A new study of bottlenose dolphins in Australia finds that they call each other by name and touch frequently to maintain alliances. Decades of research in the region has shown that unrelated males team up in groups of two to three. This improves their chances at finding and breeding with females. (* So, Flipper likes to have a wingman, huh?) Additionally, some of these male duos or trios will sometimes form larger, second-level alliances – gangs – some of which can last their lifetimes. there can be up to 14 males in these second-level alliances. Also:
– Males each have their own signature whistle, sort of like a human name. And while a male might have the same “name” as another male outside of its pod, he never seems to share one with another male ally.
– The relationships are so tight, in fact, that the males spend a lot of time caressing each other with their pectoral fins. (* Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) Drone footage has revealed they may even swim with their fins laying on top of each other, as if holding hands.
* Oh, so THAT’S how it is in their family.
* Maybe it’s their version of thumb wrestling.
* Do gangs of dolphins ever confront gangs of sharks and act out “West Side Story”?
* In addition, researchers have learned that the dolphins are a little light in the tight-end position, but they feel pretty good about getting Mike Gesecki and Durham Smythe in the draft.