Dolphins Labeled as ‘Workaholics’ - Georgetown College

A new study that examines a subset of Western Australia’s Indian Ocean bottlenose dolphin population and its use of marine sponges as tools, provides an opportunity to assess costs and benefits of tool use while documenting patterns of transmission from mother to calf.

The study, led by Georgetown professor of biology and psychology Janet Mann, examines the relationship between tool use and fitness in wild animals. The researchers' findings are published in the Dec. 10 edition of the journal PLoS ONE.