Australian Dolphins Use Seashells to Trap Fish, With 1 Calf Mimicking Its Mother

3 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · Aug 18

Video from Queensland’s Great Sandy Marine Park captured two female bottlenose dolphins in 2025 lifting large shells to the surface to flush out trapped fish, the first filmed evidence of dolphin tool use.
One calf, Bentley, copied its mother Maserati moments after her shelling attempt, strengthening evidence that the hunting technique can pass from mother to calf.
Researchers saw one shelling event on July 6 and another on Oct. 1, but could not confirm either hunt succeeded because the fish escaped or was not clearly visible.
Shelling had previously been reported only in Shark Bay, Western Australia; finding the same behavior on the opposite coast suggests dolphins may have developed the tool use independently and that it is more widespread than documented.

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Does a mother dolphin teaching her calf to hunt with shells prove that marine animals possess distinct family traditions?

If dolphins on opposite coasts independently invented the same hunting tools, what other cultures are secretly evolving underwater?

Could the secret to undiscovered marine intelligence be hiding in plain sight within your old vacation photos?