Public Lecture: The ecology and learning of dolphin tool use.

Dr Eric Patterson of the Department of Biology at Georgetown University, USA will present a public lecture about his work on dolphin tool usage on Friday 10 May 1:30-2:30pm in the Kim Beazley Lecture Theatre.

Dr Eric Patterson of the Department of Biology at Georgetown University, USA will present a public lecture about his work on dolphin tool usage on Friday 10 May 1:30-2:30pm in the Kim Beazley Lecture Theatre. The abstract for his seminar is below.

Dolphins are well known for their exquisite echolocation abilities that are widely used during foraging, but some dolphins use tools to forage. In Shark Bay, Australia a subset of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp., primarily female) specialize in a foraging tactic in which they wear marine basket sponge tools for protection while probing the substrate in search of prey. While a great deal is known about this unique tool-use behaviour, it is still not known why dolphins probe the substrate at all given their echolocation abilities, or, if like human specialists, dolphins continually improve their tool-use skills with experience. By ‘sponge foraging’ ourselves and examining longitudinal changes in several aspects of sponge foraging proficiency, we demonstrate the necessity of sponge tools and document lifelong learning. Sponge foraging dolphins target prey that both lack swimbladders and burrow in a rubble-littered substrate, making them difficult to detect with echolocation. As such, dolphins must probe the substrate to access this resource, and in doing so, benefit from using protective sponge tools. Additionally, we found that several aspects of sponging proficiency peak when dolphins are in their mid-20s, well after they initially learn the behaviour at age 2, but before their maximum lifespan of around 40 years. This peak performance occurs when females are most likely to have dependent offspring, and thus, when foraging proficiency matters most due to the energetic demands of lactation. Together, our results suggest that sponge tools have allowed dolphins to exploit an empty niche inaccessible to their non-tool- using counterparts, and that dolphins continue to improve tool use competency throughout their lives in a manner very similar to how humans develop expertise. Such data provide insight into the ecological conditions that promote tool use and innovation in the wild, and have implications for evolution of life histories, brain size, learning, individual specialization, and culture.