Wild dolphins tail-walk too

Scientists from the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) have been stunned to witness a number of wild dolphins from a group living in the waters off Adelaide, Australia, performing the tail-walking trick, which is usually only seen in captivity

Scientists studying the group say tail-walk tuition has not been observed before, and suggest the habit may emerge as a form of "culture" among this group. One of them, a female bottlenose dolphin named Billie, spent a short time after illness in a dolphinarium 20 years ago and may have picked up the trick there. In the early 1980s Billie became trapped behind a marina lock and, unable to return to the sea, she was captured by the local dolphinarium. Billie was kept in a concrete tank for three weeks before being released back into the wild, with a ‘3’ branded on her dorsal fin to make her easily recognisable.

Despite receiving no formal training during this time, it would appear that Billie observed her cell mates being fed for performing tailwalking tricks, and learned the behaviour for herself. After she was released from the dolphinarium, Billie returned to her usual haunts and it seems she has passed on the skills she acquired during her captivity.

Now, other females in the group have picked up the habit. It is seen rarely in the wild, and the obvious inference is that they have learned it from Billie.

"This indicates that they do learn from each other, which is not a surprise really, but it does also seem that they exhibit elements of what in humans we would call 'cultural' behaviour," said Dr Mike Bossley from the WDCS.