Dolphins Carry Sponges To Help Forage For Food
Dolphins have a reputation for being highly intelligent and social. But it turns out that the adorable marine mammals are also skilled tool users, at least in the case of the Shark Bay bottlenose dolphins. In the 1980s, a group of researchers in Shark Bay, Australia, noticed some of the dolphins carrying sea sponges around in their beaks. Upon closer observation, they realized this odd behavior serves a dual purpose. One is a clever tool to help dolphins stir up sand and flush out small fish to eat. The other role of so-called “sponging” is to protect the dolphins’ sensitive beaks while swimming and foraging. With the sponge over its beak, the dolphin is protected from sharp rocks, shell fragments, sea urchins, and other objects that might hurt them. Even more amazing, is that the ability seems to be a learned behavior that is passed down from mother to daughter. However, for reasons that remain a mystery, male dolphins do not seem to learn to sponge as readily as their female siblings, and the habit is rarely observed in males.