Playful dolphin balances beer bottle on beak at Rainbow Beach, Qld

Incredible footage of a wild dolphin balancing a beer bottle on its beak at an Australian beach has gone viral.

A video of a wild dolphin balancing a beer bottle on its beak while swimming towards Queensland beachgoers has gone viral.

Dearne Acland, a real estate agent from the South Burnett region, said she just arrived at Rainbow Beach on the Sunshine Coast on Friday when she spotted the dolphin.

“The dolphin had followed a boat in to the boat ramp,” she told news.com.au, explaining it came right up to her and her two daughters, who were standing in the water.

She explained the dolphin swam away and disappeared for about 30 seconds, “then appeared with something”.

“I noticed it was a beer fairly quickly and just could not believe it,” Ms Acland said.

“She dropped it right near where I was standing and actually picked it up again to bring it closer.”

In the footage of the moment, surprised beachgoers can be heard behind the camera sharing their disbelief and delight.

“Oh my gosh. It’s full,” one exclaimed, referring to the unopened bottle.

“Oh you’re beautiful,” the playful creature was told as it continued to swim up to the people after dropping the bottle.

Ms Acland shared the video on TikTok, garnering more than half a million views. The footage attracted both amazement and jokes.

“That’s a Bottlenose Dolphin,” one comment said, with thousands of likes.

“Dolphins are known for being really sketchy. Drink might be spiked,” another top comment read.

“Amazing that you caught it on video! I imagine it’s a story a lot of people wouldn’t believe til they see the video evidence,” a third person wrote.

“How cool is this?? If it wasn’t recorded people wouldn’t believe you,” agreed someone else.

The dolphin at Rainbow Beach balanced the beer bottle on its beak. Picture: Dearne Acland/Storyful

It dropped it before reaching the shore but continued swimming up to the people. Picture: Dearne Acland/Storyful

Some viewers said they thought the animal was a crocodile in the water at first, while others saw a sad message in the unusual moment.

“He’s like ‘get your human rubbish out,’” one person wrote.

“He’s telling you something about litter in the ocean maybe,” another agreed.

“That’s so cool, it’s like he was trying to give us the rubbish back,” observed a fourth.

“He said stop polluting my home,” interpreted another.

Rainbow Beach is a coastal town nestled between K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) and Cooloola National Park on the Sunshine Coast.