Australian dolphin brings items to locals as tourists stay away during COVID-19

It's not just humans who are craving interaction with each other during the COVID-19 period, dolphins have been seeking out some attention too.

A humpback dolphin in Australia named Mystique has been bringing sea sponges, barnacle-encrusted bottles and pieces of coral up to locals on a Queensland beach.

Liz Slooten from the NZ Whale and Dolphin Trust says his behaviour isn't often seen.

"Dolphins play with various things, bits of seaweed, sticks, whatever they find in their environment, but it's very rare for a dolphin to be bringing those things to a person," she says.

Mystique lives near Tin Can Bay near the Sunshine Coast, a popular spot for tourists to feed the local dolphins. But COVID-19 has kept the hundreds of daily visitors away and Mystique and his friends seem to be missing all the fuss - or at the very least, all the free food.

"They reckon it's got a stash of these things somewhere, bringing them in one at a time, getting a fish, bringing in another, getting a fish," Slooten says.

"It's probably getting a little stir crazy with very few visitors and it's found this way to amuse itself."

Who knew dolphins would be so desperate to pop their bubbles too.