Author: SBDR Team

Science Alert, June 2020 The Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins of Shark Bay in Western Australia have an unusual way of obtaining food. They chivvy fish into a large, empty marine gastropod shell. Then they carry the shell and captured fish up to the surface, and shake it upside down. Slurp! go the fish, straight down into…

Ocean Today, NOAA, June 2014 These bottlenose dolphins have been observed covering their beaks with basket sponges torn from the seafloor as they forage for food.  This tool helps them uncover fish hiding in the sandy sea bottom, and protects their snouts from scrapes and stings. https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/newsoftheday_dolphinsusetools/ https://oceantoday.noaa.gov/newsoftheday_dolphinsusetools/

Huffington Post, April 2014 Recently, scientists discovered Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay off the coast of Australia apparently use tools in the wild. Specifically, the most common foraging tactic dolphins practice in deep-water channels involves carrying sponges on their snouts https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dolphins-sponges-tools_n_5206207 https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dolphins-sponges-tools_n_5206207

Digital Journal, March 2014 (Photo: NASA) Scientists studying bottlenose dolphins that use sponges as tools to protect their sensitive beaks has shown that social behavior can shape the genetic makeup of an animal population in the wild. https://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/dolphin-watch-how-social-behavior-affects-genetic-makeup/article/378095 https://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/dolphin-watch-how-social-behavior-affects-genetic-makeup/article/378095 Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20210417204755/http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/dolphin-watch-how-social-behavior-affects-genetic-makeup/article/378095

Business Insider Australia, March 2014 Some of the dolphins in Shark Bay in Western Australia put conical marine sponges on their beaks when they forage on the sea floor, a non-genetic skill calves apparently learn from their mothers. https://www.businessinsider.com.au/these-unique-australian-dolphins-learn-from-their-mothers-to-use-tools-2014-3 https://www.businessinsider.com.au/these-unique-australian-dolphins-learn-from-their-mothers-to-use-tools-2014-3 Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20140322014826/http://www.businessinsider.com.au/these-unique-australian-dolphins-learn-from-their-mothers-to-use-tools-2014-3

Science News, March 2012 (Photo: Simon Allen, SBDRA) The male dolphins of Shark Bay, Australia, are known to marine biologists for their messy social entanglements. Their relationships with each other are so unusual—they’re more like the intricate webs of the Mafia than the vertical hierarchies of chimpanzees https://news.sciencemag.org/2012/03/meet-dolphin-mafia https://news.sciencemag.org/2012/03/meet-dolphin-mafia

BBC Nature, March 2012 (Photo: Whitney Friedman, SBDRA) Male bottlenose dolphins organise gang-like alliances – guarding females against other groups and occasionally “changing sides”. A team studying dolphins in Shark Bay, western Australia, say the animals roam hundreds of square kilometres, often encountering other dolphin groups. https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17522450 https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17522450 Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20140201103139/https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17522450

Science Alert, August 2011 https://www.sciencealert.com/news/20111708-22507.html

Discovery News, August 2011 Humans may have invented the spork, often seen at fast food joints, but a very clever group of bottlenose dolphins in Australia has created its own new combo tool that both captures fish and functions as a food bowl. https://news.discovery.com/animals/dolphins-fish-trick-110831.htm https://news.discovery.com/animals/dolphins-fish-trick-110831.htm Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20110926161915/http://news.discovery.com:80/animals/dolphins-fish-trick-110831.html