Also unknown is how conching emerged: as a lucky discovery, perhaps, or in flashes of insight from creatures whose intelligence may rival our own but happen to lack fingers and hands. Because Shark Bay’s dolphins are very territorial, however, and conching has been witnessed in disparate locations on its east and west sides, the researchers believe conching was discovered several times independently.

If, as with sponging, conching is taught primarily by females to other females, then conching could have been an invention of single mothers trying to feed their families. That it’s being witnessed with more frequency suggests Shark Bay’s dolphins are learning about it. Perhaps those four who watched Con were taking a lesson.