Dolphins not only teach their children how to hunt, they also teach each other new tricks to get food. Biologists write this in the journal Current Biology. The trick in question is to use a shell as a safety net for fish, and then shake out the prey.
In general, toothed whales (such as dolphins) learn from their mothers. However, research on bottlenose dolphins in Australia’s Shark Bay shows that the dolphins can also teach each other things outside of the mother-child bond.
Several bottlenose dolphins were seen catching food in a shell and then fishing it out. They chased a fish and chased it into a large shell.
The dolphins then put their snouts into the opening of the shell and took the object to the surface of the water. There they shake the shell back and forth until their prey fell out, directly into their mouths.
Passing on knowledge mutually helps with survival
Biologists analyzed which dolphins in a population used the trick with the conch and kept this in addition to the social networks within the bottlenose dolphin populations. From this they could conclude that the trick was not mainly passed on from generation to generation, but by a generation among themselves.
When animal species can transfer knowledge among themselves, rather than just from mother to child, for example, they can better adapt to their environment, the authors state in this study. This increases their chances of survival.
Few cases are known of the use of tools in dolphins
The researchers believe that it is not only interesting how the dolphins learn from each other. The hunting trick in question is also unique because it is one of the few examples of dolphins using tools to catch food.
Another example of dolphin use of tools is catching prey with sponge animals.
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