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Researchers: Dolphins use sponges as tools
Monday, June 6, 2005 Posted: 6:13 PM EDT (2213 GMT)
Researchers suspect the sponges help the dolphins avoid getting stung by stonefish and other creatures.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A group of dolphins living off the coast of Australia apparently teach their offspring to protect their snouts with sponges while foraging for food in the sea floor.
Researchers say it appears to be a cultural behavior passed on from mother to daughter, a first for animals of this type, although such learning has been seen in other species.
The dolphins, living in Shark Bay, Western Australia, use conically shaped whole sponges that they tear off the bottom, said Michael Kruetzen, lead author of a report on the dolphins in Tuesday's issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
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