Welcome, Dolphins, to the league of tool-use culture

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Dolphins teach offspring to use tools (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2005-06-06-dolphin-usat_x.htm)

Looking like undersea clowns, the dolphins stick sea sponges on the tips of their snouts while rooting around the ocean floor for animals hiding in the sand, says the paper's lead author, Michael Krützen, senior lecturer at the Anthropological Institute and Museum at the University of Zurich. But the dolphins, though known for their playfulness, aren't out for a laugh: They might be trying to protect their sensitive skin from hidden dangers in the sand, such as poisonous stonefish.

[Stregone]

Cool. I beleive it is killer whales that hunt seals (I think) by pouncing on them just as they reach the beach, effectively beaching themselves in the process. But they figured out how to unbeach themselves, and the technique is passed down through teaching, not instict.

Animals are alot smarter than people give them credit for! Makes you think about how not dissimilar we are from animals. Some people can't handle that though, heh.