4 ms·

Dolphins Seem to Use Toxic Pufferfish to Get High

25 points by prostoalex 8y ago

_Schizotypy 8y ago
Lock up the criminal dolphins! /s
- alexvoda 8y ago
  Add them to the sex offender registry!
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
chei0iaV 8y ago
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.
skilled 8y ago
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
- elcomet 8y ago
  So are you jealous that this thread is catching attention while yours was not? what's exactly the point of your comment?
  - skilled 8y ago
    Exactly that... is it bad to be jealous? It can be annoying... that I know!
- mikejb 8y ago
  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 8y ago
    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. ;-)
LeonM 8y ago
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&prefix&page=0&dateRange=all&type=story https://hn.algolia.com/?query=dolphins%20puffer&sort=byDate&...
- snazz 8y ago
  Including two days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19184234 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19184234
- PurpleRamen 8y ago
  And 6 of those 10 Times was in the last 5 days.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
drawkbox 8y ago
> 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.
sp332 8y ago
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
- refurb 8y ago
  I had an inkling the article was BS for similar reasons. TTX blocks sodium channels. Nothing about that mechanism would get you “high”, unless by “high” you mean numbness and difficulty breathing. I love how in the Twitter feed, people want to believe the article is true. Why? They love a cute story? Animals getting high is cool? The internet would never lie? They seem overinvested in it being true.
- drawkbox 8y ago
  Animals do like to sedate though including some samples in the article, we all know cats love catnip. Same with mice in tests. Even if this case it not fully confirmed or incorrect we do know animals partake in activities to have fun.
- throwawaymath 8y ago
  Thanks for that - the contrarian skeptic in me has been vindicated. The wonders of the internet are allowing us to break down Gell-Mann Amnesia. Now when we see whimsical headlines like this one, we can just @ relevant academic authorities uninvolved in the story and bait them to debunk it.
- pharrington 8y ago
  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).
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
jychri 8y ago
Same.
hannob 8y ago
Here's an article debunking it: http://justingregg.com/evidence-for-dolphins-getting-high-on-puffer-fish-toxin-is-weak/ http://justingregg.com/evidence-for-dolphins-getting-high-on... tl;dr it's not based on any scientific evidence, it's a few anecdotes and it's entirely unclear if it's plausible.

25 points by prostoalex 8y ago

_Schizotypy 8y ago

Lock up the criminal dolphins! /s

alexvoda 8y ago
Add them to the sex offender registry!
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

chei0iaV 8y ago

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.

skilled 8y ago

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

elcomet 8y ago
So are you jealous that this thread is catching attention while yours was not? what's exactly the point of your comment?
- skilled 8y ago
  Exactly that... is it bad to be jealous? It can be annoying... that I know!
mikejb 8y ago
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 8y ago
  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. ;-)

LeonM 8y ago

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

snazz 8y ago
Including two days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19184234 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19184234
PurpleRamen 8y ago
And 6 of those 10 Times was in the last 5 days.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

drawkbox 8y ago

> 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.

sp332 8y ago

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

refurb 8y ago
I had an inkling the article was BS for similar reasons. TTX blocks sodium channels. Nothing about that mechanism would get you “high”, unless by “high” you mean numbness and difficulty breathing. I love how in the Twitter feed, people want to believe the article is true. Why? They love a cute story? Animals getting high is cool? The internet would never lie? They seem overinvested in it being true.
drawkbox 8y ago
Animals do like to sedate though including some samples in the article, we all know cats love catnip. Same with mice in tests. Even if this case it not fully confirmed or incorrect we do know animals partake in activities to have fun.
throwawaymath 8y ago
Thanks for that - the contrarian skeptic in me has been vindicated. The wonders of the internet are allowing us to break down Gell-Mann Amnesia. Now when we see whimsical headlines like this one, we can just @ relevant academic authorities uninvolved in the story and bait them to debunk it.
pharrington 8y ago
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).
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

jychri 8y ago

Same.

hannob 8y ago

Here's an article debunking it: http://justingregg.com/evidence-for-dolphins-getting-high-on-puffer-fish-toxin-is-weak/ http://justingregg.com/evidence-for-dolphins-getting-high-on... tl;dr it's not based on any scientific evidence, it's a few anecdotes and it's entirely unclear if it's plausible.