Posted on 05/20/2022 9:00:30 AM PDT by OneVike
This is one the most fascinating short videos I have seen in awhile. I love dolphins, and as such I have always been fascinated by their behavior towards humans. Yet, when I ran across this video, I found myself watching it over and over again. Knowing how it would end up, but wishing for a different outcome. Yet dolphins are but big fish, and they must eat. Someone will inevitably reply to me, "Hey it's a mammal." Well I know that, and the carnivores one's like to eat smaller animals, regardless of the category we put them in.
Normally when I see a big animal eat a small fish, the whole process is over so quick that my mind never registers any negative feelings for the act. It's a fish and I enjoy fishing. To me they are so low on the food chain they seldom even register a care in my heart about their demise, regardless of how vicious the process may seem. After all, animals in the wild need to eat, and the lower one is on the food chain, the more chance they have of becoming a meal for larger animal or human.
However, my feelings always get in the way during the chase, not so much for a short chase that's over before one can imagine being the chased, but rather those times when you find yourself rooting for the dinner to get away. This is one of those moments. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do, because this little critter sure deserved to have another chance, but then again, the dolphin needs to eat.
There is a point in the video where I began wondering why Flipper was ignoring all the other little fish that are not trying to get out of the way of him trying to catch Nemo. Which tells me that Flipper must have been pretty mad Nemo for constantly getting away that he is oblivious to all the others he could have eaten while chasing the one.
and now for something completely different...
Interesting tactic the little fish has. He does a quick 360 whenever the dolphin gets close and circles back around to the dolphins tail (should name it Jen Psaki, not Nemo) and tries to hide from the dolphin’s field of view by chasing it’s tail
Great point. I should have. LOL. Thanks
A dolphin isn’t a fish.
The difference is that the fish actually circles back. Psaki used it as a dodge, but rarely actually came back with an answer.
Yes, but the dolphin picked up on the little guy’s tactic and started cutting his circles shorter, until he nabbed the meal. The fish was the one not learning from the encounter. If it had 360’d and took off in a straight line out of the area, he might have lived to swim another day.
I saw an interesting vid of a sea turtle avoiding the clutches of a shark that proved successful.
Yes, dolphins are mammals, not fish. And this one’s hunting pattern actually gives it better odds of catching its prey. Schooling fish such as herring generally hang out in huge roiling balls. This is a common defense technique serving to confuse predators. The predators which focus on one particular fish are more likely to catch it, vs. going from one to another in a constantly moving mass.
In this case, there could be some play involved, too. Dolphins seem to incorporate play into everything they do, which is another sign of their intelligence.
Interesting. Learned a bit thanks.
I knew someone would point it out. Obviously you did not read my whole comment on the video.
Too fuynny.
Johnny, quit playing with your food.
I thought that the little fish was playing along as he kept following the dolphin.
I wouldn’t be very good at being a small fish. . .
Well small fish do that with larger mammals. Like pilot fish that hang around whales looking for crumbs to fall from it’s mouth.
Switching from one prey animal to another is a good way to end with nothing.
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