25.08.2020 – Dolphin Drug Party!

Between the waves there were Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Short-finned Pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) to be discovered today. The Bottlenose dolphins that were in the area of the Pilot whales kept their distance. But the pod of Bottlenose dolphins we met on our way back to the harbor, gave us some wonderful moments.

I got a very interesting information from a guest today that I would like to share with you. Thank you, dear guest! 🙂 He reported on a documentary in which dolphins take advantage of a puffer fish to get drugged. If the puffer fish is in distress, it will inflate itself and then assume a spherical shape. This happens when the puffer fish presses water from the oral cavity with its powerful muscles into a sack-like enlargement on the side of the stomach. Its spikes, which are otherwise lie against the body, stand up and function as barbs. But this is not his only defense! It also has a neurotoxin that is deadly in large doses but intoxicating in low doses. Dolphins take advantage of this by “tickling” this nerve poison out of the fish and thus helping themselves to get druggy.

If you want to see the dolphins’ little drug party, you can find a small video from BBC One at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msx3BAhIeQg

Nature is amazing!

by Fatima Kutzschbach

Sighting of the day

Ribeira Brava

10:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Pilot whales

Stenella

10:00 Bottlenose dolphins, Pilot whales