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According to a new scientific paper, dolphins at the Tangalooma Island Resort in Australia have been observed giving gifts to humans 23 separate times since 1998. Yep. This is adorable.
The gifts offered up include “eels, tuna, squid, an octopus” and other types of fish. And once you get past just how unbelievably cute the image of a dolphin swimming up and giving you some of its food is, you get down to just how rare it is for one species to share food with another. The dolphins in question are regular visitors to Tangalooma, where scientists engage in a daily provisioning program for the dolphins. So the scientists are well acquainted with these dolphins. But the gift giving has them all stumped.
Sharing food with other animals usually only happens under certain circumstances, like when one animal thinks another is terrible at hunting and won’t be able to catch its own food, or if the animal is hoping to get food back in return. That last one seems like it could make sense here, but scientists aren’t ready to come to any conclusions yet. So for now, let’s just chalk this up as dolphins being brilliant miracle creatures who understand the true meaning of Christmas. [Anthrozoos via Discovery]
Image credit: David McNew / Getty Images News
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Let’s just hope those aren’t parting gifts.
“So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish”
I just logged in to say that but you beat me!
according to research dolphins are also into rape….. and have specially designated dolphin rape caves.
That so shouldn’t have made me laugh..
its no laughing matter……
“Scott Randleston of the Dolphin Research Institute of Boca Raton, has been studying dolphin behavior for 17 years, and came up with the decoy program. “In every case the decoy was set upon in a short time by groups of dolphins ranging from 8 to 20 young males. It seems there are gangs of dolphin predators roaming the open waters looking for humans to sexually assault. The dolphins in each case were observed circling the swimmer as one of the group grabbed them with their penis and dragged them under, then the others followed. You see dolphins have a prehensile penis, it is full of powerful muscles and they can wrap it around objects, such as a human wrist, ankle, neck, or waist. One could compare it to a boa constrictor or an elephant trunk….The decoys never resurfaced in any of the studies…. We tracked one of the decoys to an underwater cave where it had been repeatedly raped and torn apart by the dolphins. ”
“There are at least 14 cases of dolphin rape reported each year in the United States, these usually occur near the shore where victims are able to escape before they can be dragged into a dolphin rape cave. There is no real estimate of how many deaths are the result of dolphin rape each year as many of these occur in open water where there are few eyewitnesses if any.”
This. This is why I don’t wear speedos when swimming.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thought of this. The prehensile penis part is quite creepy. :S
And we thank them by doing nothing about Taji; http://thecovemovie.com/home.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiji_dolphin_drive_hunt
the americans have nuked them twice already. you think its time to give it another go?
maybe not nuke them, maybe at least object a little when they spend the tsunami relief fund on whaling ships
on second thoughts, fuck it; nuke ‘em (gotta nuke something)