The use of tools, for a long time, has been considered a prerogative of the human species and a defining element of culture.
Everything began to change in the 1960s with the studies of primatologist Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, observed using branches to catch termites. Since then, there have been several scientifically documented cases of non-human animals using tools to navigate their natural environments, increasingly undermining the idea that the Homo sapiens is a species like no other.
Earlier studies had already revealed that dolphins can use shells to catch fish and sponges to protect their noses while seeking prey among rocks and in the sand. These behaviors had been recorded only in Shark Bay, in Western Australia.
Now, a new investigation not only shows that dolphins in other locations also exhibit these techniques, but also suggests that the offspring learn them from their mothers.
Published in the journal ‘Marine Mammal Science, the work focuses on Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins, species Tursiops aduncus, in the Great Sandy Marine Park, in the southwestern state of Queensland, also in Australia.
Between July and October 2025, the researchers observed two adult females using shells to catch fish. Through cameras and drones, the team captured footage of this behavior.
Speaking with local tour operators, they realized that the same behavior had already been observed and photographed in that same area in 2013 and 2019. But it went unnoticed by scientists due to a lack of monitoring.
Images collected by this team also reveal that the offspring of one of the observed females picked up the shell minutes after its mother had released it into the water. The offspring held the shell in the same way as its mother did, and on one of those occasions a fish appeared to have been captured with the tool.
The authors of this study argue that the data collected may be the first scientific evidence of transmittal of this technique from mother to offspring, with the youngster learning it by observing the adult.
As with humans, they say, dolphin mothers are the most important teachers of their offspring as well.
This study thus shows that dolphins on opposite sides of Australia, separated by more than six thousand kilometers of land and many more of sea, learned to use shells to catch fish in exactly the same way.
And the researchers believe that this learning occurred independently in each group, which would serve as evidence of the intelligence and innovative capacity of dolphins.
