Hungry dolphins have started flipping octopus in the air - so they can eat them

It is probably not that easy to catch a slippery octopus in the water – but this dolphin has come up with the perfect technique.

There are probably easier prey for the hungry bottlenose dolphin to feed on but it has developed a ‘flipping’ method that has made the process a whole lot more manageable.

Dolphins obviously don’t have the luxury of hands to grab their leggy dinner so instead they have taken to using their long noses to throw them around in the air.

The marine mammal grabs hold of the octopus in its jaws biting it and hurling it around in the air before slapping it on the surface of the water.

It is thought this behaviour stuns or kills the dolphin’s prey before it is bitten into smaller pieces and devoured.

This may sound like a gruesome and violent process but dolphins are taking something of a risk when they choose octopus for dinner – and biting into smaller chunks is necessary.

MORE: Devoted elderly couple who were married for 70 YEARS die just four minutes apart
MORE: Britain’s blue passport may return in £500m post-Brexit redesign

An octopus has suckers on its arms that mean a dolphin could choke to death if trying to eat one whole – especially as the legs remain mobile after being fatally wounded.

They also act a a defence mechanism before being eaten so a dolphin needs to ‘disarm’ its prey before eating it, according to theconversation.com.

The site adds that octopus shaking and tossing is “yet another example that illustrates how intelligent and adaptable these charismatic marine predators are”.

Top pic: Twitter/@ConservationEDU