{"id":893155,"date":"2026-09-15T18:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T18:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/893155\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T18:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T18:42:11","slug":"bubbles-the-food-stealing-dolphin-finds-shortcut-to-easy-meal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/893155\/","title":{"rendered":"Bubbles the food-stealing dolphin finds shortcut to easy meal"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\"Bubbles<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

image:\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bubbles the dolphin in action<\/p>\n

view more\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit: Tracy Olive<\/p>\n

A dolphin who harasses fish until they regurgitate their food \u2013 then swoops in to steal it \u2013 has astonished University of the Sunshine Coast researchers who have documented this novel feeding strategy.<\/p>\n

In findings published today<\/a>, co-authors Dr Asia Haines and UniSC PhD student Romney Edwards-Francis say the behaviour of the common bottlenose dolphin, nicknamed Bubbles, represents the first detailed description of kleptoparasitism in a cetacean anywhere in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr Haines said while kleptoparasitism was a common feeding strategy used by many animals to steal food caught or collected by another, it was usually opportunistic and had rarely been documented in aquatic species, particularly marine mammals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Between 2021 and 2025, researchers observed and videoed Bubbles\u2019 kleptoparasitic behaviour 11 times in shallow reefs off Lady Elliot Island, in the southern Great Barrier Reef.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

In every instance, he harassed a school of Bigeye Trevally, selecting an individual fish and chasing it until it regurgitated its food. He\u2019d then feasted on the expelled remains as the trevally swam away.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe observed him repeating this behaviour over several years which suggests he may have learnt to target the fish with the fullest bellies, providing the most rewarding meals,\u201d Dr Haines said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The researchers say Bubbles appears to take advantage of the fish’s stress response to being chased and hypothesise he may also use intense repeated clicking and low-pitched vocalisations to heighten their stress levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ms Edwards-Francis said the research team believed Bubbles\u2019 thieving tendencies might help him avoid the energy cost of catching his own food, by letting other animals do the hard work for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Common bottlenose dolphins tend to forage in groups, yet Bubbles was always observed foraging alone. It may be that this specialised tactic requires less energy than directly pursuing fast-moving prey, particularly when foraging solo,\u201d she said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

So, is this just one rogue dolphin who has found a shortcut to getting an easy meal \u2013 or is the behaviour more common than realised?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHis behaviour does demonstrate the species\u2019 adaptability and flexibility when it comes to foraging,\u201d Ms Edward-Francis said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also suspect that rare or novel foraging tactics such as kleptoparasitism are likely underreported in dolphins or other cetaceans.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge is monitoring the animals underwater over longer time periods to capture their full range of behaviours. Combining emerging technologies such as drones with underwater surveys may provide a way to overcome this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

And what of dolphins\u2019 reputation as playful, friendly sea creatures? Is Bubbles\u2019 behaviour putting this at risk? Dr Haines says no.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This perception of dolphins as the \u2018good guys of the sea\u2019 has more to do with anthropomorphism \u2013 our tendency to assign human characteristics to them \u2013 and perhaps that\u2019s because dolphins appear to be smiling.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDolphins are predators and actively hunt their prey, whether it has been stolen from another species or not.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The findings are part of the UniSC-led Leaf to Reef project,<\/a> which is undertaking long-term ecological monitoring and research on and around Lady Elliot Island with support from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s Reef Islands Initiative.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Journal<\/p>\n

Ecology and Evolution<\/p>\n

Method of Research<\/p>\n

Observational study<\/p>\n

Subject of Research<\/p>\n

Animals<\/p>\n

Article Title<\/p>\n

Repeated Observations Suggesting Kleptoparasitism by a Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) on the Great Barrier Reef<\/p>\n

Article Publication Date<\/p>\n

13-Sep-2026<\/p>\n

COI Statement<\/p>\n

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"image:\u00a0 Bubbles the dolphin in action view more\u00a0 Credit: Tracy Olive A dolphin who harasses fish until they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":893156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,128],"class_list":["post-893155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=893155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/893155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/893156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=893155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=893155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=893155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}