I get closer so I can understand better. I understand so I can protect better.
I’m Angela Ziltener, a marine biologist and dolphin researcher. For many years I have been diving with wild Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in the northern Red Sea, studying their behaviour up close. It is the dolphins who choose to come close. That is how I get to see what otherwise stays hidden: their personalities, their friendships, their culture.
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Photo: Angela Ziltener
Research
Experiencing dolphins from their perspective.
I study wild dolphins in their natural habitat, diving with them on scuba, at eye level. My long-term study offers unique insights into their lives, their behaviour and their social relationships.
Education
Connecting people and nature.
I want to share my fascination for dolphins and the marine world, pass on knowledge and build bridges between people and animals. Because those who understand and feel connected can also take on responsibility.
Conservation
Fascination should lead to responsibility.
I advocate for sustainable, respectful dolphin tourism: encounters that put the animals at the centre. I also campaign against dolphinariums and against the hunting of whales and dolphins.
Photo: Helen Sampson
Northern Red Sea
Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins
Long-term study · 470 identified individuals
My Story
From that first encounter to today
Even as a child, I found the sea and dolphins a source of boundless fascination. My first encounter was in Florida. It left such a mark on me that I was determined to learn English so I could spend more time there. All I could think about was the next visit and the chance to finally swim with dolphins. That first missed opportunity became the driving force behind my journey.
In February 2000, on my first try dive in the Maldives, I spent more than twenty minutes underwater with a group of common bottlenose dolphins. In that moment I knew: this was not just a new research goal or a change of career, it was my life’s calling. During my biology studies and through my work with primates in the rainforest, I learned that you only truly understand animals when you spend a great deal of time with them. The rainforest taught me to watch and to wait. That is exactly how I work with dolphins today: I dive with them, become part of their group and so gain a rare glimpse into their hidden lives.
In Egypt, when I saw the impact of dolphin tourism and drive hunts, I realised that research alone is not enough. I began raising awareness, setting up education programmes with local partners and developing protection measures together with the authorities. To secure this work for the long term, I founded the Dolphin Watch Alliance with friends. Today I work to help people not only admire dolphins, but understand them, and respect and protect their habitat.
Between Worlds
I live in several worlds and build bridges between them
I move between different worlds and connect what at first glance seems far apart: land and sea, people and animals, Switzerland and Egypt, science and empathy.
Photo: Philip Hamilton
Pioneer
I study wild dolphins where their behaviour takes shape: in their natural habitat, on scuba, right in the middle of the group. My long-term study allows an especially direct view of how they live.
Ambassador
I want to give the dolphins a voice and make their perspective visible: in science, in tourism, to the authorities and to the public.
Bridge-builder
Living in different cultures and worlds has taught me to stay open, to listen and to embrace new things. This experience shapes my work with people and animals.
I want to bring knowledge and empathy together, so that understanding, respect and responsibility can grow from them.
Values
Five values guide my work
Intuition
Trusting my inner voice is an essential part of my path. The dolphins reminded me how powerful instinct can be. The rainforest and the underwater world taught me to notice my intuition more consciously, to trust it and to follow it.
Empathy
Seeing dolphins, empathising with them, taking their perspective. They are social beings, and that is how I meet them.
Enthusiasm
Building bridges between people and animals. Sharing my fascination and empowering people to act responsibly.
Respect
Honouring the dignity and boundaries of the animals, disturbing them as little as possible, acting responsibly.
Curiosity
Fascinated by the realities of dolphin life and by the unknown. The dolphins still surprise me.
Research
Understanding behaviour where it happens
I study the behaviour of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins where most of it takes place: underwater, in their natural habitat. A long-term study of wild dolphins conducted on scuba is unique in the world.
Over the years, my team and I have identified 470 individual dolphins by their distinctive features and documented their behaviour.
Because the animals choose to come close, I can make observations that would be very hard to make under other conditions. Many of the dolphins have known me for years and seek me out of their own accord. The trust that has grown between human and animal over a long time opens up a special kind of access: it lets us observe their behaviour in their natural surroundings, directly and repeatedly.
This gives us insight into their social relationships, their communication and the dynamics of their groups: observations that would hardly be possible from further away.
Some of these observations have led to new scientific findings, for example on the dolphins’ targeted use of corals and sponges (iScience, 2022).
What particularly fascinates me is that every dolphin is a personality of its own, with individual traits and relationships that can last for many years. This interplay of scientific observation, closeness and mutual trust shapes my work.
Photo: Eric Demay
470identified dolphins
Advocacy & Conservation
Research alone is not enough
The more time I spend with the dolphins, the more strongly I feel responsible for protecting them too. What I observe underwater and learn over the years, I want to pass on: to the public, to the tourism industry and to the authorities.
It matters to me that encounters with wild dolphins remain possible without crowding the animals or changing their natural behaviour. That is why I campaign for respectful, sustainable dolphin tourism and for clear rules on how people behave around the animals.
I also campaign against dolphinariums, bycatch and the hunting of whales and dolphins. For me, research and protection are inseparable: only if we understand how dolphins live and what they need can we protect them effectively.
With the Dolphin Watch Alliance and our local partners in the Red Sea, I turn this knowledge into practical conservation work. Together we develop education programmes, support protected areas and work on guidelines for responsible conduct around dolphins and their habitat.
So for me, conservation means more than talking about animals. It means taking responsibility: for the animals I know, and for their future.
Key Messages
Three things I want to pass on
Scientific
Decades of observation underwater have shown me how much we can learn about dolphins when we give them time and space. When the animals know us and seek us out of their own accord, we can observe behaviour that would otherwise stay hidden.
Societal
Dolphins are individual personalities with complex social relationships, their own forms of communication and culturally shaped behaviour. For me, this also means meeting nature with respect: recognising its autonomy, honouring its boundaries and treating it responsibly.
Personal
Dolphins have been with me since I was a child. What began as fascination has become my life’s calling: understanding their world, passing on that knowledge and working to protect them. For me, it is about more than protecting a single species. It is about an attitude towards nature: to observe, understand, respect and preserve.
Media & Talks
Talks, media and encounters
My work with wild dolphins has brought me into international wildlife film productions, including BBC Blue Planet II and Disneynature Dolphin Reef. In September 2026, “Dolphins: My Close Encounters” by Silverback Films had its world premiere at the Zurich Film Festival: a film about my long-term research and the special relationship that has grown between the dolphins and me over many years. In October 2026, it had its MENA premiere at the El Gouna Film Festival.
In talks, interviews and features, I take people into the world of dolphins and share what we can learn from them: about personality, friendship, social relationships and culture, and also about how we can meet nature with respect.
My stories reach beyond dolphin research: from my years observing primates in the rainforest to my life underwater. These are experiences from different worlds, and they have shaped how I see animals, people and our relationship with nature.
Understanding dolphins
What long-term research underwater reveals about dolphins’ personalities, friendships, social relationships and culture.
Respectful tourism
How encounters with wild dolphins can be designed to respect the animals while inspiring people to protect them.
From the rainforest to the reef
What I learned observing primates in the rainforest, and how those experiences still shape my work with dolphins today.
Living between different worlds
What different environments and cultures teach us about openness, adaptability and new perspectives, and why it is worth looking at the world through different eyes, again and again.
Media, conferences, companies and schools interested in my work and experiences are warmly invited to get in touch.
«Kühne Träume und grosse Stars am Zurich Film Festival», SRF Kulturplatz, 30 September 2026 (in German). My part starts at minute 15:37. Watch on Play SRF
Marine Biologist · Dolphin Researcher
