Not just as tools, they use sponges almost exactly like how we use shoes, hats, or gloves (as protection). I'd go as far to say this is dolphin clothing.
> The findings...offer the first direct evidence that dolphins' use of tools can help them to exploit new food environments in their ecosystems. Which would be a form of environmental engineering.
Does the nutcracker qualify as a feat of environmental engineering?
"On the other hand, though, sponging suggests a level of cognitive sophistication that we'd previously reserved only for ourselves and our closest cousins."
There's a certain arrogance to this. Only this week I watched a small bird throwing snails onto the ground to break and eat them. Why it was throwing was puzzling, as Black birds have sharp pointed beaks and could easily peck at the shell.
You only get 1 beak, best to let the ground do the work.
I, too, have a blackbird visitor, that does this, it has a favourite stone anvil which is just right to break the snail shells integrity - so it is a tool user.
"You only get 1 beak, best to let the ground do the work."
Great observation. This must be a cheap adaption, same technique, different continent.
I've seen Crows do similar things. Magpies and Kookaburras also use branches to kill what they catch. Instinctively they smash what they have in their beak on a branch. Have yet to see one use a stick though.
I think more study of cetacean intelligence could lead to some really fascinating prospects for the future.