Some bottlenose dolphins have learned to use tools to help them catch fish, a clever technique that may be passed on from mother to calf.
Scientists in Australia observed dolphins chasing fish into empty seashells and carrying it to the surface before tipping the prey into their mouth. A young dolphin calf was also seen copying its mother by picking up a large shell in the same way.
The behavior, known as shelling, is documented in a paper recently published in the journal of Marine Mammal Science. The findings mark the first time evidence of tool use by dolphins was documented in video and suggest it may be more common behavior than previously thought.
Use your tools
Scientists once believed that relying on tools separated humans from animals but research has shown that that’s not quite true. Chimpanzees use rocks to crack nuts and twigs to fish for termites, elephants use tree branches to swat flies, and crows even build their own tools by bending twigs into a hook shape to catch prey.
It’s no surprise then that dolphins, being highly intelligent creatures, are no different. Tour guides near Queensland’s Great Sandy Marine Park in Australia have previously reported seeing dolphins engaging in shelling as far back as 2019, but it has so far gone undocumented.
While studying dolphins on Australia’s east coast, the researchers behind the new study spotted two adult females using seashells as a fishing tool in July and October 2025.
On July 6, 2025, an adult female dolphin named Stevie Nicks was seen lifting a shell out of the water. The researchers, however, did not see a fish slip out of the shell and could therefore not determine whether the dolphin’s attempt was a successful hunt.
Later on October 1, 2025, another female, named Maserati, was spotted carrying a baler shell to the surface before a fish escaped out of it. The dolphin dropped the shell and chased after the fish, the researchers are not sure whether it ended up catching it or not.
Remarkably, Maserati’s young calf, Bentley, was seen mimicking its mother’s behavior just moments after, surfacing with the same shell above the water. The footage shows a possible lizardfish poking out of the shell. Still, the researchers can’t confirm whether the dolphin got a meal out of it.
Shared behavior
Before the recent paper, shelling had previously only been reported in Shark Bay, Western Australia. Documenting the same behavior in Queensland, the researchers were able to show dolphins on opposite sides of Australia learning to use tools in the exact same way.
This suggests that the same technique was developed by different dolphins independently of one another. Since shelling went undocumented for so many years, the researchers believe it is much more common among dolphins in Australia, as well as other parts of the world.
“So why do some dolphins shell? Is it to capitalise on an opportunity to help them hunt? Does it possibly help reduce competition for food among other dolphins by using a special skill set they learned? Is it just a cool dinner trick?” Alexis Levengood, a professor of animal ecology at the University of the Sunshine Coast and lead author of the study, wrote. “There’s still a lot we don’t know, and many questions we will hopefully ask and answer with time.”
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