Our very own Capt. Billy caught a wicked cool moment on camera during one of his eco air boat tours this week!!! In this video you can see a pod of Dolphins working together to create a ring-shaped plume of mud with their tails to corral a school of Mullet into a tight circle. The frightful fish then jump out of the water and right into the mouths of Dolphins.
This ‘mud-ring feeding’ technique is a very unique behavior and has been studied extensively. Research has shown that most fish will avoid swimming through the muddy water that is created by the Dolphins, likely because they are freighted to enter an area with such low visibility – so to steer clear they jump! This technique tailored by many Dolphins in the Florida area allows them to catch the fish in the air and also in the water within the ring.