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Dolphins learn how to use tools to hunt for fish from their mothers

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 732 words · By Alexis Levengood
Animal Tool Use Animal Intelligence Maternal Social Transmission
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What to know about Animal Tool Use

Researchers have documented Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Queensland, Australia, using seashells as tools to hunt fish. The study suggests these behaviors may be passed from mothers to calves through social transmission, similar to other observed tool-using animals.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 13
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

2 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

From spears and the invention of the wheel to smartphones and robots, human societies have been building and using tools from the beginning.

Why it matters

Human tool use has served to conquer new environments, increase communication, and ultimately alter the course of human evolution.

Common ground

But humans are not alone in the use of tools.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Researchers have documented Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Queensland, Australia, using seashells as tools to hunt fish. The study suggests these behaviors may be passed from mothers to calves through social transmission, similar to other observed tool-using animals.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/dolphins-learn-how-to-use-tools-to-hunt-for-fish-fro…

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 8
schedule Pending 3
help Insufficient Evidence 1
info Single Source 1
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Claim 1: “The Queensland shelling records show dolphins on opposite sides of Australia (more than 6,000 kilometres apart) learned to use tools in the exact same way”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 2: “shelling had previously only been reported in Shark Bay, Western Australia.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm or deny whether shelling had previously only been reported in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
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Claim 3: “Crows in New Caledonia fashion twigs into hooks and leaves into barbed “knives” to extract larvae from narrow crevices in trees.”
CORROBORATED
Sources confirm New Caledonian crows manufacture hooked stick tools and leaf tools to extract larvae.
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web search NEUTRAL — The New Caledonian crow is a medium-sized member of the family Corvidae, native to New Caledonia. The bird is often referred to as the 'qua-qua' due to its distinctive call.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Caledonian_crow
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web search NEUTRAL — Two decades of University of St Andrews field and aviary studies have shown that New Caledonian crows manufacture hooked stick tools to specific designs, extract prey faster with them, and safeguard t…
https://scienceblog.com/sb-researchers-at-the-university-of-…
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web search NEUTRAL — New Caledonian crows manufacture an impressive range of stick and leaf tools.Crows follow a three-step process: selection, trimming, and sculpting for tool creation. The average time for sculpting hoo…
https://www.academia.edu/7386412/The_crafting_of_hook_tools_…
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Claim 4: “Dolphin researchers in Western Australia have found dolphins using basket sponges on their beaks to help them hunt through rubble-littered sea floors.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that dolphins in Western Australia use basket sponges on their beaks to protect themselves while hunting on rubble-littered sea floors.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Australian snubfin dolphin (Orcaella heinsohni) is a dolphin found off the northern coasts of Australia. It closely resembles the Irrawaddy dolphin (of the same genus, Orcaella) and was not descri…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_snubfin_dolphin
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dolphin Island is an island situated in the Dampier Archipelago in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Visitors are able to camp within 100 metres (328 ft) of the high water mark on all of the be…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_Island_(Western_Austra…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Dolphins are a professional rugby league football team that competes in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL), and plays most of its home games at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Launched as a b…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphins_(NRL)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 5: “While studying the local dolphin populations of the Great Sandy Marine Park (Butchulla Country) in southeast Queensland, our research team stumbled upon dolphin tool use in the wild.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent reports confirm the observation of dolphin tool use in the Great Sandy Marine Park in southeast Queensland.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bernie the Dolphin is a 2018 Canadian-American adventure drama film directed by Kirk Harris and starring Lola Sultan, Patrick Muldoon, Logan Allen and Kevin Sorbo. It tells the story of two kids who h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_the_Dolphin
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Great Sandy Marine Park is a protected marine area located off the coast of Queensland, Australia. The park surrounds the island of K'Gari (formerly known as Fraser Island) and the Great Sandy Nationa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sandy_Marine_Park
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Great Sandy Strait is a strait in the Australian state of Queensland of 70 kilometres (43 mi) length which separates mainland Queensland from K'gari. It is also an offshore locality in the Fraser …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Sandy_Strait
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 6: “octopuses have been observed carrying coconut shells to construct portable shelters.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the provided evidence mentions octopuses are intelligent and diverse, the specific claim about carrying coconut shells for shelters is not explicitly detailed in the provided search snippets, although it is a known biological fact in general knowledge. Based strictly on provided evidence, it is not corroborated.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviourally diverse invertebrates. Octopuses inhabit various ocean habitats, including coral reefs…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 13, 2024 · These bizarre creatures have been around for hundreds of millions of years, and for humans, they’ve inspired horror, admiration and culinary prestige. Octopuses, those whip-smart, bizar…
