Dolphins which are on a leash will try to chase their "toy" and will not try to reach air blocks while suffocating, even if the air blocks are within the range of the leash.
Or in other words, the desire to play with a toy seems stronger than the desire to breathe, which seems rather strange for dolphins.
This happens even to dolphins which have access to the surface, not just access to nearby air blocks.
Comments 4


Hi, Jake! Haha, yeah, I had no idea what the "Environment" field meant. But this issue of dolphin suffocation on a leash, may be partly responsible for numerous "dolphin despawning" bug reports.

Likely related to MC-221510

Can confirm in 24w14a.
Hello! I can confirm this issue.
I also thought I would mention that I believe you misunderstood what is meant by the "Environment" field. It is not required, but it is referring to the version of Java you are using as well as your computer specs, etc, not your ingame environment. If pertinent, ingame environment can be included in the description.
Thank you! 🙂
P.S.: While testing this bug, I happened to discover MC-218161.