Adriatic dolphins learn to follow trawlers as fish stocks collapse

The Guardian reported Friday that scientists have documented a striking shift in behaviour among bottlenose dolphins in the Adriatic Sea. In one surveyed area, 76 per cent of fishing boats were being followed by dolphins seeking leftover catch, with baby dolphins learning the foraging technique from their mothers and fathers. Giovanni Bearzi, a co-author of the study, told the Guardian that locating dolphins in the Adriatic these days amounts to simply looking for trawlers.

The behaviour reflects a deeper collapse in the Adriatic's fish stocks. As wild prey becomes scarcer due to industrial overfishing, dolphins have adapted by scavenging discards from commercial vessels—a survival strategy that now appears to be passing from one generation to the next. The Adriatic, bordered by Italy, Croatia, and the Balkans, has long been one of Europe's most heavily fished seas, and the shift signals an ecosystem under acute stress.