I prefer the original shoot, in B&W.
Starting at the top, I see the man first, then my eye follows the staircase down, and so far it all makes a (mildly boring) kind of sense.
Then I get to the bottom, where we have the other guy and the dolphin, and suddenly I'm in a surrealist world were dolphins climb stairs.
It no longer makes "obvious" sense, and I think that's why I like it.
As usual, my comments probably say more about the viewer than about the photograph.