Dolphins prep food before meals

[Solumina]

article source

CANBERRA - Dolphins are the chefs of the seas, having been seen going through precise and elaborate preparations to rid cuttlefish of ink and bone to produce a soft meal of calamari, Australian scientists say.

A wild female Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin was observed going through the same series of complicated steps to prepare cuttlefish prey for eating in the Spencer Gulf, in South Australia state.

"It's a sign of how well their brains are developed. It's a pretty clever way to get pure calamari without all the horrible bits," Mark Norman, the curator of mollusks at Museum Victoria and a research team member, told the Canberra

The research team, writing in the science journal PLoS One, said they repeatedly observed a female dolphin herding cuttlefish out of algal weed and onto a clear, sandy patch of seafloor.

The dolphin, identified using circular body scars, then pinned the cuttlefish with its snout while standing on its head, before killing it instantly with a rapid downward thrust and "loud click" audible to divers as the hard cuttlebone broke.

The dolphin then lifted the body up and beat it with her nose to drain the toxic black ink that cuttlefish squirt into the water to defend themselves when attacked.

Next the prey was taken back to the seafloor, where the dolphin scraped it along the sand to strip out the cuttlebone, making the cuttlefish soft for eating.

Norman and study co-author Tom Tregenza, from the University of Exeter, said the behavior exhibited between 2003 and 2007 was unlikely to be a rarity.

"In addition to our observations, individual bottlenose dolphins feeding at these cuttlefish spawning grounds have been observed by divers in the area to perform the same behavioral sequence," they said in the study.

"The feeding behavior reported here is specifically adapted to a single prey type and represents impressive behavioral flexibility for a non-primate animal."

A separate 2005 study provided the first sign dolphins may be capable of group learning and using tools, with a mother seen teaching her daughters to break off sea sponges and wear them as protection while scouring the seafloor in Western Australia.

The mammals used the sponges "as a kind of glove" while searching for food, University of Zurich researcher Michael Krutzen told New Scientist magazine.

Other researchers have observed dolphins removing the spines from flathead fish prey and breaking meter-long Golden Trevally fish into smaller pieces for eating.

[Xombie]

Dolphins are fucking awesome.
They're the only animals besides humans that have recreational sex. They enjoy orgies, as well.
That's what I've read, at least.

[Albert Mond]

Originally Posted by Xombie

Dolphins are fucking awesome.
They're the only animals besides humans that have recreational sex.

Oh, shut the fuck up. Above statement is a myth. I can name at least ONE other animal that has recreational sex, and Bonobos probably aren't even the only other ones.

[Xombie]

Damn, boy. Way to go off on me for something that I downright said might not even be true. Haha. Chill out.

[Albert Mond]

I'm awesome at that.

[menus era sota]

Originally Posted by Albert Mond

Oh, shut the fuck up. Above statement is a myth. I can name at least ONE other animal that has recreational sex, and Bonobos probably aren't even the only other ones.

aren't those the mini monkey-gorilla types who have sex ALL THE FUCKING TIME? like just before they eat every meal and stuff?

i can't help but think how quickly they'd get loose - sorry 0_O

[Cicero]

Bonobos are relatives of chimpanzees. Slightly smaller, and a whole lot hornier. The only sex taboo in bonobo society is between a mother and son - everything else goes.

And yeah, dolphins fucking rule. All cetaceans do really. Their intelligence is hard to deny.

[menus era sota]

i used to hate dolphins when i was a kid - but yea, love them now.
i wonder how intelligent they'll get in a few 100 or 1000 years.

[Cicero]

When I was a kid I had hopes that sharks, dolphins and whales would rise up against humans and take over the world. I wrote stories about it at school.

[Xombie]

I went through phases of liking dolphins. I liked them in elementary school, then I hated them (I think it's because I saw too much dolphin jewelry), and now I like them again.

[Renatus]

Originally Posted by menus era sota

i used to hate dolphins when i was a kid - but yea, love them now.
i wonder how intelligent they'll get in a few 100 or 1000 years.

This behavior probobly isn't new, it's just never been scientificly observed before.

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

I wrote a story/myth in grade 6 about how dolphins used to have cities and such, but gave it all up for a reason I forget.

[menus era sota]

Originally Posted by Xombie

I went through phases of liking dolphins. I liked them in elementary school, then I hated them (I think it's because I saw too much dolphin jewelry), and now I like them again.

i think i hated them mainly because all the preppy kids were enthralled by the flipper movie [ bleh] and that awful dolphin wallpaper 7-8 yrolds are known to have.

[ThreeEyesOni]

Originally Posted by menus era sota

i used to hate dolphins when i was a kid - but yea, love them now.
i wonder how intelligent they'll get in a few 100 or 1000 years.

Dolphins are what can be considered a "handicapped species". Since they exist in a form that is almost impossible to allow tool use, the best culture a dolphin species could develop is one based on "oral" history. Basically they have all the intelligence to become a sentient race, just no realistic circumstances to come by it naturally.

Of course, there is always the possibility of humanity facilitating and jump starting the process. Same goes for African Grey parrots; they are capable of learning English as a literal language, but they don't really seem to have an inclination to voluntarily integrate into some form compatible with humanity (basically the Greys that have been taught English would rather be off frying than stuck in a room with researchers).

[menus era sota]

... you mean if we implanted fingers into dolphins? wtf? haha.
i see what you mean. i wonder what they would look like evolved - apprently they took really early human genes and guessed what we'd look like with diffrent evolutional paths - 3 tailed silvery armidilos.

[Solumina]

Originally Posted by ThreeEyesOni

(basically the Greys that have been taught English would rather be off frying than stuck in a room with researchers).

I'm going to venture a guess that the r in frying is a typo and the word should be flying but it amused me, thanks for that

[blackwater1110]

In the midst of economic crisis, I feel the only responsible thing to do with our money is invest heavily in technology that equips dolphins with the fundamentals necessary to create complex, warlike societies that will conquer and enslave humanity and unite mankind in a revolution against our aquatic masters.

I'm not quite sure how that would get us out of a depression, but it would fucking ROCK!

[CptSternn]

Does a dog humping your leg count as recreational sex?

[Albert Mond]

I think it's masturbation.

[menus era sota]

or begin dateless.

[peacebear5028]

Why do I feel as if these dolphins are smarter than most of the people I know?

[Underwater Ophelia]

Originally Posted by peacebear5028

Why do I feel as if these dolphins are smarter than most of the people I know?

Do you hang out with morons?

[peacebear5028]

Originally Posted by Underwater Ophelia

Do you hang out with morons?

People I know, not people I associate with.
I`m extremely selective about who I hang out with. So I really only do things with three or four people.
I`m stuck in the world of kids who like Insane Clown Posse and think good books are teen vampire novels.

[CptSternn]

We are all stuck in that world, unfortunately.

[Albert Mond]

Originally Posted by peacebear5028

Insane Clown Posse

Hahahahaha!