Dolphins were documented doing something never seen before - and the researcher started screaming

Researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast have documented Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in Harvey Bay, Queensland, Australia, using large empty shells as hunting tools. This behavior, known as shelling, has been recognized for years in a dolphin population in Shark Bay, Western Australia, but this is the first time it has been recorded on the east coast of the country, thousands of kilometers away. The researcher Dr. Alexis Levengood said she immediately identified the behavior and started screaming with excitement. The key observations were made in July and October 2025. On July 6, an adult female dolphin nicknamed "Stevie Nicks" was observed bringing up a large empty shell. On October 1, another dolphin, "Maserati," was documented bringing up a shell from which at least one fish emerged. Maserati's calf, Bentley, lifted the same shell and imitated its mother, which may be the first evidence of social transmission of the hunting technique from mother to offspring. The researchers note that the technique may have been invented independently in the two populations, or it may exist along the Australian coasts but has not been documented until now. Tourists apparently filmed dolphins using shells as early as 2013 and 2019, but the significance of the images only became clear to researchers in retrospect.