Scientists Mystified by Dolphin Filmed Peeing in the Air — Onto Another Dolphin

A video featuring a dolphin engaged in some unusual behavior is making the rounds online. The video went viral after someone captured footage of what looked like a male dolphin floating on his back next to another dolphin while shooting a stream of urine into the air.

The other dolphin appeared completely unfazed by this activity — or more accurately, he seemed to be enjoying it — leaving many to question whether or not this was just a normal occurrence for these creatures.

Of course, this incident was unique enough that a few scientist weighed in on why they think dolphins pee into the air.

The explanation is actually a lot more interesting than I could've imagined, and it has a lot to do with the evolutionary process of these creatures. Keep reading to learn more.

The video in question was actually taken in 2016, according to National Geographic, and it shows a pair of dolphins floating in the Amazon river. The first dolphin turns onto his back so that he can fire a stream of urine into the air, which comes down near the dolphin he was swimming with.

But, instead of getting offended by the behavior — which is typically seen as territorial in land animals — the other dolphin swims happily into the stream and even lifts his nose up to play in the flow.

Naturally, this appeared very unusual to scientists studying dolphin behavior. Since they didn't really know what was going on either, a few of them go together to dig a little deeper into the behavior. And, I'm sorry to say that while they appear to have solved this mystery, you may not exactly be thrilled with what they figured out.

The scientific term for the performance captured in the viral video is aerial urination, according to National Geographic. And a study on the practice uncovered that dolphins started doing this thanks to an evolutionary change that left them without a sense of smell.

The study was published in the journal Elesevier, and researchers say they discovered that that male dolphins will practice aerial urination to send a message to other dolphins.

But, unlike those land mammals I mentioned earlier, dolphins cannot smell the different chemicals and pheromones contained within the urine, so they must rely on their sense of taste instead.

While researchers are confident they've discovered the why, they aren't quite sure of the what yet, and they have no concrete evidence as to what message these dolphins are trying to send to one another with this peeing practice.

Despite the ongoing mystery, National Geographic says there's plenty one can assume about the practice, which leads to the theory that it has a lot to do with socialization. Whether that means marking their territory, alerting other dolphins that they are ready to mate, or even showing their dominance remains to be seen.

One thing scientists can say for sure is that out of all of the aerial urination incidences they observed in dolphins, only males have been spotted performing these acts.

Hopefully scientists will learn more about it soon, if only to satisfy the insatiable curiosity of the internet, which cannot stop talking about this viral video.