Were Panamanian islanders dolphin hunters?

EurekAlert! ^ | January 6th, 2016 | Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

[SunkenCiv]

Precolombian seafarers left what is now mainland Panama to settle on Pedro Gonzalez Island in the Perlas archipelago about 6,000 years ago, crossing 50-70 kilometers (31-44 miles) of choppy seas -- probably in dugout canoes. Dolphins were an important part of the diet of island residents according to Smithsonian archeologist Richard Cooke and colleagues from the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA and Colombia's Universidad del Norte...

According to the results of recent excavations, published in Journal of Archaeological Science Reports, 8 percent of the mammal specimens -- bones and teeth -- recovered from a prehistoric scrap heap, or midden, belonged to dolphins. No other known settlement in Central America shows evidence of systematic dolphin consumption. The absence of dolphins in the diet of precolombian peoples is usually attributed to the difficultly of navigating canoes and spearing dolphins at sea.

Researchers have yet to find artifacts that indicate systematized hunting -- evidence of nets or spears, for example -- though one dolphin skull had a puncture wound inflicted by a blunt-pointed tool.

[SunkenCiv]

Courtesy Richard Cooke, STRI

[Daveinyork]

They ate Flipper?

[SunkenCiv]

Yes, but they canned tuna-safe dolphin.

[SunkenCiv]

[ThePatriotsFlag]

Do these "scientists" mean "porpoises" not "dolphins". I have caught, killed and eaten many dolphins. We don't need a lesson in fish and mammal labels, we need a lesson for what "scientists" means today.

("does the material from a jellyfish improve memory loss? Our scientists say YES...")

[Daveinyork]

Dolphin fish or Dolphin mammals? I’ve intentionally eaten Dolphin fish, and inadvertently the mammals before tuna was dolphin free.