Over the next few days, Mekiten, who lives in Nuweiba, Egypt, watched the creature patiently. He decided to dive into the water for a closer look. To Mekiten’s surprise the dolphin didn’t flee. Instead she cautiously eyed him. Day after day the two swam, until one morning the dolphin, which Mekiten calls Olin, let the fisherman touch her. A lasting friendship began between the wild, free dolphin and the young man.

Tourists now visit Nuweiba for a chance to swim alongside the wild dolphin. They must be careful not to get too close, because Olin is not always as friendly with strangers as she is with Mekiten. The tourists pay a small fee to the people of Nuweiba, bringing much-needed money to the very poor village.

Most dolphins live in family groups called pods. Occasionally a dolphin is forced out of its pod by other members. “Those that are thrown out may not want to be alone,” says Oz Goffman, a marine biologist at the University of Haifa in Israel. He studies the friendship between Mekiten and Olin. Lone dolphins may “replace the companionship of the pod with that of human beings.” Such behavior may explain why Olin, completely free to swim away, has stayed near Nuweiba.

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