Every time you mention a dolphin, someone has to mention how smart they are and that time Jessica Alba was molested by one.
While their love of Jessica Alba is known the world over, Australian scientists are observing what they believe is everyone favourite sea mammal using tools to catch fish. The Australian dolphins have been observed placing conch shells on their beaks and shaking out the delicious fish hiding inside.
While dolphins using tools is exciting, what’s got the scientists really excited is the possibility that the dolphins are teaching this behaviour to each other. The behaviour was only observed about a dozen times for nearly 30 years. Now dolphins have been observed with shells on their beaks seven times during a four-month period. The Australian dolphins are already famous for utilising two other foraging techniques that have been passed on “vertically”, usually from mother to daughter. The conch shell trick seems to be spreading “horizontally” between friends.
It’s all speculation right now, but once dolphins start learning, it’s only a matter of time before they come after us for calling them all Flipper all these years. [MSNBC]