San Diego Bay: GoPro captures dolphin's POV as they hunt
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Rare footage captured by GoPros attached to US Navy dolphins reveals how these creatures hunt for fish and gobble up sea snakes. In a new study, researchers strapped six bottlenose dolphins over a six-month period, offering an insight into their behaviours as they caught over 200 fish and sea snakes in a seawater pool off the coast of California, US. These sea mammals were trained by the US Navy to spot undersea mines, defend against enemy swimmers, and defend some of the US nuclear stockpile.
This was part of a study in the journal Plos One, where researchers tried to learn more about the dolphin’s communication methods while hunting.
In the study published on Wednesday, the authors wrote: ‘Squeals continued as the dolphin seized, manipulated and swallowed the prey,’ the researchers write in their study that was published Wednesday in Plos One.
“If fish escaped, the dolphin continued the chase and sonar clicks were heard less often than the continuous terminal buzz and squeal.
“During captures, the dolphins’ lips flared to reveal nearly all of the teeth. The throat expanded outward.
“Fish continued escape swimming even as they entered the dolphins’ mouth, yet the dolphin appeared to suck the fish right down.”
The Naval Undersea Museum noted that the sea mammals were not trapped in the pool and could leave if they wanted to.
They said: “They can swim away if they choose, and over the years a few have. But almost all stay.”
The footage appeared to show the dolphins giving a “side eye” look, but actually, their eyes are rotating while they swim, in order to attract prey.
During the course of the study, the dolphins hunted a range of different aquatic animals, including bass, croackers, halibut, pipefish and smelt.
Researchers noted that this is the first time that dolphins have been spotted devouring sea snakes.
Following this study, the researchers now plan to put cameras on wild dolphins, in order to study their habits differ in any way.
Dolphins have been employed by the US Navy since the 1960s, during the Veitnam and Persian Gulf wars.
During these conflicts, the sea mammals would protect Navy anchored vessels from enemy swimmers looking to plant explosives nearby.
According to PBS: “At one point during the 1980’s, the US program had over 100 dolphins, as well as numerous sea lions and beluga whales, and an operating budget of $8million.
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“They are also trained to tag the enemy swimmer with a marker so that Navy personnel can apprehend him.
They noted that in 1965, “the Navy sent five dolphins to Cam Ranh Bay to perform underwater surveillance and guard military boats from enemy swimmers.
“Although during this era rumours circulated about a ‘swimmer nullification program’ through which dolphins were trained to attack and kill enemy swimmer, the Navy denies such a program ever existed.”
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