I found this somehow touching, the way the parent dolphins don’t overstretch their offspring.  Also curious about the fact that the calves always stayed on the right side of the mother and in seeking a photo, it struck me that this appears to be a calf … on the right side of the mother. 

The calves would keep close alongside their mothers’ flanks – the right-hand side always – and I noticed that when the mothers leapt they kept their acrobatics strictly within the capabilites of their offspring, rising no more than half the height of those unencumbered by children. 

Source: Gavin Maxwell, Ring of Bright Water (London: Penguin, 1974), p. 61

Photo credit: Jonas von Werne at unsplash