From ABC Science, News in Science, 11 December 2008:
Female dolphins that use marine sponges to help them forage for prey spend less time socialising with others, but still produce the same number of offspring, according to a US study.
Researchers have long known of a bottlenose dolphin population in Western Australia’s Shark Bay that use sponges as foraging tools, but they have been puzzled as to why only some of the dolphins use the sponges and why most are female.
In a study published on the PLoS One website, the team from Washington’s Georgetown University reveal how the sponge-using female dolphins spend more time foraging than other dolphins and dive for longer in deep water habitats. Read more.
Also featured on Discovery News.
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freelance science journalist and author
Bianca Nogrady
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