World’s smallest marine dolphins can perform underwater barrel rolls

Scientists observing boats did not know little about the underwater behavior of the smallest marine dolphin in the world, the Dauphin of Hector.

Now an article has revealed a hidden world, including a range of acrobatics. Research is published in the journal Conservation letters.

The barrel rolls, the dives up to 120 m deep and the diet upside down near the seabed were the behaviors discovered through monitoring devices.

“There are very impressive dives,” said the scientist at the University of Auckland, Dr. Ilias Foskolos, the main study of the study. “Swimming at 120 meters is something for an animal 1.4 meters long – that was not what we expected.”

Scientists have created dive animations of a dolphin, accompanied by sounds of the mammal echolocation clicks, which turn into buzz as an electrical tool during the target targets.

In a trial in the sanctuary of the marine mammals of Clifford and Cloudy Bay at the top of the South Island, sound recording and movement devices called DTAGS, developed by New Zealand professor Mark Johnson, were attached to 11 dolphins of Hector using the cups of aspiration.

The dolphins changed tactics according to the place where they feeded, the recordings showed.

Near the seabed, they sailed slowly, overthrowing upside down to grab the flat fish and cod. In Midwater, they increased energy, performing barrel rolls to catch small educated fish.

The offshore farthest, a swallowed dolphin was 15 km.

Professor Rochelle Constantine, professor at the University of Auckland, said that the study has demonstrated the value of follow -up systems.

“Although it is a preliminary study, we can clearly see the value of the DTAG to understand the risks such as interactions with fishing equipment or ships,” said Constantine. “It is important to continue this work to better understand how to minimize the risks for dolphins and know how they behave in other places.”

About 15,000 Hector dolphins live in coastal waters around the southern island – their only habitat.

The sanctuaries of marine mammals seek to manage overlapping between fishing and dolphin habitats, as well as protections thanks to the government threat management plan.