Bottlenose dolphin

The unborn bottlenose dolphin is a small, lifeless creature that Quint has preserved in a green plastic garbage can filled with water, floating vertically with its head swaying gently. It is no more than two feet long. A huge shark hook protrudes from a puncture under its jaw, and the barbed hook curls forward from a hole in its belly. Quint has been saving this bait specifically for a fish as large as the great white shark they are hunting, considering it too valuable to waste on anything smaller.

Origin and Acquisition

Quint obtained the unborn dolphin by killing its mother. When Matt Hooper, horrified, asks how he got it, Quint replies with grim sarcasm: "She jumped into the boat and swallowed a bunch of sleeping pills." He then states plainly, "You can't rightly buy them, you know." Hooper, an ichthyologist, is outraged and points out that bottlenose dolphins are a protected species. Quint dismisses the law, arguing that it was not meant to stop a fisherman like him from taking one or two for bait, but rather to prevent large-scale commercial fishing or sport killing. He insists that his need to make a living justifies the act.

The Conflict Over Its Use

The unborn dolphin becomes the center of a bitter argument between Quint and Hooper. Hooper argues that dolphins are in danger of extinction and that Quint's actions accelerate the process. Quint retorts by pointing to the far greater destruction caused by tuna boats and Japanese longliners, who snare dolphins in their nets. He concludes, "They got mouths to feed. Well, so do I. Mine." When Hooper calls the practice "stupid," Quint takes it as a personal insult, and the confrontation nearly escalates into violence. Martin Brody intervenes, siding with Quint on the pragmatic grounds that using one dolphin to save human lives is a justifiable trade-off.

Deployment and Outcome

When the great white shark appears but refuses to come close enough for a harpoon shot, Quint reluctantly decides to use the unborn dolphin. He slashes shallow cuts in its belly to release blood and fluids into the water, then tosses it overboard, holding it on a short rope just six feet from the boat. The shark, however, does not take the bait directly. Instead, it attacks the boat from the opposite side, knocking Quint off the transom and seizing the dolphin. The shark bends the steel hook nearly straight and escapes with the bait, demonstrating both its immense strength and its uncanny, almost intelligent, behavior. The unborn dolphin thus serves its purpose as an irresistible lure, but the shark's cunning response underscores the failure of Quint's conventional methods and foreshadows the escalating, personal nature of the hunt.