Dolphins catch their food by creating mesmerizing 'mud nets'
We might be giving primates all the credit when it comes to brainpower in the animal kingdom, but team Cetacea could very well be giving us some tight competition.
It’s been said before that our standards for “intelligence” are, all things considered, a bit biased. Not every animal can read and write, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean they can’t do things that are just as cognitively impressive.
Plus, opposable thumbs and vocal cords are what let us write and talk in the first place, so the contest is kind of rigged, isn’t it?
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Here’s another compelling showcase of cetacean brainpower.
In case you don’t already know, dolphins are whales. They’re in their own nifty little family known as the Delphinidae. Everything from the Bottlenose dolphin, to Orcas and River Dolphins, are part of this family. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed how Orcas just look like chunky dolphins – because they are!
And if tool use is what you’re really looking for, then look no further. This pod of dolphins is almost more clever than you and me.
These Bottlenose dolphins are looking to feed on fish, and they’ve got a spectacular method for that. One of them circles and pats the seabed with her tail, and in the trail she leaves are little clouds of mud. She isn’t just doing this to make a mess, though.
Her fellow pod members follow from a distance. There’s some coordination going on, so they hang back and let her do her thing.
The shoal of fish doesn’t even know what’s coming.
What might look like random clouds of mud arranged in a circle is actually a fishing net. It’s functional, of course. The fish are herded towards the inside of the circle. With less and less room to swim around, they panic and look for any opening they can escape from.
Mud everywhere, the only way is up. So they leap out of the water where the dolphins await. Panicking and jumping, the fish unknowingly launch themselves into the patient mouths of the dolphins from the outside.
Lunch is served, ladies and gentlemen.
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All of it happens in a couple of minutes. I don’t think there’s any doubt anymore about how smart dolphins are. It’s kind of humbling to watch, isn’t it?
What’s more, this is far from the most impressive thing dolphins can do.
We all need some playthings to keep us busy. Video games, LEGO, model kits, or dolls for some. Dolphins aren’t too different. Sure, they don’t have fingers to manipulate toys with, but that’s not stopping them. Instead, they’ve learned the trick of making bubble rings with their mouths.
Bottlenose dolphins are often observed engaging in complex play behaviours such as blowing bubble rings. #MindfulEscapes pic.twitter.com/WaxScPT3zE
— BBC Earth (@BBCEarth) September 9, 2020
Even crazier, they can play with these rings and toss them around like toys. There’s, in fact, research that shows that they actually are doing this for fun!
They might not speak our language or have our culture, but their brainpower isn’t anything to undersell at all.
We’ve had a lesson taught to us here, clearly. People are far from the center of the world, and there’s also quite a lot more to intelligence and brainpower than we’ve led ourselves to believe.
Imagine what else those other noggins in the animal kingdom can do!
There’s nothing not cool about dolphins making fish nets with mud and blowing toy bubbles. You can watch the whole scene from start to finish below.
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Watch the captivating phenomenon in the video below.
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Source: [BBC Earth, Aquatic Mammals paper by Daniela Pace]