Dolphins are able to protect vulnerable members of their pods and extended families such as young dolphins and injured or sick dolphins. Dolphins use their strong snouts as a powerful weapon to ram sharks, targeting their soft underbellies and gills to cause injuries.
Sharks pose less of a threat to larger members of the dolphin family. Indeed, orcas are the top predator in the ocean and small sharks are a target for some populations. Orcas will even attack and kill great white sharks just to eat their livers which are a high energy food source.
When dolphins are hungry, they turn into calculating predators who are capable of developing unusual methods to trap their prey. For instance, dolphins that live in the shallow waters of Florida have been observed using their tails to kick up mud in a circular formation in order to trap fish inside, while dolphins who live in Shark Bay, Australia, have been seen using sponges as tools to dig up prey from the seafloor.
What’s more, dolphins are able to communicate these tactics with other dolphins, which means they’re always improving their skills. According to the Smithsonian, “dolphins learn different tricks for catching food from one another in a kind of cultural transmission.”
Dolphins have sharp teeth that they usually use to rip apart their prey. Bottlenose dolphins, for example, have between 80 and 100 teeth that they use to grab, grip and secure their prey.
However, the creatures can (and do!) bite humans on occasion. Because of the potential danger, officials at the Commerce Department’s National Marine Fisheries Service have even released fliers with warnings that “dozens of bites have been reported” and “people have been pulled underwater” by the animals. In fact, as recently as 2012, an 8-year-old girl was infamously bitten by one of the animals at SeaWorld.
Picture Credit : Google
