I really love fishing! I can't think of a more relaxing time than sitting by the lake, or a more exciting time than going deep sea fishing. Therefore, I find animals that have come up with unique ways of catching fish pretty interesting. Take for example the humpback whales that we talked about in a previous blog. These animals actually create bubble-barriers around schools of fish to keep their meal in one spot.
It turns out that bottlenose dolphins also have a unique strategy. They use sand. By hitting the ocean floor with their tails, they create clouds of sand that act as barriers around schools of fish. Brilliant.
More like this
Puffer fish are notorious. Considerable delicacy in Japan (a taste adopted by some non-Japanese Foodies), they come with a side of risk: some puffer fish have the potent lethal toxins tetrodotoxin and/or saxitoxin, neurotoxins more than 1000 times the lethal potency of cyanide:
A not at all exhaustive collection of cool bizarro aquariums.
I'm a big fish eater. In general, given a choice about what to eat, I'm
usually happiest when I get to eat a nice fish. Even now that I've started eating
beef again, most of the time, I'd rather eat a nice piece of wild salmon
than pretty much anything made of beef.
A fascinating new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that the impact of human fishing may be reducing the fitness of fish populations overall.
Brilliant! It's always wonderful to see more examples of how diverse and surprising the world can be. :) I've seen various clips from Life, but I haven't yet had the chance to watch it properly; clearly, I should make the time.
I wonder if this behaviour is something that the dolphins learn through cultural transmission. For example, it would be quite neat if different groups had a somewhat different style of herding fish.
Brilliant! It's always wonderful to see more examples of how diverse and surprising the world can be. :) I've seen various clips from Life, but I haven't yet had the chance to watch it properly; clearly, I should make the time.
I wonder if this behaviour is something that the dolphins learn through cultural transmission. For example, it would be quite neat if different groups had a somewhat different style of herding fish.
wow they are brilliant
I wonder if this behaviour is something that the dolphins learn through cultural transmission.