Tail Walking on the Wild Side

You’ve seen dolphins shimmy along the top of the water balanced on their tails at Sea World or on TV, but the behavior has spread to the ocean!

A wild dolphin is apparently teaching other members of her group to walk on their tails, a behaviour usually seen only after training in captivity.

The tail-walking group lives along the south Australian coast near Adelaide.

One of them spent a short time after illness in a dolphinarium 20 years ago and may have picked up the trick there.

Scientists studying the group say tail-walk tuition has not been seen before, and suggest the habit may emerge as a form of “culture” among this group.

Link -Thanks, Justin!

(image credit: WDCS/Mike Bossley)