeon porpoises to death by the hundreds.” With no known reason for the deaths, it might seem the dolphins might just enjoy the process, and that is dark!^[6]

4 They Kill Each Other’s Babies

In 2013, scientists from Savannah State University made history by being the first to record a wild bottlenose dolphin giving birth. Sadly, immediately after the birth, they also recorded two male dolphins attacking the newborn calf. Luckily this calf survived the half-hour attack due to its mom fighting so hard to defend it.

But other calves have not been so lucky. There have been reported cases of bottlenose dolphin calves being found that died from blunt force trauma and bite marks that match those of adult bottlenose dolphins.^[7]

3 Males Physically Assault Females During Mating

When male dolphins want to mate, things get ugly. And since the males work together and gang up, the females don’t stand much of a chance of warding off these attacks.

It starts when two or three (or more) males work as a team to chase one female and isolate her from the rest of the pod. In the process, the males will show aggression toward her by hitting her with their tails, charging, biting, or even slamming their bodies into hers.

The male dolphin will then make a sound calling the female over to him. If she ignores the call, the males will again threaten or attack her. These sessions can last for hours or even days. This whole mating ritual shows dolphins are not the sweet-mannered mammals we thought they were!^[8]

2 Dolphins Share the Way They Kill

Dolphins are great hunters, whether they are hunting in coordinated attacks or solo. They have an arsenal of varied techniques to choose from for different prey. What makes them freaky is that they can constantly add new methods to their arsenal. How? By learning from one another.

One technique that has been passed on from one to another is referred to as “shelling.” This process consists of chasing a small fish into a shell. The dolphin will then insert their beak into the shell and bring the whole thing out of the water. They will shake the shell, and as the water drains out, the fish falls right into their mouth.

With being able to learn from one another, dolphins are always able to evolve and hone their hunting skills, making them better predators.^[9]

1 They Can Be Jerks Just for Fun

When you are in the ocean and see dolphins jumping in the waves, you may want to go over and get a closer look. Think again.

On April 27, 2018, in Western Australia, Andrew Hill was on a paddleboard when a pod of dolphins appeared behind him in the surf. Hill tells the news, “Eight or nine of them decided to catch that wave and surf straight at me, which has happened lots of times in the past to me, and generally they just take off to one side left or right.”

Hill was a little winded but was able to get back on his board and did not sustain any injuries. He added, “It’s good to see dolphins. Surfers like seeing dolphins, but obviously, I’d prefer them to stay a little bit further away than they did yesterday.”^[10]

+ It’s Not All Dark and Dangerous

And it’s not just humans they like to have fun with. Sometimes, a dolphin will do something that is harmful to itself—but all in the name of a bit of fun. Dolphins like to find pufferfish, making a game out of “playing catch” and getting a little high from the toxins as well.^[11]

[Editors Note: Over the years has published numerous lists pointing out the positive aspects of the so-called “dark ages”. At the time this was a somewhat contrarian view. Not being one to shy away from contradiction and controversy, here we present you with the opposing opinion from a brand-new writer!]

Nowadays, it is all the rage among modern historians to reject the traditional view that the fall of Rome ushered in a “dark age.” This new orthodoxy was popularized by the historian Peter Brown, following publication of his book The World of Late Antiquity in 1971.^[1] Because of his pioneering work in the field of late antiquity, the traditional view, which saw the period following the collapse of Rome until the coronation of Charlemagne in 800 AD as one of catastrophic decline, was replaced with a positive assessment of the intervening centuries as a period of religious and cultural innovation. The problem with this view, as historian and archaeologist Bryan Ward-Perkins explains in his masterful The Fall of Rome (2005), is that it places historians in the unusual position of being at odds with the archaeological evidence.

Top 10 Reasons The Dark Ages Were Not Dark

10 Violence and Bloodshed

The fall of the Western Roman Empire was primarily caused by invading Germanic barbarians and their violent seizure of power. This happened during the fifth century. The barbarians invaded the empire, not out of bitterness toward Rome, but because they envied her abundant material wealth. These invasions would lead to the dismemberment of the empire and shrinkage of the tax base, a devastating blow to the power and prestige of Rome. Without an adequate tax base, it became difficult for Rome to maintain professional armies.

