Dolphin: Facts About Dolphins

Have you ever wondered about how many types of dolphins are present today, of what exactly they eat or even how they sleep? They are very interesting animals which are known as the most friendliest of all. They are marine mammals very closely related to porpoises and whales. There are about forty species of dolphins present in their seventeen genera. They evolved about ten millions years ago and they turned out to be the most intelligent animals along with being very playful to humans. They belong to the family Delphinidae which hosts the 40 species mentioned earlier. For some more great dolphin facts, scroll down.

Dolphin Facts and Information

Some of the often found species of dolphins are mentioned below before we start with dolphin facts, so take a look.

• Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus)
• Risso's Dolphin (Grampus Griseus)
• Hourglass Dolphin (Lagenorynchus cruciger)
• Atlantic Spotted Dolphin (Stenella frontalis)
• Hector's Dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori)
• Spinner Dolphin (Stenella longirostris)
• Fraser's Dolphin (Lagenodelphis hosei)
• Dusky Dolphin (Lagenorhynchus obscurus)
• Striped Dolphin (Stenella coeruleoalba)
• Long-Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus capensis)
• Short-Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis)
• Killer Whale (Orcinus orca)
• Pacific White-Sided Dolphin, (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens)
• Peale's Dolphin, (Lagenorhynchus australis)
• White-Beaked Dolphin, (Lagenorhynchus albirostris)

Appearance

This is the main point of dolphin facts. Dolphins vary in size from 1.2 m and 40 kgs to 9.5 m and 10 tons. They have a tapering body with one dorsal fin and two pectoral fins called flippers. The tail fin has a median notch and flukes. The ears are closely placed next to the eyes and the head has a blowhole through which the dolphins take in the oxygen. The shape of the head varies from being melon shaped in Bottlenose dolphins to simply oval in Risso's dolphins. Their appearance change with every species but these main features and the body structure remains common to all as they have evolved in this form.

Habits and Habitat

Dolphins live in deep waters but come to the shores and shallow waters for food at times. Though they live in water, they are mammals and breath air through their blowhole. Some dolphins rise up to the surface every 20 to 30 seconds and some can hold their breath for more than 30 minutes. They are very social and playful animals with curious habits and are very intelligent in behavior. They live in pods like other whale species and travel large distances for food and reproduction. When they sleep, half of their brain is active and so one of their eyes is always open. These are also some very important dolphin facts for kids.

They have excellent vision and very well developed eyes, which can spot food as well as predators from a long distance. Another dominant fact about dolphins is that they swim very slowly and often rest at the bottom of the sea bed. They have their own individual signature whistles which can be recorded and they communicate with each other and their pods through these patterns of whistles. The bottlenose dolphins live for about 40 to 50 years and others for a little lesser duration. The life of most of these dolphins depends on the regions they are found in.

Reproduction

The male dolphins are generally called the bulls and the females are known as the cows. Reproduction in dolphins occur during the spring months and they find their mates much prior to the mating period. The gestation period of a female dolphin is about 11 to 12 months and is delivered normally as every mammal with the tail first and then the body. They can swim and breath immediately after birth. Sometimes the calves (babies) are born at the surface of the water to help them to breathe more easily. The mother nurses the calf for the next 13 to 18 months when it stays close to the mother.

Diet

Dolphins eat many kinds of fish and squid. The quantity however depends on the amount of the type of fish and squid that they eat. The most preferred kinds of fish are mackerel or herring which has fat and can provide energy for the dolphins to swim and survive. Squids do not have much fat so to get the equal amount of energy, dolphins eat more amounts of squids. They live in a pod and thus hunt together by using various strategies and techniques. They surround a school of fish and feast on them together. Those were some very important facts about dolphins which everyone should know.

These dolphin facts will surely help you to write an essay or give a speech about the cutest animals in the water kingdom. Hope these facts about dolphins enlightened you in some way or the other.