Dolphins and Fishermen Working Together: All Things Fishy and Intriguing!

Dophins are a curious breed (and cute). And the ones in Brazil (Laguna, to be precise), were in the news a few years back for helping fishermen catch fish. Yes, you have heard this right, and no, this is not the plot of some Hollywood flick, but rather a very real occurrence.

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As to how the dolphins helped the humans, they used the simple trick of cornering the mullet fish. After that it was only a matter of time, and they herded the fish, like proper sheepdogs, towards the fishermen, and then with a signal which involved the splashing of their heads or tails against the water, informed the fishermen about it. As for the fishermen's account, according to them this has been going on for generations, and they were quite accustomed to the unusual events. A team of researchers from Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil, however, took notice. According to them, the dolphins which helped the humans had a different whistle. In a group of 150 dolphins, around 50 would help the humans, and while the exact reason or the causes are not known, these researchers found that the dolphins who helped, had a different whistle even while hunting alone, probably notifying that they belonged to a different social group. Fabian Daura-Jorge, one of the researchers and a marine biologist, did not rule out the possibility of the dolphins learning to acquire this particular behaviour, as those in a closer bond tend to pick up the behaviour. Well, this explains why a group of dolphins end up helping the fishermen!

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Brazil is not Vegas, and everything that happened there, certainly made news around the world. It seems that this unique partnership will go on, and so will the research, for there is certainly something fishy about the whole incident!

Post Written by - Lopamudra