Experts photographed two male sexually aroused dolphins playing with an anaconda in one of the most strange scientific interactions.
Researchers observed Bolivian river dolphins swimming in Bolivia's Tijamuchi River with the unlucky anaconda in their mouths.
However, the most bizarre part was that the dolphins had erect penises while carrying the snake.
Researchers published their study, "A case of playful interaction between Bolivian River Dolphins with a Beni Anaconda," in Ecology.
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Two Sexually-Aroused Dolphins Interact With Anaconda In Bolivian River
Two Bolivian river dolphins were spotted swimming and playing in Bolivia's Tijamuchi River. The weird part? They carried an apex predator, a Beni anaconda, in their jaws.
Surprisingly, they were quite playful and lingered longer on the surface than usual, which is generally between two and five seconds.
"It could have been sexually stimulating for them," said Diana Reiss, a marine mammal scientist at Hunter College in New York, told the New York Times.
Unfortunately, Steffen Reichle, a scientist from Bolivia's Noel Kempff Mercado Natural History Museum, said in the same NY Times report that the snake's encounter was most likely unpleasant.
The snake didn't move throughout the encounters and stayed submerged for a long time, leading the researchers to conclude it was likely dead by the time of the investigation.
According to researchers, the dolphins were believed to be playing rather than attempting to devour the anaconda. However, the fact that they were sexually aroused implies that frolicking has reached a new level.
There were also immature dolphins present and the adults probably displayed the snake to them.
Rivers are frequently muddier and harder to navigate than seas, river dolphins are famously tricky to view. Even if the subtleties of what's going on aren't obvious, it's still a great insight into how these mammals spend some time.
Bolivian river dolphins were photographed with an anaconda in their mouths in August 2021. The aroused males could have been having a sexual romp with each other before the snake became entangled. https://t.co/wOyrIe6CUL pic.twitter.com/tADtnIbPWv
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 4, 2022
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A Rare Interaction
While it's unclear what transpired here, Science Alert said dolphins and other cetaceans are known for their playful behaviors, in which other animals may or may not join.
The photo was taken in August 2021 near the Tijamuchi River in Bolivia. Researchers noticed a bunch of dolphins hovering above the water longer than normal. Still, they didn't know what was happening until they looked at the images.
The dolphins interacted with the snake in various ways, occasionally swimming in a coordinated pattern but mostly staying in the same area (the activity moved around 70-80 meters or 230-262 feet downstream while the researchers were watching for over 7 minutes).
The researchers believe the dolphins were either teaching each other about the snake or eating it rather than playing with it since these interactions between dolphins are unique. Another possibility is that the playful conduct was sexual in nature.
About Dolphin-Snake Interactions
The massive snake was a Beni anaconda (Eunectes beniensis), an apex predator with a length of roughly 14 feet, Daily Mail reported.
Although it is semi-aquatic, experts believe that this particular species died because its head was kept underwater for too long while the dolphins swam with it.
Usually, Bolivian river dolphins swim beneath the surface. Still, these two maintained their heads above water for an exceptionally extended period of time.
According to the researchers, this is the first time a Bolivian river dolphin has interacted with a Beni anaconda. Several questions about the unusual interactions between the two dolphins and the snake have remained unanswered.
Due to a shortage of nutritional information on river dolphins, it's probable that snakes are used as both a fun and maybe educational item.
The authors add that further observations will hopefully increase knowledge of "these exquisite and unique denizens of the isolated Beni floodplains."
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