Flipper always seemed happy. And dolphins in the ocean will come up to boats and seem to like people. When Ocean World was open in Ft. Lauderdale, I took my kids and after one of the dolphin shows, we stayed and played with the dolphins, throwing the rings. They would get them and bring them back to us, even though we didn’t have any fish to give them. I love dolphins and suppose it is selfishness on my part to want to be able to see them up close.
Recently I was in Charleston, SC and we went on a tour boat in the bay and saw several. They didn’t come too near the boat but close enough for us to see them. They seem to enjoy entertaining people.
>>They seem to enjoy entertaining people.<<
When they are free, yeah. They have even been known to save humans in a number of conditions.
What you experienced in the water park was learned behavior. If they don’t repeat a desired behavior (retrieving rings) they know they will not eat at all. Repeating the behavior just means they MIGHT eat.