Amazing Pictures: Dolphin v Octopus off Perth Coast

A Murdoch University PhD candidate has taken remarkable photos of a dolphin playing with an Octopus in waters off Mandurah, south of Perth.

Krista Nicholson uploaded the photos to her Facebook page on February 20 and her story was picked up by the Mandurah Community News.

“Loving my job that combines science and photography. Pretty blessed to be in a position to observe these kinds of events!,” she wrote

Krista is part of a project observing bottlenose dolphins in the Peel-Harvey and adjacent coastal waters.

Nicholson told Community News it was not unusual for dolphins to be seen playing with octopus.

“It’s not unheard of for dolphins to do this, but it’s not a regular occurrence,” Nicholson told Community News.

“But there are records from other parts of the world of dolphins playing with octopuses,” she said.

The researchers said they didn’t know if the dolphin ate the Octopus.

You can follow Krista’s work at the Mandurah Dolphin Research Project Facebook page.