Historian Peter Brown would have you believe these invasions were really a peaceful accommodation between Romans and barbarians. This would have come as a surprise to the people directly affected by the chaos. The reality is the invasions were largely unpleasant and disruptive for those who lived through them. When Rome was besieged by the Goths in 410, the Romans turned to cannibalism to avoid starvation. The violence and devastation of barbarian conquest affected all areas of the empire, some more than others. In Gaul, the violence lasted for almost a century, only ending with the replacement of the Imperial government with Burgundian and Frankish kingdoms by the sixth century.^[2]

9 Most of the Empire was Affected

The Dark Ages were not an isolated phenomenon; they affected most areas of the Roman Empire. However, not everywhere experienced decline at the same time or witnessed similar levels of decline. North Africa, North and Central Italy and Britain were in decline centuries before the Aegean World. In the case of Britain, the decline was particularly drastic. The Romano-Celtic civilization that had once flourished on the island virtually disappeared, returning its inhabitants to a prehistoric level of existence. By the seventh century, all territories formerly under Imperial administration, with the exception of Constantinople and the Levant (which continued to flourish under Arab Muslim rule), had experienced calamitous decline.^[3]

8 The Decline of Economic Complexity

The disappearance of considerable economic complexity, which resulted in the end of prosperity across the empire, is powerful evidence of widespread decline. This was the sophistication of Roman manufacture and distribution of high quality goods, which had benefited most of the empire’s inhabitants. During the fifth century, political infighting among Romans and barbarian invasion had virtually destroyed regional economies, putting an end to complexity.

The disappearance of complexity was by no means uniform; there is some inter-regional variation. By 400 AD, this economic complexity had begun to recede in the West; by 600, the eastern Mediterranean was affected, with the exception of the Levant. Britain had experienced the most drastic decline in terms of economic complexity, sinking below the level of the pre-Roman Iron Age. Europe was not to see the same level of material sophistication that had existed in Roman times until sometime between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries, the period otherwise known as the Late Middle Ages.^[4]

7 The Decline of Pottery

The most abundant evidence of Roman decline comes from study of pottery. There are three features of this pottery that were not to return again to the West until centuries later: these are its excellent quality and standardization, its production in massive quantities and its widespread geographical diffusion. High quality Roman pottery was not only found among the rich, but also among the poor.

By the post-Roman period, these three features were no longer in evidence. All sophistication in the production and trading of pottery receded, virtually disappearing in Britain and parts of Spain. The overall quality of Roman pottery had declined, becoming more basic and impractical; the amount of pottery in circulation had decreased substantially and its geographical distribution from the great manufacturing centres, such as those of Roman North Africa, became increasingly restricted.^[5]

6 The Decline of Monumental Building

Additional evidence of Roman decline comes from the study of housing. During Roman times, even the humblest dwellings were made of mortared stone and brick and had tiled roofing. In both urban and rural areas, houses with marble and mosaic flooring, underfloor heating and piped water were ubiquitous. In the post-Roman Mediterranean region, use of stone and brick to build dwellings had declined significantly. Most domestic housing was largely made of perishable materials: timber walls, dirt floors and thatched roofing.

Bryan Ward-Perkins tells us all new buildings constructed during the fifth and sixth centuries in Britain were made of perishable materials. The church and monasteries of Jarrow and Monkwearmouth, built towards the end of the seventh century, are among the first stone structures in England since the Roman period. To build these structures, the Northumbrian abbot Benedict Biscop had to import artisans from Gaul because there was no one in Britain trained in masonry and glazing. The Venerable Bede (673-735) writes:

“After the interval of a year, Benedict crossed the sea into Gaul, and no sooner asked than he obtained and carried back with him some masons to build him a church in the Roman style, which he had always admired. … When the work was drawing to completion, he sent messengers to Gaul to fetch makers of glass, (more properly artificers,) who were at this time unknown in Britain, that they might glaze the windows of his church, with the cloisters and dining-rooms. This was done, and they came, and not only finished the work required, but taught the English nation their handicraft … All other things necessary for the service of the church and the altar, the sacred vessels, and the vestments, because they could not be procured in England, he took especial care to buy and bring home from foreign parts”.

