Dolphins and fishermen working together

In Laguna, a coastal town in Brazil, local fishermen and dolphins team up so they both catch more fish.  It’s a cultural tradition which has taken place for almost 150 years. Dolphins herd shoals of mullet towards fishermen standing in a row and waist-deep in the sea.  The fishermen can’t see the fish clearly under the water, but they can easily see the dolphins. They wait for the dolphins to signal where the fish are by slapping their tails and heads on the surface, and only then do they throw their nets.

Cooperating, fishermen and dolphins guarantee a successful catch. The fishermen benefit from the dolphins help and the dolphins find it much easier to catch fish when they are trapped against a barrier like this. They gulp down fish that escape the nets. The fishermen’s nets also break up the mullet shoal making it easier for dolphins to catch fish one at a time.

This is a wonderful example of human and dolphin cultures cooperating and combining their skills so that everybody benefits!