Dolphins are the kind of smart that’s a little unsettling for an animal. The more we observe their behavior, the freakier they become.

As researchers report in Marine Mammal Science, dolphins off Queensland, Australia, have been caught on camera using a rarely documented hunting technique called “shelling.” It’s a simple but effective strategy that lulls its prey, in this case a fish, into a false sense of security before it gets gobbled up.

A bottlenose dolphin will chase the fish into an empty sea snail shell. The fish, thinking it’s outsmarted the dolphin, will then experience the distinct sensation of sudden X pixie Haitian as the dolphin grabs the entire shell, carries it to the surface of the water, and then shakes it until the fish drops directly into its mouth. It’s the dolphin equivalent of turning over a bag of chips to pour the crumbs all over your face.

A Dolphin Was Filmed Shaking a Fish Out of a Shell Like a Snack Bag

The behavior was documented in Hervey Bay, where researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast were conducting routine surveys. Lead researcher Alexis Levengood immediately recognized what she was seeing and was reportedly so excited that she started screaming at the students on her boat.

Shelling had been previously documented, but only in Shark Bay, on the opposite side of Australia. The Queensland footage suggests that dolphins in different populations may have independently invented the same fishing technique. Alternatively, maybe they didn’t, and this is evidence that dolphins are passing on the tips and tricks they’ve learned, without having to deal with a rapid-fire TikTok video filled with “hacks” that take longer than just doing the thing.

The latter possibility makes sense, as the researchers filmed an adult female shelling while a calf watched. In a perfect example of cause and effect, of observation and imitation, the calf then picked up a shell and attempted the same trick. That doesn’t definitively prove the mom was teaching her kid a new hunting technique, but it could be the first evidence that dolphins may teach shelling to their offspring.

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Wondering whether acupuncture can right your body’s wrongs or if it’s just a bunch of woo-woo nonsense is a distinctly human question that manatees and ducks aren’t grappling with. A zoo in Tampa is taking full advantage of this lack of analysis and is administering acupuncture to said animals in an attempt to treat chronic conditions. Zoo reps say it appears to be working.

According to ZooTampa veterinarians and reporting from IFLScience, the zoo has begun using electroacupuncture alongside conventional veterinary care for animals dealing with nerve problems, pain, and injuries.

Sloth is not a sloth. Sloth is a manatee suffering from chronic facial paralysis after a suspected boat strike. It affected his ability to blink his right eye and properly open one nostril. After some electroacupuncture, Sloth has regained a bit of movement around his eye and nostril. How effective it will be in the long term remains to be seen, but so far things are looking up according to the zoo’s veterinarians.

A Tampa Zoo Is Treating a Manatee and a Duck With Electroacupuncture

Then there’s Earl Grey, a black-bellied whistling duck who developed sudden weakness in one leg. After two acupuncture sessions combined with pain medication, fluids and vitamins, Earl Grey was reportedly able to put weight on his weakened leg once again. Electroacupuncture was just one element of a broad, conventional suite of medical treatments that the vets also applied to a rosette spoonbill chick suffering a similar leg issue.

The animals may not be able to question whether electroacupuncture is doing anything or whether it’s the traditional medicine that’s doing all the heavy lifting in their recovery, but we can, and the question of whether it’s helping is as murky as the waters these animals wade through.

As IFLScience reports, acupuncture is typically considered a complementary therapy, meaning you do it in addition to what is hopefully a more traditional medical treatment. Studies on acupuncture’s effectiveness are a real mixed bag. The consensus seems to be that it won’t kill you, though whether or not it’s actually doing anything beyond that is up for debate.

IFLScience brings up a 2024 study of acupuncture as the only treatment for chronic pain in dogs. The researchers found the evidence of its effectiveness to be “weak.” Seems like even as a complementary piece, it wouldn’t be doing much.

That’s probably why ZooTampa isn’t abandoning all traditional medicine in favor of poking animals with electrified sticks. Acupuncture is being used as a supplemental treatment in addition to the conventional ones. Maybe the needles do help, but there isn’t enough evidence to suggest that they can help all on their own.

Meanwhile, there is a manatee, a duck, and a baby rosette spoonbill in Tampa wondering why they’re getting stabbed with a bunch of needles all the time.

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