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ten-wild-facts…
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web search NEUTRAL — An octopus has blue blood and three hearts. But these aren't even the most astonishing things scientists have discovered about these beguiling marine animals. Here are some additional ways octopuses a…
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/octopuses-keep-surprising-us-…
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Claim 7: “Our new study, published in the journal of Marine Mammal Science, shows dolphins can use seashells to help them hunt for fish.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm a study published in the journal 'Marine Mammal Science' regarding dolphins using seashells to hunt fish.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Marine Mammal Science is a quarterly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all topics about or related to marine mammals. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of The Society for Marine Mam…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_Mammal_Science
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, marine otters, sea otters and polar bears. They are an info…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_mammal
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A marine mammal park (also known as marine animal park and sometimes oceanarium) is a commercial theme park or aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, beluga whales and sea lions are kept with…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_mammal_park
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “shelling was also observed and photographed in the Great Sandy Marine Park in 2013 and 2019.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 9: “we observed Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) “shelling” – a hunting behaviour where dolphins chase fish into a large empty shell, then lift the shell and manipulate it at the water’s surface to drain the fish into their mouths.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources describe the specific 'shelling' behavior of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) as described in the claim.
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web search NEUTRAL — Researchers have recorded what appears to be an Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) mother giving its calf a lesson in a hunting technique called shelling.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dolphins-learn-shell-from-mot…
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web search NEUTRAL — The research team recorded two instances of Indo -Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) performing this behavior between July and October 2025.
https://www.vietnam.vn/en/lan-dau-ghi-hinh-ca-heo-dung-vo-so…
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web search NEUTRAL — From our research boat, we observed Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) "shelling"—a hunting behavior in which dolphins chase fish into a large empty shell, then lift and manipulate th…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-dolphins-tools-fish-mothers.ht…
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Claim 10: “The calf of the second female observed in October 2025 picked up the shell within minutes after the mother dropped it.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 11: “One of the first documented records of tool use in non-human animals is from the 1960s, when legendary primatologist Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees using sticks to fish termites out of hollow logs.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and educational articles, confirm Jane Goodall documented chimpanzees using sticks to fish for termites in the 1960s.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Derek Noel MacLean Bryceson (December 31, 1922 – October 1, 1980) was a British-Tanzanian politician best known as the second husband of Jane Goodall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Bryceson
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dame Valerie Jane Morris Goodall ( GUUD-awl; née Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934 – 1 October 2025) was an English primatologist and anthropologist. Regarded as a pioneer in primate ethology, and describe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) is a global non-profit wildlife and environment conservation organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by English primatologist Jane Goodal…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall_Institute
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 12: “Studies have since shown that primates use stones as hammers to crack open nuts and fruit.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that various primates, including chimpanzees and capuchin monkeys, use stones as hammers to crack nuts and fruit.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A chimpanzee uses a stone to crack a nut. When food is scarce, tool use among non-human primates does not increase.Bearded capuchin monkeys living in savannah-like environments also use a variety of t…
https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/opportunity-and-not-nece…
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web search NEUTRAL — The use of tools by primates is varied and includes hunting (mammals, invertebrates, fish), collecting honey, processing food (nuts, fruits, vegetables and seeds), collecting water, weapons and shelte…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tool_use_in_primates
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web search NEUTRAL — Yet from these simple tools, more and more complex technology ensued. Tool use is not unique to humanity, however, and there are a number of primates that are known to use stones to perform percussive…
https://www.sciencealert.com/the-broken-stones-of-monkeys-lo…
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Claim 13: “Between July and October 2025, we observed two adult female dolphins shelling.”
CORROBORATED
Web search results specifically mention the recording of two shelling events involving bottlenose dolphins in the Great Sandy Marine Park between July and October 2025.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, Bolshevik Revolution, and occasionally the November Revolution, w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_Revolution
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — 2013 (MMXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2013th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 13th year of the 3rd millennium and the 21…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — October is the 10th month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. The eighth month in the old calendar of Romulus c. 750 BC, October retained its name (from Latin and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/October
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.