People and animals often enjoy loving relationships with each other. When people adopt domesticated(家养的) animals into their families as pets, animals give humans the blessings of companionship and fun in return. In the wild, animals sometimes carry out dramatic rescues of people in dangerous situations, miraculously(奇迹般地) sensing human needs and jumping in without fear to help.
In 2000, a 6-year-old boy named Elian Conzalez left Cuba on a boat bound for Florida in the United States, but the boat sank and everyone aboard drowned except for Elian and two adults. Elian and the other two survivors held onto an inner tube for 48 hours to try to stay afloat in the sea. After a while, however, Elian began to lose strength, slipping under the water and then grabbing the tube again as he fought to stay alive.
A small group of dolphins noticed Elian struggling and swam over to him to help. The dolphins formed a circle around the inner tube and took turns using their noses to lift Elian until fishermen working in the area discovered and rescued Elian and the two adults who floated nearby. The fishermen reported that, when they discovered Elian, he was repeating a prayer that his mother had taught him before drowning, asking guardian angels to protect him.
Miraculously, the dolphins knew that a child would need more help than adults, so they focused on Elian—and they figured out exactly what needed to be done and cooperated to carry out that plan successfully. They made it!
