That's it, we're moving down to Australia so we can hang out with Mystique, the humpback dolphin from Tin Can Bay on Queensland's Cooloola Coast.
Mystique is a unique pod who had recently developed quite a unique quirk -- a habit of bringing volunteers at the Barnacles Café and Dolphin Feeding centre an array of items each day! Apparently, this unusual habit began during the coronavirus pandemic while the tourists were staying home.
Mystique is a 29-year-old male dolphin who has often displayed giving behavior but not to this extent. Dolphin feeding volunteer Lyn McPherson said, "One male dolphin brings in objects on his rostrum, or beak, and then he carefully presents them to us."
She says they reward him with some fish, "We haven't trained him, but he has trained us to do this."He gets under it [and] if he drops it too far out, or we say 'come on, that's not good enough', then he gets underneath it and brings it to us."The items have included bottles, big bits of timber, shells, and wood, which are brought in on his beak."We swear he has a collection waiting to bring to us," Ms McPherson said.
Since we've been closed to the public he has been doing it more and more. Sometimes he will bring 10, one at a time, and he will line them up as he has to get fish."
Now, that's a smart dolphin.
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