Dolphins Discovered with Self-Medicating Behavior, Use Corals as Rubbing Treatments

Humans are not the only creatures that treat themselves with essential materials or utilize medicinal pills for the wellness of their health.

These simplistic methods could also be observed in other animals, such as the chimpanzees, who consume rough leaves to balance their gut conditions and remove parasites from their intestinal organs. Ants are also known to devour foods that could cater to high hydrogen peroxide contents to protect themselves from fungal infections.

Self-Medication in Bottlenose Dolphins of Red Sea

In new biological research, experts were able to identify this type of preventive behavior in marine mammals, particularly dolphins. The species of bottlenose dolphins residing in the depths of the Red Sea were observed to rub their bodies against other organisms found in the aquatic environment, including sponges and coral, which all have medicinal properties that benefit the intelligent swimmers.

According to the scientists, these aquatic organisms that the bottlenose dolphins utilize have compositions that might have anti-pathogenic properties that are good at solving skin diseases.

Kyoto University's primatology and animal medication specialist Michael Huffman, who was not involved in the study, explained in a Science report that the recent discovery serves as very valuable work that presents solid research regarding the self-medication activities in species of marine wildlife.

Huffman has been an expert on primate self-medication for decades since the 1980s. Alongside the activities of primates, the expert also investigates other medication techniques demonstrated by different species of the animal kingdom.

University of Zurich's wildlife biology specialist and Dolphin Watch Alliance conservationist Angela Ziltener was among the authors of the paper that analyzed the activities of the bottlenose species in the Red Sea. Their team witnessed the behaviors first-hand by scuba diving deep below the sea's regions.

Since 2009, Ziltener's team has been posted in Egypt's Red Sea to study the population of the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins or Tursiops aduncus in the wild, and since then, have gained the trust of the species in the area.

Rubbing Against Sponges and Corals Serve as Treatments for Dolphins

In many studies, Ziltenr and colleagues observed that the particular dolphins tend to rub themselves against the spongers and corals of the sea. This activity was not random, as the authors recorded that the animals targeted specific parts of their bodies when rubbing, including the head and belly.

The most interesting part is that the bottlenose dolphins select the species of sponges and corals they use. The activity is also organized, as the adults were observed to form a queue and wait for their turn to rub. The juveniles are near the rubbing stations, carefully watching older individuals and eventually mimicking how the activity is carried out.

Ziltener explained that this phenomenon is more than just because of an itchy back. The team discovered that the dolphins choose sponges and corals that are great at clouding the water, coloring the skin of the animals, and producing substantial mucus for skin application.

The most utilized organisms were the sponge Ircinia sp., the leather coral or Sarcophyton sp., and the gorgonian coral or Rumphella aggregata. Collectively, this group contains at least 17 various biologically active compounds that are rich in antioxidants, antibacterial, and hormonal properties.

The study was published in the journal iScience, titled "Evidence that Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins self-medicate with invertebrates in coral reefs."

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