Dolphin mom and calf play in waters off St Petersburg, Florida

Two dolphins in St Petersburg, Florida, were spotted playing together in the sea by the gulf coast city. The dolphin duo zoomed in and out of each other’s paths in video recorded on February 12. Michael McCarthy of the See Through Canoe company in St Petersburg recorded the footage. McCarthy told Storyful, “This young dolphin seemed to have an endless amount of energy as it spent about 20 minutes jumping and doing circles around its mom.” According to a 2014 study for Animal Behavior and Cognition, “play provides opportunities for dolphin calves to practice and perfect locomotor skills, including those involved in foraging and mating strategies and behaviors.” McCarthy also told Storyful, “After it did circles around mom, he came up to the clear catamaran and did a few circles around it and was darting back and forth in front of it for a short time.” Credit: Michael McCarthy via Storyful