Female dolphins use tools to search for food and pass skills on to their daughters

Female dolphins use tools to search for food and pass skills on to their daughters

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:22 PM on 05th January 2009

Dolphins use tools to help them forage for food and pass on their skills to their offspring, a new study has found.

Scientists studying bottlenose dolphins from Shark Bay in West Australia found 41 of the aquatic mammals used sponges to protect their noses when they explored the sandy sea bed for prey.


Female dolphins in Shark Bay are noted for using sponges as tools to forage for food

'It turns out the brainiacs of the marine world can also be tool-hunting workaholics, spending more time hunting with tools than any nonhuman animal,' said research leader Professor Janet Mann.

Although this behaviour was first noted in the mid 1980s, the Georgetown University research is the most detailed study to date. It has been difficult to observe because spongers hunt for fish in deep channels up to 13 metres deep.

It found the technique was used almost exclusively by female dolphins and learnt before they were weaned. Male dolphins chose to socialise together rather than learn the new skill from their mothers.

Professor Mann believes the different behaviour reflected the fact that older males relied on making alliances later on, while females would have to find enough food while nursing each calf from three to eight years.

The study also revealed that the sponge-carrying females tended to be more solitary than nonsponge-carrying dolphins and spent more time in deep water habitats. But despite not socialising as much they were still good breeders.

'They are successful at calving, so their workaholic tendencies pay off,' Professor Mann said.

The study was published in the December edition of PLoS ONE.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1105508/Female-dolphins-use-tools-search-food-pass-skills-daughters.html