From spears and the invention of the wheel to smartphones and robots, human societies have been building and using tools from the beginning. Human tool use has served to conquer new environments, increase communication, and ultimately alter the course of human evolution.
But humans are not alone in the use of tools. Our new study, published in the journal Marine Mammal Science, shows dolphins can use seashells to help them hunt for fish. And they might be learning this clever tool use from their mothers.
Challenging human exceptionalism
Tool use in the animal kingdom is more widespread than you might think.
One of the first documented records of tool use in non-human animals is from the 1960s, when legendary primatologist Jane Goodall observed chimpanzees using sticks to fish termites out of hollow logs. This challenged the belief that tool use was unique to humans.
Studies have since shown that primates use stones as hammers to crack open nuts and fruit.
Dolphin researchers in Western Australia have found dolphins using basket sponges on their beaks to help them hunt through rubble-littered sea floors. Dolphins use the bowl-shaped basket sponges as a protective sheath for their rostrum or beak. This armor guards their beaks while they flush out fish hidden behind broken coral, shells, and rocks.
Crows in New Caledonia fashion twigs into hooks and leaves into barbed “knives” to extract larvae from narrow crevices in trees. And octopuses have been observed carrying coconut shells to construct portable shelters.
These are just some of the many observations of animal tool use researchers have made over the years.
Stumbling upon tool use in the wild by dolphins
While studying the local dolphin populations of the Great Sandy Marine Park (Butchulla Country) in southeast Queensland, our research team stumbled upon dolphin tool use in the wild.
From our research boat, we observed Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) “shelling” — a hunting behavior where dolphins chase fish into a large empty shell, then lift the shell and manipulate it at the water’s surface to drain the fish into their mouths.
Between July and October 2025, we observed two adult female dolphins shelling. Using our cameras and drones, our team captured footage of both events.
These observations alone were important, as shelling had previously only been reported in Shark Bay, Western Australia.
Speaking to local tour operators, we learned that shelling was also observed and photographed in the Great Sandy Marine Park in 2013 and 2019. These older images show shelling has occurred in this population for longer than expected, but went unnoticed due to limited research in the region.
Mothers are the most important teacher
The Queensland shelling records show dolphins on opposite sides of Australia (more than 6,000 kilometers apart) learned to use tools in the exact same way, likely independent of one another.
This highlights how smart, clever and innovative dolphins are. And since this behavior went unreported for more than a decade here, we have to wonder: are we missing it in other parts of Australia and around the world?
We also witnessed something even more exciting.
The calf of the second female observed in October 2025 picked up the shell within minutes after the mother dropped it. Our team captured footage of the calf holding the shell at the water’s surface in the same way as its mother, with what appears to be a lizardfish dangling from the shell.
This footage provides the first potential evidence of maternal social transmission, where the calf learns to shell by watching its mother.
This aligns with other skilled foraging techniques such as sponge foraging. Because calves depend on their mothers for so long, they have plenty of time to learn from them.
So just like for us humans, mothers likely hold a very important role as a calf’s first and most important teacher.
Locations of observed dolphin shelling
A cool dinner trick?
So why do some dolphins shell? Is it to capitalize on an opportunity to help them hunt? Does it possibly help reduce competition for food among other dolphins by using a special skill set they learned? Is it just a cool dinner trick?
There’s still a lot we don’t know, and many questions we will hopefully ask and answer with time.
For now, all we can say is that within Australia, some dolphins are shelling, and that this innovative tool use has spread from individual to individual by learning.
Alexis Levengood, Lecturer in Animal Ecology, University of the Sunshine Coast
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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