Dolphins ‘deliberately get high’ on puffer fish nerve toxins

[theHandpuppet]

Dolphins ‘deliberately get high’ on puffer fish nerve toxins

The Belfast Telegraph
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/dolphins-deliberately-get-high-on-puffer-fish-nerve-toxins-29874947.html

By Adam Withnall – 30 December 2013

Dolphins are thought of as one of the most intelligent species in the animal kingdom – and experts believe they have put their ingenuity to use in the pursuit of getting “high”.

In extraordinary scenes filmed for a new documentary, young dolphins were seen carefully manipulating a certain kind of puffer fish which, if provoked, releases a nerve toxin.

Though large doses of the toxin can be deadly, in small amounts it is known to produce a narcotic effect, and the dolphins appeared to have worked out how to make the fish release just the right amount.

Carefully chewing on the puffer and passing it between one another, the marine mammals then enter what seems to be a trance-like state....

[darkangel218]

1. So do kittens on cat nip

[theHandpuppet]

3. Yeah, but as a far as I know...

...catnip, unlike puffer fish, can't kill you. You have to wonder about the first dolphin that discovered that just a bit of a chew was fun but a meal was deadly.

[Laelth]

2. Nifty. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[morningfog]

4. Rec.

[jtuck004]

5. Shoulda named him "Tweeker" instead of "Flipper"...

They call him Tweeker, Tweeker, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is higher than he...

[meow2u3]

12. DUzy!

[hobbit709]

6. Just trying to cop a buzz.

[tridim]

7. Watch the DEA start arresting dolphins.

The documentary is all the evidence they need. Lock them all up.

[TexasProgresive]

8. Come on, Flipper, don't boggart that puffer! n/t

[RC]

9. Gee, I wonder how the law enforcement Dolphins jail the puffer fish dealers and addicts?

Can they get a life sentences for tokin' on a Puffer Fish, then passing it around?

[cactusfractal]

10. Cue the Dolphin Temperance League n/t

[Ghost Dog]

11. Definitely a sign of high intelligence.

Pun intended.

[Orrex]

13. It's a gateway fish.

[theHandpuppet]

17. LOL!

I wonder what would follow the puffer?

[mountain grammy]

14. Puffin on the puffer.. cool. Love the "spy cameras"

in fact we broke the 60 minutes blackout last evening to watch a fascinating segment on these spy cameras looking at polar bears. They showed a couple of short clips from the Attenborough series in Africa. An ingenious look into another world.

[Voice for Peace]

18. speaking of the spy cameras, I hear the USSA* has been spying on them for years, not only them but

whales, octopi, you name it, filming and recording their every move, where they go, who they meet, what they eat, and so on.
*Under Sea Surveillance Authority

[Javaman]

15. so...when will puffer fish nerve toxins be classified as schedule one narcotic? nt

[PrestonLocke]

16. Time to bring the War on Drugs to the sea! n/t

[mindquaker]

19. Even Dolphins do it

Nature is a good example, its legal to them, it must be for us.