![]() Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the brackish dolphins), and the extinct Lipotidae (baiji or Chinese river dolphin). River dolphins live in fresh water, rather than salt water.A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea.Like all mammals, dolphins give birth to live young and nurse them with milk.They are intelligent enough to understand complex commands.The Hector's dolphin is classified as endangered. Many dolphins are protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act.Dolphins are part of the same animal order, Cetacea, as whales.Dolphins may float at the surface while sleeping or swim slowly to the surface every now and then for a breath. While one half sleeps the other half is enough awake to keep the dolphin from drowning. ![]() This allows dolphins to locate food in cloudy or dark water.ĭolphins have to sleep, so how do they do this without drowning? Dolphins let half of their brain sleep at a time. Their hearing is so sensitive to these echoes that they can almost "see" objects in the water by hearing. Echolocation is kind of like sonar where dolphins make a sound and then listen to the echo. Dolphins are also very trainable as shown by the shows they put on at ocean parks like Sea World.ĭolphins have excellent eyesight and hearing. They have been known to surf waves near the beach or follow the wake of ships. They like to jump and play and do acrobatic spins in the air. Not a lot is known about their communication. Dolphins get the water they need from the animals they eat, rather than drinking ocean water.ĭolphins communicate through chirps and whistles. They don't chew their food, they swallow it whole. Some dolphins will share their food with the young or let the young catch injured prey as practice. Dolphins often hunt together, herding fish into packed groups or into inlets where they can be easily caught. They eat squid, too, and some dolphins, like Killer Whales, will often eat small sea mammals like seals and penguins. They also have a blowhole on the top of their head that they use for breathing.įor the most part, dolphins eat other smaller fish, but they are not limited to just fish. Dolphins have long snouts that typically hold around 100 teeth. The smallest dolphin is the Heaviside's Dolphin which grows to just over 3 feet long and weighs around 90 pounds. The largest dolphin is the killer whale (orca) which grows up to 23 feet long and can weight over 4 tons. The males are called bulls and the females are called cows. Sometimes pods can group together to make giant pods as large as 1000 or more dolphins. Some pods migrate and travel around the world, while others have a specific territory. Some dolphins, like killer whales (orcas), live in pods of 5-30 members for their entire lives. Many dolphins travel in groups called pods. Perhaps the most famous are the Bottlenose Dolphin and the Killer Whale (that's right the Orca, or Killer Whale, is a member of the dolphin family).ĭolphins are very social animals. Dolphins can't breathe water like fish, but need to come to the surface to breath air. Even though dolphins spend their lives in the water, they are not fish, but are mammals. Dolphins are some of the most playful and intelligent animals on our planet.
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