From Correspondent Miles O'Brien
HILTON HEAD, South Carolina -- In the salt marshes near Hilton Head, South Carolina, around 30 Atlantic Bottle Nose dolphins have perfected a coordinated hunting strategy. They first herd fish into a cluster, and then, in a magnificent synchronized rush, they propel the cluster -- and themselves -- onto the muddy bank, making a mullet snack ripe for the taking.
Scientists call this behavior "strand feeding," and to them, it is yet again proof of this gentle marine mammal's thinking capacity; after all, dolphins are second only to humans in intelligence.
Researcher Cara Gubbins of Connecticut's Mystic Marinelife Aquarium is part of a crew studying dolphin behavior in these brackish waters. "It's like a feeding frenzy out here today," she remarked, observing the dolphins gobble up a well-deserved meal.
Researchers hope the study will form the basis for recommendations on how to preserve the dolphins' habitat, says Mystic research director Dave St. Aubin.
Toward that end, Gubbins and her crew spend much of their time in the water, using the dolphin's dorsal fin as a marker to shadow the graceful creatures. The long, sometimes tedious hours she spends in the creek have done nothing to dampen her enthusiasm -- or her wonder at the dolphins' flawless movement and timing.
"When I see them there, and they are just flopping there, I don't get blasé at all," she says. "It is an incredible thing to see. They are so synchronized. It is amazing."
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