
Dolphins Seem to Use Toxic Pufferfish to Get High - prostoalex
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dolphins-seem-to-use-toxic-pufferfish-to-get-high-180948219/
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LeonM
Oh boy, again the dolphin pufferfish article.

This article has been submitted on HN 10 times [0] in the past 5 years. Linked
from various websites. This seems one of those articles that does really well
on algorithms.

[https://hn.algolia.com/?query=dolphins%20puffer&sort=byDate&...](https://hn.algolia.com/?query=dolphins%20puffer&sort=byDate&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story)

~~~
snazz
Including two days ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19184234](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19184234)

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sp332
Here's a vision neuroscientist - Robert Marc, distinguished professor emeritus
University of Utah - shooting down the whole article.
[https://twitter.com/robertmarc60/status/1096946633361641472](https://twitter.com/robertmarc60/status/1096946633361641472)

~~~
pharrington
Man, I hope nobody tells Professor Marc that Homo sapiens have been documented
inhaling benzene and other[X] potent neurotoxins to get high!

[X]edit: specifically with benzene, I was apparently wrong to call it a
neurotoxin (its mechanisms of toxicity aren't neurological).

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drawkbox
> _The dolphins were filmed gently playing with the puffer, passing it between
> each other for 20 to 30 minutes at a time, unlike the fish they had caught
> as prey which were swiftly torn apart._

> _Zoologist and series producer Rob Pilley said that it was the first time
> dolphins had been filmed behaving this way._

> _At one point the dolphins are seen floating just underneath the water 's
> surface, apparently mesmerised by their own reflections._

Apparently dolphins know how to have a good time and know more than we think.
Dolphins will be the first to jet if it all goes under just like in Hitchikers
Guide to the Galaxy.

From the Guide:

>> _" On the planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent
than dolphins because he had achieved so much—the wheel, New York, wars and so
on—whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a
good time._

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_Schizotypy
Lock up the criminal dolphins! /s

~~~
alexvoda
Add them to the sex offender registry!

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skilled
Let me guess... you love dolphins so much that you can't stop reading about
them... /sigh

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19189284](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19189284)

~~~
mikejb
You seem to love reading about them just as much. One day before your
submission:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19185432](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19185432)

But don't worry, you're in good company:

2 days ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19184234](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19184234)

Shortly before that:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19181575](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19181575)

4 days ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19164541](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19164541)

And that's just within the last week. Luckily it doesn't keep up this
frequency:

4 months ago:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18155797](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18155797)

March 6th, 2014:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7356602](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7356602)

January 4th, 2014:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7009842](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7009842)

December 30th, 2013:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6985677](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6985677)

~~~
skilled
I did have a dream about a dolphin the other day... coincidence?! I think
not...

But yes, I can be a smartass sometimes and too lazy to check what's posted or
not... thanks for calling me out on it. ;-)

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hannob
Here's an article debunking it: [http://justingregg.com/evidence-for-dolphins-
getting-high-on...](http://justingregg.com/evidence-for-dolphins-getting-high-
on-puffer-fish-toxin-is-weak/)

tl;dr it's not based on any scientific evidence, it's a few anecdotes and it's
entirely unclear if it's plausible.

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jychri
Same.

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chei0iaV
I'd love to watch a documentary on this type of behavior. There seems to be
multiple instances of it in the animal kingdom.

My grandmas dog actually had a taste for a particular mushroom that would
really daze him out. We had to watch him closely or he'd be messed up and
stumbling around for hours.

