The Dolphins That Follow the Nets
In Chilika Lake, Odisha's vast brackish lagoon, Irrawaddy dolphins and fishermen have developed a working rhythm that marine biologists have studied for decades. The dolphins herd fish toward the shore and toward the nets. The fishermen, reading the dolphins' movement, cast at the right moment. Both eat. This is not folklore, researchers from the Wildlife Institute of India have documented cooperative fishing behaviour between Irrawaddy dolphins (Orcaella brevirostris) and local fishers at Chilika, a pattern also recorded independently in Myanmar's Irrawaddy River and in coastal Brazil with bottlenose dolphins. The biological basis is straightforward: dolphins are highly social, echolocating hunters. A net creates a barrier that concentrates fish. The dolphin learns this, and returns.
