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Fishers' heartbeats align during collaborative hunts with dolphins, study reveals
https://phys.org/news/2025-10-fishers-heartbeats-align-collaborative-dolphins.html
Cooperative artisanal net-casting fishers hunt with dolphin assistance. Credit: Biology Letters (2025). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2025.0421
People need to collaborate effectively when hunting together. Researchers at the University of Konstanz have just discovered that this cooperation also affects their heart rates. Their study observed a special group of fishers that hunt along with dolphins in Brazil.
There are a wide range of dynamics in play during a hunt—for people as well as for animals. How does communication within such groups work? What factors influence how the hunt progresses? And how does each participant's body react to the situation?
This last question was the focus of a research team from the Cluster of Excellence Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz led by biologist Hanja Brandl. By studying a group of Brazilian fishers, they documented that, while working together to catch fish, the fishers' heart rates synched up.
The paper is published in the journal Biology Letters.
Collaboration with dolphins
The fishers studied were from a particular group in southern Brazil that collaborates with dolphins to catch fish. The people stand in a line near the shore, ready to throw out their nets. The dolphins drive the fish towards the people and then suddenly dive underwater. This is the signal that the fishers must respond to by throwing out their nets. The dolphins benefit too, since this action drives the fish swarm apart and makes the fish easier for the dolphins to catch.
For several years already, this special cooperation between animals and people has been the focus of research. Since not only people and animals have to work in close collaboration, but also the group of fishers, this joint hunt is particularly well-suited for Hanja Brandl's research project.
. . .
There are a wide range of dynamics in play during a hunt—for people as well as for animals. How does communication within such groups work? What factors influence how the hunt progresses? And how does each participant's body react to the situation?
This last question was the focus of a research team from the Cluster of Excellence Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behavior at the University of Konstanz led by biologist Hanja Brandl. By studying a group of Brazilian fishers, they documented that, while working together to catch fish, the fishers' heart rates synched up.
The paper is published in the journal Biology Letters.
Collaboration with dolphins
The fishers studied were from a particular group in southern Brazil that collaborates with dolphins to catch fish. The people stand in a line near the shore, ready to throw out their nets. The dolphins drive the fish towards the people and then suddenly dive underwater. This is the signal that the fishers must respond to by throwing out their nets. The dolphins benefit too, since this action drives the fish swarm apart and makes the fish easier for the dolphins to catch.
For several years already, this special cooperation between animals and people has been the focus of research. Since not only people and animals have to work in close collaboration, but also the group of fishers, this joint hunt is particularly well-suited for Hanja Brandl's research project.
. . .
A bit of a confusing study. And I'm not sure any cause/effect was really demonstrated. Still, interesting.