As senior researcher at the department Holly Raudino said, sponges come in different shapes and sizes, and different colors. One might assume that the sponges ended up on their heads without their knowledge, simply due to an encounter with marine debris. Although this species is found in other places, this behavior has not been recorded anywhere else or in any other dolphin species.
However, the researchers concluded that this unusual “headdress” was entirely intentional. According to scientists, they wear sponges to impress females.
“Even though these Australian humpback dolphins look like lawyers, they are not preparing for trial, but rather wear sea sponge wigs to impress the females!” – the department said in a post on Instagram.
Further south, another species of dolphin has also been spotted carrying sea sponges, but experts say it was for a different reason. Marine cruise operator Liam Ridgeley said the local Indo-Pacific bottlenose pod uses sponges to hunt.
They carry a sea sponge on their rostrum (a growth on the skull) or nose and dig around in the seafloor, using it like a glove to keep their snout from cutting themselves on rocks, corals and the like on the seafloor, Ridgeley said.
