Unlike humans, dolphins with rashes cannot see a dermatologist.
They have to help themselves - and that's exactly what the animals do, as an international team of researchers has determined.
Gertrud Morlock from the life sciences department at Gießen University is part of this team.
According to the scientists, Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins solve their skin problems by rubbing against corals and sponges.
These invertebrates contain biologically active compounds and have beneficial biofunctional properties, it said.
The dolphins took advantage of this.
A wildlife biologist from Zurich first observed dolphins rubbing against corals in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt 13 years ago.
Repeatedly rubbing corals causes the tiny polyps that make up the coral community to shed mucus.
This substance in turn contains 17 biologically active substances.