Featured Image Credit: Krista Nicholson/Mandurah Dolphin Research Project
Dolphins down under may be getting high with a little help from their puffer fish friends. Researchers witnessed several cetaceans practicing puff puff pass blowfish style.
As some of you may know, blowfish carry a toxin called tetrodotoxin under their skin, flesh, and in their organs. The toxin is known to be lethal for potential predators… and even humans.
For dolphins however, a tiny “dose” of the tetrodotoxin can have an almost narcotic-like effect. Naughty naughty dolphins. They even keep the blowfish alive… on porpoise… so the toxin will last longer.
A researcher from Murdoch University named Krista Nicholson observed the puffer fish puff puff pass behavior near Mandurah.
Of course, the idea of dolphins using the blowfish for “recreational” use has been argued and perhaps the toxin has more of a numbing effect. Along with puffer fish, dolphins have been seen playfully passing crabs and seagrass around the globe.
Sooo… it is very possible that the dolphins are just playing with the puffer rather than “taking a hit.”
According to Ms. Nicholson, one of the calves she’s been studying for the past year has taken a particular liking to chewing and playing with puffer fish. As if the inflated blowfish were a ball or toy, just last month Krista witnessed the calf belly up and repeatedly flipping the fish high into the air.
BBC first recorded this buzzed behavior in 2014. John Downer, the executive producer, commented on what he believed to be a trance-like behavior saying, “Hanging around with their noses at the surface as if fascinated by their own reflection.”
Read the DailyMail’s full story here.