Dolphins display many of the same traits that we associate with human intelligence. They are social animals with names, they play games and tickle one another. And when the gang gets together, they like to pass a pufferfish around like a joint.
In this footage, you can see how dolphins use pufferfish toxins to get themselves inebriated. Intoxicated dolphins look surprisingly like drunk humans in a pool, passing the ‘toxic’ fish to each other with their snouts and gentle floating face up with the piscine equivalent of a smile.
For a BBC One program, an animatronic series of squid, turtles and fish were made; with cameras for eye sockets. This allowed cameras inside the hidden world of the dolphin pod.
The subsequent footage shows a bunch of happy dolphins, playing with an apparently agitated pufferfish. In the narration, it’s said that in high doses, the pufferfish’s neurotoxins are fatal. In small doses, they can produce a decent buzz.
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