Underwater cameras have captured a singular dolphin habits off the coast of Western Australia in what scientists suspect is a world-first.
For many years now, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and native crabbers within the Bunbury space, roughly 160 kilometers south of Perth, have been locked in a battle over bait.
When a crab pot is dropped in Koombana Bay, the native dolphins swoop in to snag the useless fish, often earlier than any pincered arthropods can come crawling alongside.
When wildlife conservationist Rodney Peterson heard of the issue, he feared for the dolphins’ security, given the dangers of web entanglement.
Peterson approached the Dolphin Discovery Center in Bunbury – a non-profit group that funds schooling, analysis, and ecotourism tasks – about the opportunity of filming the thieves in motion.
Over two years, a staff of filmmakers, conservationists, and researchers put their heads collectively to disclose “the secrets of the crab bait thieves” in Koombana Bay.
Underneath the turquoise waves and on the sandy seafloor, native dolphins have been caught on digital camera utilizing their lengthy snouts, jaws, and tooth to drag bait out of crab pots.
Even when bait was connected beneath the pots or tucked away in packing containers, it did not take lengthy for the dolphins to start out flipping the traps over or opening the latched packing containers.
“We were stunned by what we saw,” reads the Dolphin Discovery Middle’s caption posted together with the video on their social media, “and so were researchers Dr Simon Allen and Dr Delphine Chabanne.”
Chabanne, who research animal ecology and habits at Murdoch College, and Allen, a dolphin habits specialist, each say they’ve by no means seen this sort of habits in such nice element.
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Dolphins all over the world are known to steal fish and bait from trawlers and recreational anglers.
In Florida, for instance, bottlenose dolphins have also been cataloged in the past stealing bait from crabbers by tipping over pots.
But the interactions between dolphins and crabbers in Koombana Bay are uniquely complex, according to experts.
The physical and mental problem-solving at play is truly impressive.
Alex Grossman, a volunteer filmmaker on the project, told Live Science that because only some dolphins partake in the behavior, stealing crab bait may be more for ‘fun’ or ‘convenience’ than for reasons of hunger.
Two dolphins, in particular, seem to be leading the clever gang of bait thieves: a mother and her calf.
“Calypso and Reggae, yeah, if it wasn’t for these two, crabbing can be fairly easy, actually,” laughs Peterson in an explainer video shared by the Dolphin Discovery Center.
Peterson and others are concerned that these dolphins are too clever for their own good. If the behavior continues to develop and spread, it may have more downsides than upsides for the local population.
The crab bait that the dolphins are stealing is not all that nutritious and the risk of getting entangled or hurt by gear is high, especially as crabbers wrap their bait in more intricate ways.
Luckily, researchers working in Western Australia have figured out a method that seems to be ‘dolphin-safe’, at least for the moment.
“The bait is positioned inside a powerful mesh related to the pot by steel hook,” explains the Dolphin Discovery Middle.
“The animals scan the pot with echolocation and eyesight, be taught it can’t be opened, and swim off. Leaving more healthy dolphins, completely happy crabbers, and proof that coexistence can work.”
Hopefully that may cease Calypso and Reggae for good.
