New Species Of Dolphin Spits At Its Food
Posted by: Loren Coleman on April 12th, 2009
One of the wonderful things I enjoy about picking up the news from Australia is that it is “tomorrow” there already.
Here’s what is being published on Monday in the Australian media about an announcement regarding new information about their recently discovered Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni). Scientists are still learning new things about it.
Adult Australian snubfin dolphin off Townsville, Australia. Photo: Guido Parra.
A rare and recently discovered species of Australian dolphin catches its prey by spitting at it.
The snubfin dolphin is found along Australia’s northern coastlines and was recognised as a new species only in 2005.
The snubfin not only looks strange – it has a small dorsal fin and round, melon-like head – but new research shows it has an unusual method of feeding.
World Wildlife Fund Australia’s marine and coasts manager Lydia Gibson said the small dolphins hunt in groups, chasing fish to the surface and rounding them up by shooting jets of water from their mouths. “This incredibly unusual behaviour, first seen in Australia off the Kimberley coast, has only been noted before in Irrawaddy dolphins, which are closely related to this species,” Ms Gibson said.
“It also confirms the snubfin dolphin is a fascinating animal, one which we know so little about.”
Ms Gibson said the WWF research had revealed habitat destruction was the key threat to the species.
Classified as near threatened, they are more vulnerable to pollution, viruses and bacteria because they live close to shore, and are more likely than other dolphins to get caught in gill nets.
“There are already development proposals around the Great Barrier Reef that could affect their habitat – like the extension of the Townsville port – that could have major impacts on these species,” Ms Gibson said.
“Catching food a spit in ocean for dolphin,” AAP, April 13, 2009, The Australian.
About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
I think we have a tool-user here.
— USE WATERGUN NOW!