Bottlenose Dolphins Lab Report

Throughout the course of human evolution, mankind has used many different types of tools. At first, we used tools for hunting and gathering, but as we developed, we invented tools for many other tasks. Surprisingly, humans aren’t the only mammals that use tools. Even aquatic animals, such as dolphins, make use of what is in their environment to benefit themselves. In 1997, researchers observed a group of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins carrying sea sponges in their beaks. It is believed that dolphins do this to protect their sensitive snouts. When dolphins foraging for food poke around on the ocean floor, they use the sponges to shield their noses from sharp rocks, dangerous animals, and other things that might harm them. I want to determine whether or not bottlenose dolphins use sponges as tools to protect their noses when foraging for food. Testing this claim will take a well-designed plan that includes the location of the observations, the number of specimens to be observed, and the method of observation.
First of all, the experiment will have to have a carefully set time and place. Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins inhabit tropical and temperate waters of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans; they
This experiment has many outcomes. If dolphins are viewed foraging for food with sponges in their beaks, then it supports the claim that dolphins use the sponges as tools. Most likely, I will find that some dolphins use sponges while other dolphins do not. From this, I can possibly conclude that “sponging” is a learned behavior that is passed from a mother dolphin to her offspring. It is important that we study animals so that we understand what animals do and why they might to it. By researching animal behavior, we can discover so much about an animal and how it interacts with its environment. There still might be animal behaviors that we have yet to