INTERESTING DOLPHIN FACTS

     Dolphins are considered the closest friend of man amongst marine life forms. This is a mammal and has close semblance to whales. There are almost 30 different species of dolphins known to us. The male dolphin is called ‘bull’, the female as ‘cow’, and young one is called ‘calf’.

They have a varying habitat. Mostly found in temperate and tropical oceans, they are also found in coastal and shallow water areas, especially the continental zones. Some of the species are also seen in the Amazon River.

The dolphin’s body temperature is regulated internally. This is done using the ‘blubber’ which is the fat lying beneath its skin.
The most commonly found species is ‘bottlenose dolphin’. It weighs up to 150 to 650 kg and measures 2 to 4 meters in length.

These mammals live and hunt in groups called ‘pods’ containing up to 15 dolphins. They communicate with each other making ‘whistling’ sounds with each dolphin having its own characteristic whistle.

They breathe using ‘blowholes’ on their heads. On an average, they surface above water once every 20 minutes for breathing. Their body shape being ‘streamline’ gives them the edge in being good swimmers. They average up to 35 km/hr.

Their prey includes fishes, phytoplankton, squids and crustaceans. They hunt using echolocation technique. They disseminate almost 700 clicks a second and the echo received helps them decipher the distance, size and shape of the prey for hunting purposes.


Interestingly, they sleep with one eye open in order to sense any possible threat; and have high IQ matching those of human infants.