Weird Animal Facts: How Dolphins Catch a Buzz

Have you ever noticed that dolphins always seem to be in a good mood?

They almost always look like they’re having fun, bouncing around in the ocean with their fellow dolphins and sometimes playfully interacting with humans. And it doesn’t hurt that their mouths are often in the shape of a big smile.

Well, dolphins may just be good-natured creatures. But it’s possible something else is influencing their seemingly jovial behavior. They may be high.

Marijuana is now legal in a number of states, although I’m not sure what the legalities are in international waters. But dolphins don’t need to score a bag of weed because they have a more convenient source for altering their consciousness. 

It all starts with the pufferfish. Also known as blowfish, they are able to inflate themselves in order to look more menacing to a potential predator. Otherwise, this slow swimming, scaleless fish would seem like easy pickings for many sea dwellers.

By quickly ingesting large amounts of water and/or air, pufferfish can “bulk up” to several times their normal size. That’s thanks to a very elastic stomach. This can sometimes make a predator choose a different victim. You may have witnessed Mrs. Puff doing exactly that during a SpongeBob SquarePants episode.

But size doesn’t matter to all of the ocean’s residents. Fortunately for pufferfish, they have another weapon at their disposal. It’s call tetrodotoxin and they can release it when attacked. This substance not only makes them foul tasting, but also serves as a toxin that can be deadly to a predator.

How deadly? Very. Tetrodotoxin is more than 1,000 times as poisonous as cyanide. In fact, there is enough of this toxin in a single pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans. And there is no antidote. Jim Jones had nothing on the pufferfish.

OK, but how does this relate to dolphins getting stoned? Well, here’s the deal. For some reason, dolphins are not only able to tolerate tetrodotoxin, they receive a narcotic effect from it. Assuming, that is, they receive it in small doses.

As long as they don’t eat the pufferfish and get a bong-like effect, they can achieve a pleasant high by ingesting small amounts of tetrodotoxin. In fact, dolphins will gather together and pass the pufferfish around to each other. They know it’s too dangerous to bogart the little fellow (or gal), which is none the worse for wear when the dolphins have had enough.

How do dolphins behave following their recreational use of a pufferfish? They’ve been seen huddling together and slithering against one another. Perhaps they’re dazed and confused, who knows?

Hope you enjoyed this article on weird animal facts. If dolphins have figured out a way to get high, perhaps someday a horse will learn how to talk. What would that be like? Check out my three-volume Bamboo Harvester novel on the Home page of this site to find out.

And remember... peace, love, and pufferfish.