Awesome Animal Fact - Puffer-loving Dolphins

One more post in the category of animals that like to get high or drunk.

Did you know rough-toothed dolphins might enjoy getting intoxicated from pufferfish toxin? By the way, compared to the more common bottlenose dolphin, the rough-toothed dolphin has more white markings on its beak and sides.

This intoxication behavior was observed for the first time in 1995 by marine biologist Lisa Steiner. She was observing a group of about 60 dolphins. They appeared to be feeding, but they were acting strange. They didn't seem to have much energy. A few of them were feeding lazily, but most were just swimming around—slowly. Then Steiner saw four inflated pufferfish among the dolphins. In fact, the dolphins were pushing the pufferfish around with their beaks. Since then, this behavior has been observed by other biologists.

You may know that pufferfish produce a dangerous toxin. This toxin, called tetrodotoxin, is actually one of the deadliest compounds known to science. It is 120,000 times more deadly than cocaine, and is hundreds of times more deadly than the venom of a black mamba or a black widow spider. In small sublethal doses, such as what a dolphin might get from gently pushing an inflated pufferfish, the toxin induces numbness, similar to what was observed in the dolphins.

Now, I need to make it clear that some biologists do not believe the dolphins are doing this on purpose (or should I say, on porpoise? haha). Dolphins are curious animals, and they may like to play with or explore pufferfish. After all, an inflated pufferfish is a pretty strange sight to see. The dolphins may unintentionally dose themselves with the toxin during the process of investigating these weird, balloon-like fish.

Inflated pufferfish - DepositPhotos