A Shell, a Fish and One Very Clever Lesson From Mom
Dolphins are out here making the animal-IQ conversation even more interesting.
Researchers working in Hervey Bay, Queensland, captured remarkable footage of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins using large empty sea-snail shells as fishing tools — a technique known as “shelling.” And the most intriguing part may be what happened when a calf appeared to follow mom’s lead.
The behavior itself is not completely new to science. Shelling had already been formally documented among dolphins in Shark Bay, Western Australia. What makes the Hervey Bay observations special is that they provide the first published record of the behavior on Australia’s east coast, thousands of kilometers away from the previously studied population.
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Here’s how the trick works: a dolphin chases a fish into a large empty shell, brings the shell to the surface and manipulates it so the water — and ideally dinner — drains toward its mouth. It requires knowing where to find the right shells and how to handle them once prey is trapped inside.
University of the Sunshine Coast researchers recorded two separate shelling sightings on July 6 and October 1, 2025. After speaking with local tour operators, the team also learned that the behavior had been photographed in the Great Sandy Marine Park in 2013 and 2019, meaning the local dolphins had apparently been doing their thing for years without scientists realizing how significant those earlier images were.
Then came thee part that really got our attention.
During the October observation, the calf of one of the females picked up the shell within minutes of its mother dropping it. Drone footage showed the youngster holding the shell at the surface in a similar way, with researchers saying the behavior suggested the calf may have been learning the technique from its mother.
The study describes this as the first potential evidence of maternal social transmission of shelling — in other words, a calf possibly learning the technique by watching its mother. That matters because previous work in Shark Bay had pointed to shelling spreading socially among peers. The Hervey Bay footage suggests there may be more than one way dolphins pass the skill around.
Researchers are not declaring the case closed just yet. They still want to understand how the behavior spreads, how often it appears and whether dolphins in other understudied regions have independently figured out the same trick.
But one thing is pretty clear: these dolphins did not need a seafood tutorial from us.
Watch Dolphins Use Shells to Hunt Fish in Hervey Bay
The video report shows the rare shelling behavior documented by researchers off Queensland’s Hervey Bay.
Sources: University of the Sunshine Coast; Marine Mammal Science; ScienceAlert. Video: New York Post / YouTube.
