SWISS researchers believe a group of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins may be using "pharmacies" under the sea to treat and prevent ailments.
Wildlife biologist, Angela Ziltener, from the University of Zurich, reported that a group of dolphins in the Egyptian Northern Red Sea, appear to be self-medicating skin conditions, by rubbing themselves against specific types of coral.
Ziltener noted the dolphins would nap in coral beds and rest on sponges as if they were undergoing a health and beauty routine.
"It's very intensive," she said.
"They don't just go through [the coral] - they go up, they come back down again, and they rub their belly, their ventral area and the back."
Ziltener said the research team, which has been monitoring dolphin behaviour in the area since 2009, noted that the dolphins went back to the same species of coral on a regular basis, and appeared to be fastidious in which parts of their body touched particular corals.
After assessing 48 samples of corals, sponges and coral mucus used by the dolphins, the researchers found at least 17 different bioactive metabolities, which they believe may be used to protect against dermal disease-causing pathogens.
Researchers have said that a further study of the corals ignored by the dolphins would be needed to see if they lacked the same medicinal properties.
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