Forget Flipper, dolphins have a real dark side. Cunning traps, substance abuse and unprovoked attacks are all part of their repertoire - let's look at how...
- Dolphins Use Tools and Traps
- Orcas Hunt Sharks and Eat Their Livers
- Dolphins Have Drug Habits
- Bottlenose Dolphins Kill for Fun
- Orcas Attack Boats (but Will Share Food With Us!)
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| Some dolphins use tools to help them catch fish... (Ajale) |
Dolphins Use Tools and Traps
Dolphins are pretty intelligent and (despite not having hands) some have learned to use "tools" to make their lives easier.
The same population of dolphins have been seen using giant sea shells as fish traps. Researchers observed the dolphins chasing fish into the shells - something that should be a safe haven. The dolphins unsportingly picked up the shells and carried them to the surface... before upending them into their open beaks. The technique takes more effort and planning than simply lunging for a fish, but it almost guarantees a successful catch.
Orcas do sometimes seek out more dangerous prey - including great white sharks. A pair of orcas lurking off the coast of South Africa have been linked to great white shark corpses washing up on the shore... with other great whites seeming to abandon the area!
Members of the pod held the poor puffer in their jaws for a time, then seemed to enter a state similar to that of an intoxicated human - it certainly looks like the dolphins were getting a narcotic effect from mild doses of the poison!
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When hunting for fish, these marine mammals sometimes drag their beaks in the sandy seafloor to disturb prey. While it can flush a meal out, doing this scrapes the dolphin's skin (imagine raking your nose across sandpaper - doesn't sound fun, does it?)
Some bottlenose dolphins from Shark Bay in Australia have come up with a solution - they collect sea sponges and hold them in their beaks like a false nose. The grasped sponge can be used to kick up sand without hurting the dolphin - and the size of the sponge means each sweep covers a larger area!
The same population of dolphins have been seen using giant sea shells as fish traps. Researchers observed the dolphins chasing fish into the shells - something that should be a safe haven. The dolphins unsportingly picked up the shells and carried them to the surface... before upending them into their open beaks. The technique takes more effort and planning than simply lunging for a fish, but it almost guarantees a successful catch.
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| Orcas have been seen eating the livers of great whites! (Fgyongyver) |
Orcas Hunt Sharks and Eat Their Livers
Did you know that orcas (killer whales) are actually the largest type of dolphin?
These mighty mammals are apex predators that reach a size similar to that of a small bus and can weigh six tons. They often hunt in pods, meaning that they outnumber their victims as well as physically outclassing them. Orcas have even been observed swimming in formation to create waves... which can wash seals or penguins from the safety of floating ice into the cetacean-infested water.
Orcas do sometimes seek out more dangerous prey - including great white sharks. A pair of orcas lurking off the coast of South Africa have been linked to great white shark corpses washing up on the shore... with other great whites seeming to abandon the area!
Another incident in the USA involved an orca ramming a great white to stun it, flipping it over to induce tonic immobility (being turned upside down seems to effectively paralyze sharks) and dragging it around the surface for around 15 minutes (possibly asphyxiating it) before starting to eat.
The orcas seem to favor great white livers (rich with with fats and oils) and sometimes hearts. Shark corpses found after orca attacks are frequently missing these organs!
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| Puff the puffer and pass it on... (Mylene2401) |
Dolphins Have Drug Habits
Have you heard of tetrodotoxin? It's a nasty poison produced by many pufferfish that can paralyze (or kill) a victim. In mild doses, it can produce tingling sensations, dizziness and mild hallucinations... which dolphins seem to enjoy.
The BBC documentary "A Spy in the Pod" recorded the marine mammals gently capturing a pufferfish and passing it between each other for almost half an hour - which was odd, as captured fish are normally dismembered in seconds.
Members of the pod held the poor puffer in their jaws for a time, then seemed to enter a state similar to that of an intoxicated human - it certainly looks like the dolphins were getting a narcotic effect from mild doses of the poison!
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| Bottlenose dolphins kill porpoises... and we don't know why (xiSerge) |
Bottlenose Dolphins Kill for Fun
Dolphins may still seem like happy-go-lucky funsters, but scientists believe that their toothy grins conceal murderous tendencies.
Researchers were watching dolphins feasting on fish in Scotland's Moray Firth... when they realized that one of the things being rammed and flipped out of the water was a porpoise. The same things was seen in Cornwall, with a porpoise being hurled by a much larger bottlenose.
Researchers were watching dolphins feasting on fish in Scotland's Moray Firth... when they realized that one of the things being rammed and flipped out of the water was a porpoise. The same things was seen in Cornwall, with a porpoise being hurled by a much larger bottlenose.
Porpoises are diminutive cetaceans similar to dolphins - and for reasons unknown, dolphins seem to enjoy murdering them. It's not uncommon for porpoise carcasses to wash up on shore, marked by dolphin teeth and suffering stoved-in ribs.
What makes this particularly sinister is that the dolphins don't eat porpoises - which leaves scientists wondering whether the attacks are an aggressive response to food competition, some kind of sexual aggression, an territorial response... or simply a vicious game on the part of these intelligent marine mammals.
This "play" isn't unique to bottlenoses either - orcas have been observed using porpoises as toys (even to the point of killing them.) Even weirder, killer whales could easily gulp down a porpoise but don't seem to view them as prey!
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| Some orcas attack boats - though not the crew (wolfganglucht) |
Orcas Attack Boats (but Will Share Food With Us!)
Despite their size and power, wild orcas don't prey on humans (with the odd exception near seals) though as the only known predator of great white sharks, they would certainly be able to take a swimmer if they wanted. That doesn't mean killer whales are safe to be around, since in 2020 some of them developed a habit of attacking boats
Researchers don't know what prompted the attacks. It wasn't predation, as the orcas made no attempt to eat crew that ended up in the water. One theory is that an orca who survived being struck by a boat decided that they were a threat to be destroyed, with other orcas learning to do the same.
Alternatively, attacking the boats could simply be a "fad" amongst the cetaceans - it wouldn't be the first time these creatures have developed an odd trend. In 1987 a female orca in the Pacific took to wearing a dead salmon like a hat. This fashion statement spread throughout her pod and two others, but was abandoned after around six weeks.
Orcas do have a softer side though. They routinely share food with other orcas... and have even offered food (tunned sharks and fish, dead birds etc.) to humans. Let's just hope it's being neighborly rather than an attempt to fatten us up!
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