Dolphins are probably getting high on blowfish

Young dolphins in Western Australia like to pass around blowfish — probably to get high, according to new research. Krista Nicholson, a researcher at Murdoch University in Perth, observed young porpoises holding a blowfish in their mouths for several hours,...

Dolphins are probably getting high on blowfish

Young dolphins in Western Australia like to pass around blowfish — probably to get high, according to new research.

Krista Nicholson, a researcher at Murdoch University in Perth, observed young porpoises holding a blowfish in their mouths for several hours, before passing it along to their friends. But they never actually eat the blowfish — they just chew on one and then toss it around.

Blowfish contain a toxin known as tetrodotoxin, which is lethal for humans. But scientists claim that small doses in dolphins put them in a trance-like state.

The suggestion that the dolphins are getting high isn’t a new observation — a research paper from 1995 noted the same behavior with bottle-nosed dolphins in Portugal, and a 2014 BBC documentary was the first to film the unusual behavior.

“This was a case of young dolphins purposely experimenting with something we know to be intoxicating,” Rob Pilley, a producer on the series, told the Sunday Times ahead of the premiere. “It was the most extraordinary thing to see.”

But some scientists are in disagreement over the dolphins’ behavior — while many believe in the above “puff, puff, pass” theory, others — including Nicholson — say that the tetrodotoxin only makes the dolphins feel numb, not high.

Either way, dolphins aren’t the only members of the animal kingdom who know how to get a buzz. Elephants eat fermented fruit to get drunk, Siberian reindeer munch on hallucinogenic mushrooms and wallabies like to get high off of poppies.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.

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