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Did you know that Pufferfish are generally believed to be the second-most poisonous vertebrates in the world? (after the golden poison frog) - The toxins (known as tetrodotoxin) are all inside certain internal organs, such as liver, and sometimes the skin and around 1000x more toxic than cyanide. BUT in very small doses, these toxins can have quite a narcotic effect as these dolphins found out (and seemed to enjoy)

These dolphins were "caught in the act" by Emmy award-winning filmmaker John Downer during filming of the miniseries "Dolphins: Spy in the Pod" - He noticed that Bottlenose Dolphins would gently chew on a pufferfish and let it go. He also noticed that after chewing on the pufferfish, the dolphins would look very "spaced out". Then it hit him: these dolphins were getting high on the nerve toxin released by the pufferfish. The dolphins even seem to "pass" the pufferfish around so everyone could get their "hit"

....after which they spent a great deal of time staring at their own reflections on the water’s surface and behaving rather strange. 

Every time we learn something new about these animals it seems they are more and more like humans :) 

 

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Kiddies Booklet

Download our FREE Kiddies Educational Book... full of fun and ocean stories for the little ones

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Free ID Guide

Download our FREE ID guide on the common fish and invertebrates of KZN North Coast

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An out of the ordinary experience, an adventure on some of Salt Rock's secret, hidden beaches. Evolva Games is an adventure, a mystery experience, an escape room and scavenger hunt combined into one real-life experience. Follow a series of puzzles and clues to see if you can unravel the story! 

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