Hungry dolphin's rare 'mud ring' trick caught on video

ST. PETERSBURG (FOX 13) - A dolphin’s visual feeding technique of creating a mud ring was caught on camera in the Bay Area. 

Mud ring feeding, according to the National Geographic, is when at least one dolphin circles around and around to create a muddy ring to trap fish and force them to escape or jump over it. Other dolphins in the group typically wait for their meal outside of the circle. It’s rarely seen, but, Michael McCarthy with See Through Canoe, captured the method in our own backyard and posted it on Facebook.

McCarthy shot the aerial perspective of a single dolphin swimming in circles to create the murky ring. Soon, fish are seen attempting to jump over it. 

“After he makes the mud ring and goes into it,” McCarthy writes in his Facebook post, “he also clearly tries to toss one of the fish with his tail. This is usually a separate feeding technique.”

McCarthy said it's rare to capture an aerial view of dolphin's mud ring feeding.