Ecology and Evolution<\/a> on September 13. <\/p>\nThe study noted that it might be the first direct evidence of kleptoparasitism — stealing food obtained by another animal — in cetaceans, which is the group of marine mammals that includes dolphins, porpoises, and whales.<\/p>\n
“Kleptoparasitism, the deliberate theft of food from other animals, is a widespread but usually facultative foraging tactic used by many taxa,” per the study. “It has rarely been documented in aquatic species, particularly marine mammals.”<\/p>\n
According to the study, researchers recorded 20 encounters between 2021 and 2025 near Lady Elliot Island. In 11 encounters, Bubbles pursued a Bigeye Trevally until it vomited. He then ate the food while the fish swam away.<\/p>\n
“Using photo-identification, all observations were confirmed to involve the same individual dolphin,” the study noted.<\/p>\n
The dolphin, known informally as Bubbles by Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort staff, can be recognized by distinctive fin notches and a V-shaped scar on his right flank.<\/p>\n
Video showed the dolphin scanning schools of trevally, focusing on a single fish and mirroring its turns during close pursuit. Researchers also recorded intense echolocation click trains and low-frequency sounds while Bubbles chased individual fish.<\/p>\n
The dolphin was observed repeating the sequence as many as 10 times in 30 minutes. Researchers said they did not observe him eating the trevally themselves.<\/p>\n
Scientists said the behavior appears to be a specialized, solitary feeding tactic, though more observations are needed to determine whether Bubbles learned it alone or whether other dolphins use it there.<\/p>\n
The researchers said the tactic could provide an energy-efficient alternative to independent hunting. But they cautioned that its profitability remains unclear without additional data on Bubbles’ broader foraging behavior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A bottlenose dolphin nicknamed Bubbles chases fish near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef until they throw up their meals…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":610856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[42111,67917,266849,278350,7771,301046,272001,111,139,69,147,180942],"class_list":["post-610855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-bubbles","tag-dolphin","tag-echolocation","tag-ecology-and-evolution","tag-great-barrier-reef","tag-kleptoparasitism","tag-lady-elliot-island","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-trevally"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/610855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/610856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=610855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=610855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}