Photo: Discovery
Unique Group of Dolphins Fish on Land
Twenty miles outside Savannah, Georgia, a maze of tidal marshes is home to a dangerous game. Just as the tide starts to suck the water out, a maverick band of dolphins swims in. They navigate the shallow pathways inland and wait. Everything has to be just perfect for their plan to work. Clever egrets and gulls line the shore, waiting for the dolphins to make their move. The tide hits its low point; the water is now just inches deep.
These dolphins have learned to fish on land. This amazing behavior is found nowhere else on Earth. Only the dolphins that call this swamp home, do this. Operating as a tactical unit, they coral the fish towards the bank. Then, in a coordinated effort, they push full force into the shore, creating a bow-wave that flushes the fish onto the banks.
Cooperation and teamwork pays off, again and again. Crashing up on shore is risky, and can leave dolphins beached in the mud, but these guys have mastered it.
The birds that live here have learned to rely on the dolphins to flush out their fish. Two hunters from different worlds working together.
