Some dolphins treat skin conditions by rubbing themselves against corals, according to a recent report in the journal iScience.
Researchers said in the report that the corals have medicinal properties and suggested that the dolphins use the marine invertebrates to medicate skin conditions.
Dolphins were observed rubbing against specific corals.
Co-lead author Angela Ziltener, who is also a wildlife biologist at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, said in a news release that she noticed that planet-earth were selective about which corals they rubbed against.
“I hadn’t seen this coral rubbing behavior described before, and it was clear that the dolphins knew exactly which coral they wanted to use,” Ziltener said in the release and added, “I thought, ‘There must be a reason.”
Spinner dolphins swim in a pod.
(Sylvain CORDIER/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
OVER 90% OF GREAT BARRIER REEF CORAL STUDIED THIS YEAR WAS BLEACHED
After gaining the trust of the group of dolphins, Ziltener and her wild-nature” target=”_blank”>team identified and took samples of the corals that the dolphins chose to rub against<. The study authors suggested the mucus played a role in regulating the dolphin’s skin microbiome and treating infections.
“Repeated rubbing allows the active metabolites to come into contact with the skin of the dolphins,” Morlock said in the release. “These metabolites could help them achieve skin homeostasis and be useful for prophylaxis or auxiliary treatment against microbial infections.”
New research says dolphins "talk" to each other like humans. This file photo shows Tapeko, a 31-year-old bottlenose dolphin, and her 8-week-old calf at Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Ill.
(AP Photo/Chicago Zoological Society, Jim Schulz)
Ziltener added that the environment” target=”_blank”>reefs served as bedrooms and playgrounds for the dolphins<
While Ziltener’s group suggests that medical-research” target=”_blank”>coral may have a medicinal effect on dolphin’s skin< “are known to produce a toxic substance which when comes in to contact with human skin may elicit hypersensitive reactions.”
This photo supplied by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) shows diseased corals at a reef in the Cairns/Cooktown on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
((N. Mattocks/GBRMPA via AP))
Some marine biologists and animal experts told FOX News that the study is interesting however, more research is needed in this area. They also noted that they worry a study like this would attract more people to the coral reefs, endangering the reef’s existence.
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The scientists said in the study that coral reefs are severely threatened by damage caused by tourists, water pollution, disease, and habitat destruction.
