Bottlenose dolphins seem to have a shocking sixth sense, scientists say

Some dolphins appear to have a shocking sixth sense.

Researchers in Germany found that bottlenose dolphins can detect electric fields underwater — a skill that could help them better hunt down prey deep within the ocean’s depths.

Bottlenose dolphins Dolly and Donna, who live at the Nuremberg Zoo in Germany, were able to accurately detect electrical stimulus in the water, according to a new study published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

The ability, known as electroreception, is commonly used by sharks and rays to detect weak electric fields from the bodies of their prey.

Researchers trained Dolly and Donna to swim away from a small underwater apparatus when they detected a weak electric field.

If the dolphins sensed nothing, they were trained to stay in the same spot for 12 seconds.

When the dolphins got it right, they were given treats like a fish or squid.

The researchers found that while dolphins are not as sensitive to electric fields as sharks, they are capable of similarly using the skill to hunt their prey, especially when hunting on the murky ocean floor.

The dolphins involved in the study were able to accurately detect electric fields 90 percent of the time when the fields pulsed under 125 microvolts a centimeter, though their accuracy fell as the electric fields began pulsing slower.

According to scientists, the bottlenose dolphins showed a detection threshold similar to those in the platypus and the Guiana dolphin.

Scientists observing the dolphins found that while their sensitivity was lower than that of the shark or ray, the skill “may facilitate short-range prey detection and target-oriented snapping of their prey.”

“Furthermore, the ability to detect weak electric fields may enable dolphins to perceive the Earth’s magnetic field through induction-based magnetoreception, thus allowing large-scale orientation,” the researchers wrote.