Dolphins learn to ‘walk on water’

This video is called Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society – Faroe Islands (1989, UK).

Not just basilisk lizards can walk on water …

From the BBC, about bottlenose dolphins:

Dolphins learn to ‘walk on water’

By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

Wild dolphins in Australia are naturally learning to “walk” on water.

Six dolphins have now been seen mastering the technique – furiously paddling their tail fluke, forcing their body out and across the water.

The dolphins seem to walk on water for fun, as it has no other obvious benefit, say scientists working for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.

That makes the behaviour a rare example of animals “culturally transmitting” a playful rather than foraging behaviour.

Only a few species are known to create their own culture – defined as the sharing or transmitting of specific novel behaviours or traditions between a community of animals.

Rare trick

The discovery was made by Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) scientist Dr Mike Bossley, who has spent 24 years studying dolphins living in the Port River in Adelaide, Australia.

In past years, Dr Bossley has witnessed two wild adult female dolphins, named Billie and Wave for research purposes, attempting to walk on water.

Now four other dolphins, including young infants, have been recorded trying to learn the trick from the two adults, and have been seen practising, less successfully, in the river.

The behaviour, when a dolphin beats its tail fluke repeatedly, so it lifts its body vertically out of the water and then along the surface, is more commonly seen among captive dolphins trained to perform tricks.

April 2011: Two young male bottlenose dolphins rescued from a squalid swimming pool in Turkey are recovering well and will soon be able to be released back into their home waters.

Dolphins recognize voices of other dolphins, research finds: here.