Be cautious about what you eat-sometimes it can cost you your life. A deceased Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin was found on a beach near Perth, Western Australia, with a surprising and tragic cause of death. The dolphin's mouth was clamped around a 2.1-kilogram octopus, which led to its suffocation.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, researchers conducted a necropsy on the dolphin and discovered an octopus tentacle lodged in its esophagus, with seven additional tentacles stuck further down its throat. The suction cups of the octopus' arms adhered to the dolphin's throat, blocking its airway and causing the dolphin to choke to death.
Typically, dolphins use techniques such as shaking and tossing their prey to break it into smaller, manageable pieces. For example, they often bite off the head of an octopus and then shake and discard the rest of the body to avoid being ensnared by the tentacles. However, in this case, the dolphin failed to dismember the octopus properly.
Kate Sprogis and David Hocking, research assistants at Murdoch University, commented on the incident, stating that large octopuses can be dangerous prey for predators like dolphins. Unlike humans, dolphins lack hands to control the clingy, eight-armed cephalopod, increasing the risk of such fatal encounters.
This particular dolphin was identified as an adult male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus) and was estimated to be over 20 years old. The octopus involved weighed 2.1 kilograms, with an arm span of 130 centimeters. The necropsy revealed that the octopus' mantle was detached inside the dolphin's stomach, while the arms caused the fatal airway obstruction. No other disease or injury was found to have contributed to the dolphin's death, confirming that suffocation due to choking on the octopus was the cause.
Such cases highlight the risks predators face when hunting certain prey species. Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins typically feed on a variety of fish and cephalopods, including squid and octopus, using cooperative hunting and specialized techniques to handle their prey. However, the tenacity and physical traits of large octopuses can sometimes turn a meal into a deadly struggle.
