Common Bottlenose Dolphin Foraging: Behavioral Solutions that Incorporate Habitat Features and Social Associates

Cooperative feeding and foraging lateralization by Eden's whales off southern China

“…Although there is some debate as to the distinction between “coordination” and “cooperation” among feeding groups of cetaceans (Benoit‐Bird and Au, 2009; Pearson, 2019), we will use the definition of cooperation offered by Connor (2000), i.e., “to denote individuals doing better by acting in concert than alone, but not including exchanges of altruism.” A few cetaceans (notably killer whales Orcinus orca ) sometimes hunt cooperatively for large, individual prey (Guinet et al, 2007; Pitman & Durban, 2012), but most purported cooperative hunting involves groups of conspecifics herding up small prey into dense aggregations. This behavior is commonly observed among delphinids (e.g., Connor, 2000; Rossi‐Santos & Flores, 2009; Wells, 2019), but among baleen whales, the humpback had been the only species reported to hunt cooperatively (see Introduction).…”

“…A few cetaceans (notably killer whales Orcinus orca) sometimes hunt cooperatively for large, individual prey (Guinet et al, 2007;Pitman & Durban, 2012), but most purported cooperative hunting involves groups of conspecifics herding up small prey into dense aggregations. This behavior is commonly observed among delphinids (e.g., Connor, 2000;Rossi-Santos & Flores, 2009;Wells, 2019), but among baleen whales, the humpback had been the only species reported to hunt cooperatively (see Introduction).…”

Staying Alive: Long-Term Success of Bottlenose Dolphin Interventions in Southwest Florida

“…If so, they could be more likely to become re-injured or to pass abnormal behaviors on to their close associates. Previous studies have confirmed the role of social learning in the adoption and spread of unnatural foraging behaviors, including patrolling, scavenging, or depredating from fishing gear, within resident dolphin communities (e.g., Donaldson et al, 2012;Christiansen et al, 2016;Wells, 2019). Individuals exhibiting such behaviors also face a higher likelihood of suffering anthropogenic injuries over their lifetimes (Christiansen et al, 2016).…”

An adaptive bottlenose dolphin foraging tactic, “shipside feeding,” using container ships in an urban estuarine environment

“…As a result, dolphins and humans in coastal areas often overlap in habitat and resource use. While bottlenose dolphins have been observed using natural surfaces to trap fish, mostly including the beach during low tides (Duffy‐Echevarria et al, 2008; Gisburne & Connor, 2015; Hoese, 1971; Jiménez & Alaver, 2015; Mullin et al, 1990; Petricig, 1995; Rigley et al, 1981; Sargeant et al, 2005; Silber & Fertl, 1995), they have also been reported using nonnatural barriers to trap fish against, including the nylon netting of fish farms in Italy (López, 2006) and gill nets on commercial fishing boats in North Carolina (Cox et al, 2003), seawalls (Wells, 2019), and possibly the underwater walls of manmade channels (Ronje et al, 2018). Weiss (2006) described “barrier‐feeding” in Sarasota Bay, in which bottlenose dolphins used a variety of surfaces to herd fish, including natural surfaces and the sides of boats.…”