Bryan Ward-Perkins tells us that in post-Roman Italy, only kings and bishops continued to enjoy a Roman-level standard of living in terms of housing.^[6]

Top 10 Reasons We Should Revive the Dark Ages

5 The Decline of Metalworking

Recent evidence from ice caps in Greenland reveals the presence of large-scale manufacturing operations in Roman times. By reconstructing the history of atmospheric pollution from ice cores, researchers have determined that lead, copper and silver smelting was actually quite widespread during antiquity. Research shows this metalworking declined significantly, returning to prehistoric levels in the post-Roman period. It was not to reach Roman levels again until the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, which is around the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.^[7]

4 The Decline of Coinage as a Medium of Exchange

During Roman times, coinage in gold, silver and copper was abundant. Its use as a medium of exchange was a common feature of daily life. Not only did the rich have access to coinage, the poor did so as well. By post-Roman times, the use of coinage had almost totally disappeared in Britain. Excavation of archaeological sites without Roman phases of occupation and settlement rarely uncover evidence of coin usage.

In the western Mediterranean, the decline of coinage was less dramatic. From the fifth to seventh centuries, copper coins were rarely issued and circulated. The main exception to this pattern of decline was the city of Rome itself, where large numbers of copper coins were still in circulation. In the eastern Mediterranean, with the exception of Constantinople and the Levant, the use of coinage had become scarce by the seventh century.^[8]

3 The Decline of Literacy

Although it is impossible to assess the prevalence of literacy among ancient Romans, we can say with confidence that reading and writing were widespread. Inscriptions such as dedications and funerary epitaphs and casual writing, such as graffiti, were ubiquitous in urban areas and not unknown in rural. Some of these inscriptions were humorously obscene. In a Pompeian lupanar or brothel, one happy customer scribbled on a wall:

“Here Phoebus the perfume-seller had a really good f———”.

Certain sectors of Roman society were heavily dependent on the written word. Reading and writing were common among members of the imperial bureaucracy and army. Things had to be labelled and counted, collected and distributed, making the ability to read and write virtually indispensable. Like Roman officials, aristocrats were also expected to be literate. Basic functional literacy was not enough; the aristocrat needed to be well-versed in Greek and Latin language and literature. Among the Roman upper classes, we can be certain illiteracy was rare.

This state of affairs changed in the post-Roman period. In Anglo-Saxon Britain, literacy vanished completely. In the western Mediterranean, the numerous stamps, seals and inscriptions that had once characterized Roman commercial and military life almost disappeared. Casual writing, such as Phoebus’ graffiti (mentioned above), became rare. Because the world had become simpler, reading and writing were no longer needed in daily life.

In contrast to the high literacy of the Roman aristocracy, it was not uncommon for rulers in the barbarian West to be illiterate. Even a great ruler like Charlemagne struggled to master the Latin alphabet. The clergy was the only segment of early medieval society with anything approaching a high degree of literacy.^[9]

2 The Almost Total Loss of Ancient Learning

By 500 AD, copies of most Latin authors were still easily obtainable in Rome and other areas of the West, despite the ravages of war and the neglect and hostility of Christian intellectuals. However, by the post-Roman period, the transmission of pagan Latin manuscripts had virtually ceased. In their 1983 book Texts and Transmission: A Survey of the Latin Classics, Reynolds and Marshall observe:

“The copying of classical texts tapered off to such an extent during the Dark Ages that the continuity of pagan culture came close to being severed”.

For the Greek East, most pagan literature was lost because of both economic factors and Christian hostility. In his 1991 book Kallimachos: The Alexandrian Library and the Origins of Bibliography, Classicist Rudolf Blum estimates that one percent of all classical Greek literature has come down to us.

The loss of ancient literature was both substantial and virtually unprecedented in the history of antiquity. Scholars estimate that between 1 to 10% of all ancient literature survived the Dark Ages.^[10]

1 The Vanishing Population of Post-Roman Europe

Field surveys conducted north of the city of Rome indicate a sharp decrease in the number of rural settlements in the post-Roman period. This is not necessarily definitive evidence of widespread depopulation, as most buildings were made of perishable materials in post-Roman times.

There is, however, some evidence of declining agricultural output, of the kind needed to support a large urban population. Cows increased in size from the Iron Age to the Roman period, then decreased in size during the early medieval period to prehistoric levels, suggesting large-scale contraction of the food supply. Although tentative, the preponderance of the evidence points to declining agricultural productivity and with it, a corresponding decrease in population size across post-Roman Europe.^[11]

Top 10 Signs We Are Entering A New Dark Age