Underwater cameras have captured unique behavior of dolphins off the coast of Western Australia, in what scientists believe is the first of its kind in the world.
For decades, bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and native crabs in the Bunbury area, about 160 kilometers south of Perth, have been locked in a race battle for bait.
When a bait vessel is dropped into Coomba Bay, local dolphins swoop in to catch the dead fish before the others.
When Rodney Peterson, a wildlife conservation activist, heard about the problem, he expressed his fear for the safety of the dolphins, given the dangers of entanglement in nets.
Peterson spoke with the Dolphin Discovery Center in Bunbury - a non-profit organization that funds education, research and eco-tourism projects - about the possibility of filming the event during the fight.
The camera captured the local dolphins using their long snouts, jaws and teeth to pull bait from the nets.
Even when the bait was secured under the net or placed in boxes, it did not take long for the dolphins to start flipping the traps or opening the closed boxes.
Dolphins around the world are known to steal fish and bait from fishing vessels.
But the interactions between dolphins and crabs in Coomba Bay are uniquely complex, according to experts.
Alex Grossman, a volunteer filmmaker on the project, said that since only some dolphins engage in this behavior, stealing crab bait may be more for "fun" or "convenience" than for hunger.
Peterson and others worry that these dolphins are too smart for their own good. If this behavior continues to develop and spread, it may have more negative aspects than positive aspects.
Crab bait stolen by dolphins is not entirely nutritious, and the risk of entanglement or injury to equipment is high.
Researchers working in Western Australia have discovered a method that appears "safe for dolphins", at least for now.
“The bait is placed inside a strong net attached to the bowl with a metal hook,” Dolphin Discovery Center explains. “The animals scan the bowl using echolocation and sight, learn that it cannot be opened, and swim away.”
Innovating a unique bioceramic for bone restoration
Far Eastern Federal University scientists, in cooperation with their colleagues from the Pacific Medical University, have created a type of bioceramic for bone engineering using modern technology methods.
Yevgeny Babinov, Deputy Director of the Institute for the Development of Intensive Scientific Technologies and Advanced Materials of the Far Eastern Federal University, notes that based on spark plasma sintering, researchers have assembled a prototype of a biocomposite in the form of a bone ceramic matrix for the restoration of large bone defects.
This material has antibacterial properties, which ensures the stimulation of bone tissue growth and its deep growth in the implant. The new material's manufacturing method combines bio-powder sintering processes with reactive synthesis of the main chemical components of the bioceramic composition, an artificial counterpart to natural bone tissue.
“The proposed technological approach gives relatively low temperatures and short cycles of synthesis and sintering of ceramics, which helps prevent grain growth, ensures high density and mechanical stability of the samples, and also creates porous structures with specific properties,” says Yevgeny Babinov.
The researchers implanted the samples in the soft tissue of the chest of a New Zealand white rabbit in the region of the trapezius muscle and the latissimus dorsi muscle. According to the results of the evaluation of the reaction of the surrounding tissues, the animal did not show any specific inflammation, necrosis, or tumor formation during the three months of the recovery period.
Intelligent creatures.
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