Environment Magazine

Scientists Use Sea Turtle Spy to Watch Dolphins Getting Stoned

Posted on the 10 January 2014 by Earth First! Newswire @efjournal

Earth First! Newsblowfish

Equipped with a remote-controlled sea turtle with cameras in its eyes, a group of marine biologists and filmmakers recently witnessed young dolphins getting high on puffer fish nerve toxin.

The dolphins were filmed gently chomping on a puffer fish –perhaps to extract a low dose of dope–and then passing it around amongst the group.

“[T]hey began acting most peculiarly, hanging around with their noses at the surface as if fascinated by their own reflection,” noted zoologist Rob Pilley. “It reminded us of that craze a few years ago when people started licking toads to get a buzz, especially the way they hung there in a daze afterwards. It was the most extraordinary thing to see.”

Wow. Pass the puffer to the left hand side. No, no, wait, how about Puffer, puffer, pass.

The psychedelic porpoise party was recorded for the BBC nature documentary Dolphins: Spy in the Pod.  You can see a short clip here.


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