{"id":603048,"date":"2026-09-17T08:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T08:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/603048\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T08:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T08:58:09","slug":"eww-thats-disgusting-bizarre-dolphin-behaviour-filmed-on-great-barrier-reef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/603048\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Eww, that’s disgusting.’ Bizarre dolphin behaviour filmed on Great Barrier Reef"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marine researchers in Australia\u2019s Great Barrier Reef were astounded when they saw a\u00a0bottlenose dolphin<\/a>\u00a0chasing a bigeye trevally until it vomited, before eating what the fish had just spewed up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Romney Edwards-Francis,<\/a>\u00a0a PhD candidate at\u00a0University of the Sunshine Coast<\/a>\u00a0in Queensland, first saw the unusual behaviour while snorkelling on a visit to\u00a0Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort<\/a>\u00a0for the\u00a0Leaf to Reef Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Edwards-Francis had\u00a0heard from master reef guide\u00a0Pieter Demmers<\/a>\u00a0and marine biologist\u00a0Jacinta Shackleton<\/a>\u00a0that a dolphin called Bubbles, who often visits the island, was known for a strange behaviour. \u201cHe basically chases this one fish. The fish throws up. He eats the vomit,\u201d explains Shackleton.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Footage shows Bubbles the bottlenose dolphin chasing a bigeye trevally until it vomits, then eating the vomit. Credit: Michael Ingram<\/p>\n

She\u2019s seen this happen several times. Bubbles even seems proud of his smart hunting strategy. After gobbling down the barf, \u201che turns his head straight towards me, does this really long click, and it’s almost as if he’s saying like, \u2018Look what I did! I got the food. I’m so smart.\u2019,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Edwards-Francis and colleagues also saw this happen. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until we finished our snorkel that we realised we\u2019d caught it on camera,\u201d she says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Researchers think this is the first time this behaviour has been formally documented. Credit: Victoria Kronsell<\/p>\n

The behaviour is a type of kleptoparasitism, which means stealing food from another animal. \u201cIt\u2019s a form of parasitism<\/a> because it doesn’t benefit the trevally<\/a>\u2026 other than they get to live,\u201d says Shackleton.<\/p>\n

Realising that this was something that had never been documented in dolphins before, the scientists published their findings in the journal\u00a0Ecology and Evolution.<\/a><\/p>\n

The paper includes 20 records of Bubbles foraging between June 2021 and October 2025, 11 of which resulted in the dolphin eating the fish\u2019s regurgitated prey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Frigate birds exhibit a similar behaviour. They lock onto a\u00a0white capped noddy\u00a0that has been feeding and chase it through the air. \u201cIt’s like a V8 supercar race,\u201d says Shackleton. \u201cThey’ll stress this poor noddy out so much that the noddy will throw up all of its fish, and then the frigate bird just comes in and plucks them off the surface of the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their theory is that forcing the fish to throw up their recent meal is easier than hunting live prey.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to know how much energy the crafty dolphin might be saving through this cunning strategy but the researchers think he probably still hunts most of his food.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d speculate that the trevally vomit provides an easy snack on days when Bubbles hasn\u2019t been as successful with hunting, especially as the bigeye trevally school is very reliably found in the same location nearly every day,\u201d says Edwards-Francis, the study\u2019s lead author.<\/p>\n

Bubbles’ behaviour is a type of kleptoparasitism, which means stealing food from another animal. Credit: Pieter Demmers<\/p>\n

The scientists think this is the first time this odd foraging strategy has been documented in dolphins.\u00a0But the fact that only Bubbles has been recorded doing it doesn\u2019t mean others aren\u2019t too. \u201cIt\u2019s very possible that other individuals also use this tactic,\u201d adds Edwards-Francis. \u201cThese behaviours are really difficult to observe under the water and you have to be in the right place at the right time to capture it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shackleton loves telling her guests about this bizarre foraging method because fascinating facts like this can help get people interested in science. \u201cI watched people’s faces be like, \u2018Eww, that’s disgusting\u2019,\u201d she says, \u201cbut also, I could see they were so interested by the fact this dolphin was really smart.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The team would love to hear from other researchers around the world who may have seen a similar behaviour. \u201cThey\u2019re possibly much more common than we realise,\u201d says Edwards-Francis. \u201cDocumenting them provides a snapshot of the complex and varied tactics wild animals use to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Find out more about the study, published in Ecology and Evolution.<\/a><\/p>\n

More wildlife stories from around the world<\/p>\n

Top image: Bubbles the vomit-eating dolphin. Credit: Pieter Demmers<\/p>\n