Dolphin Pod Gets 'High' Off Puffer Fish Toxins; Too Buzzed Too Notice Prey Slipping Away

Dolphins are said to have many human-like social traits; including the predilection for recreational drugs it seems.

Hidden cameras captured a pod in action as they got 'high' from nerve toxins released by a pufferfish in waters off Southeast Africa.

In the incredible scene, filmed for a Discovery Channel special, the sea creatures are seen rolling on their backs with their eyes closed in an apparent state of bliss.

At one point the dolphins are seen floating just underneath the water's surface, apparently mesmerized by their own reflections.

Though large doses of a puffer's neurotoxinthe can be deadly - 100 times more potent than cyanide - in small amounts it is known to produce a narcotic effect.

Dolphon Pod Gets 'High' Off Puffer Fish Toxins; Too Buzzed Too Notice Prey Slipping Away

Two dolphins playing with a puffer fish

The footage, from Dolphins: Spy in the Pod, was taken by wildlife filmmaker John Downer - who has previously used hidden cameras to bring the secrets of penguin colonies to television screens.

Downer designed underwater cameras disguised as squid, tuna and even other dolphins.

Zoologist and series producer Rob Pilley said that it was the first time dolphins had been filmed behaving this way.

He added: 'We saw the dolphins handle the puffers with kid gloves, very gently and delicately like they were almost milking them to not upset the fish too much or kill it.

'As a result the fish released various toxins as a defense. The dolphins then seemed to be mesmerized.'

He insisted that the scene couldn't have been a one-off encounter, saying: 'The dolphins were specifically going for the puffers and deliberately handling them with care.'

How incredible! Who knew!?! I'd never heard of such a thing with dolphins before. I had heard of goats eating old, fermented apples and getting drunk off of them, but that was about that. I wonder what other species do something similar, other than us of course. Very interesting. I guess you learn all sorts of things hiding cameras around these fellas. LOL

a reply to: Anyafaj

That is very Cool! Who would've thought, eh? Gives a different meaning to something I used to call some of My Friends, "Stone Critters"! LMAO!!!

HaHa Tripp'n like Flipper wish he could. Reminds me of the orb scene in Sleeper.

a reply to: Anyafaj

dawnontheamazon.com...

May I?
I'm taking a trip with family in 2016... into Peru.. then boating in to the Amazonian...
This is slightly off subject..
But my uncle a retired navel officer and sonar expert.. and his wife, a biologist.. ( applied scientists)have been studying dolphins for 25 years ).

This subject of dolphins getting high is and old thread.. but it it bares a reboot.

S&F

dawnontheamazon.com...

where might one get one of these puffers..........very funny thx for sharing

If only there was a way to regulate and create a profit from this behavior!
oh wait!

This may also explain why they're always smiling.

originally posted by: mtnshredder
This may also explain why they're always smiling.

I'd smile too if I was chewing on puffers all the time. LOL

Stoner dolphins, who knew? That was amazing.

Puff, puff, give.... Dolphin style???

That's pretty amazing. Who would have thought? I wonder if they do it for pleasure or some sort of pain relief?

The wonders of nature.

a reply to: Anyafaj

Yeah I read about this some time ago. Both funny and awesome!

Animals purposefully tripping on drugs is what floored me long ago.

Savannah animals of all species will get drunk off of fermented Kuala fruit that fell off the tree. Wobbles and falls all over the place like the drunkest of the drunk.

Leopards lick poison toads and sit there zoned out staring at there reflection in the water.

These small weird looking monkey's in Madagascar will search for and lightly bite these large armored caterpillar's that excrete poison when attacked. They behave just like us high and drunk humans, slouching onto a tree so that they don't fall on their faces. The young and the female monkey's look at their patriarch in disappointment.
=
Read an article in England where wasps hammered from eating rotten peaches and apples are buzzing around all over the place and attacking anyone and anything, including each other, without provocation. It's gotten so bad the town administrators had to step in.

Dogs in Australia licking poison toads whenever they come across them.

a reply to: hopenotfeariswhatweneed

where might one get one of these puffers

Try a Japanese restaurant. I think you may have to go to Japan, though, to find the kind that serve fugu fish, which are basically the same thing. You eat tiny slivers of the stuff to enjoy hot flushes and psychotropic effects. Eat too much, and you'll die right there at table.

Bon appetit!

I was suppose to evade the net but then I got high.
I was told to stay away but then I got high.
Now I'm chicken of the sea and I know why!

Why man?
Hey hey!
Because I got high, because I got high, because I got high.

a reply to: Astyanax

Don't forget to mention that if it's prepared improperly then you'll die right there on the spot almost immediately

originally posted by: bigman88
Animals purposefully tripping on drugs is what floored me long ago.

Savannah animals of all species will get drunk off of fermented Kuala fruit that fell off the tree. Wobbles and falls all over the place like the drunkest of the drunk.

Leopards lick poison toads and sit there zoned out staring at there reflection in the water.

These small weird looking monkey's in Madagascar will search for and lightly bite these large armored caterpillar's that excrete poison when attacked. They behave just like us high and drunk humans, slouching onto a tree so that they don't fall on their faces. The young and the female monkey's look at their patriarch in disappointment.
=
Read an article in England where wasps hammered from eating rotten peaches and apples are buzzing around all over the place and attacking anyone and anything, including each other, without provocation. It's gotten so bad the town administrators had to step in.

Dogs in Australia licking poison toads whenever they come across them.

How funny! I knew there had to be other animals, the question was, what kind.

2nd

These Dolphins need to be put behind bars. Use of a Schedule H2O narcotic is one of the most heinous crimes any mammal can commit.

a reply to: Astyanax

So that is the puffer fish...lol i remember hearing about those when i was a kid i just didn't associate them together....

Now i have another reason to visit Japan

a reply to: Eunuchorn

It's not illegal if they didn't do it on porpoise (sorry couldn't resist )