New Dolphin Species Venture on Land to Eat [VIDEO]

Australian humpback dolphins were officially revealed recently as a new species, and scientists are beginning to understand just how unique these animals are. For the first time, footage has captured these dolphins using a remarkable hunting technique that requires them to venture on to land to eat.

A team from Southern Cross University following a pod of humpback dolphins up the Fitzroy River estuary, near Queensland, was the first to discover this bizarre beaching behavior.

When they took a closer look, they were surprised to find that the Australian humpbacks were thrusting themselves onto the sand, a feeding tactic known as "strand-feeding."

[Credit: UniSCU]

"The humpback dolphins were observed swimming a few meters away from and parallel to the shoreline. This behavior probably allows dolphins to concentrate fish against the mud bank before charging at them at high speed," researcher Daniele Cagnazzi described to Business Insider Australia.

"On some occasions the fish were washed onto the shoreline by the wave of water associated with the dolphin's beaching, resulting in a full body exposed beaching."

It's the second time in three years that Cagnazzi and the Capricorn Cetaceans Research Team have observed the stranding behavior in Australian humpback dolphins - a widespread group of coastal cetaceans ranging from the coast of West Africa to the northern coast of Australia.

But strand-feedings is not something unique to only Australian humpbacks. Both bottlenose dolphins and killer whales have also been known to feed this way.

While this technique may seem effective, it can also be dangerous for these marine animals, which can put themselves at risk of stranding completely out of the water, biologist Todd Pusser told the National Wildlife Federation.

Australian humpback dolphins, in particular, would be well-advised to be cautious of strandings. Even though the species was just discovered, scientists already believe that they may be endangered animals due to threats to their environment.