Did you know that dolphins compared to other animals are highly intelligent & friendly mammals? Thanks to their curved mouth, these cetaceans are always smiling. With over 30+ species of dolphins found in every ocean; the Orca/Killer Whale is the largest dolphin with a length of more than 30 feet. However, the smallest dolphin, the Maui can barely grow up to 5 feet.
If you weren’t aware of these petite facts on Dolphins, here’s my compilation of interesting & worth-knowing facts that’ll get your “Dolphin – General Knowledge” covered!
- The most commonly observed member of the Dolphin Family, Bottlenose Dolphins have the biggest brains in all of the Animal Kingdom.
- The Greek words “delphis” & “delphus” meaning “fish without a womb”, gave birth to the word “dolphin.”
- The largest member of this family is the Killer Whale.
- They have exceptional sleeping skills, meaning, they switch off one hemisphere of their brain to rest while keeping an eye out for their loved ones.
- For a long time, scientists have tried to decipher the language used by dolphins to communicate and are yet to solve the mystery.
- They make a variety of vocal sounds, thanks to their acoustic abilities, such as clicks – to search for preys, loud burst sounds – when they’re aggressive or excited, whistles – to communicate among themselves.
- They use a biological sonar, also known as Echolocation, to find the exact location, size & shape of objects in their surroundings.
- Male dolphins are named bulls, while females are cows and their offspring are known as calves.
- Just like us, they breathe air into their lungs on reaching the surface. On top of their head is a blowhole which they use to breathe air.
- They resurface five times every minute to breathe and can hold their breath for as long as fifteen minutes.
- They use a hunting technique known as “fish whacking”, which involves hitting their prey with their tails to stun them, which makes it easier for dolphins to dine.
- To avoid fish spine getting stuck in their throats, they prey on the little fishes headfirst.
- They usually swim slow, at about 2mph. However, they’re pretty fast sprinters and can swim at about 30mph for some duration.
- The secret to their super smooth skin is their skin regeneration process that takes place every two hours.
- Their senses of smell & taste are of no good, but their hearing system is quite advanced.
- Female dolphins usually deliver just one calf, and they feed filling & fat milk to it.
- Their life expectancy on an average is 25 years, but they can live up to 50 years.
- Scientists still haven’t discovered the real reason behind dolphins jumping & leaping out of the water.
These friendly mammals are similar to humans in various traits & behaviors, maybe that’s why a “dolphin-human” bond exists. Their real threat is getting entangled in fishing nets while taking a breather, climatic change that causes the warming of the ocean waters, marine heatwaves, etc.
Instead of waiting for the extinction alert of Dolphins, we must protect these graceful swimmers & all the other beautiful animals living underwater from the threats of climatic changes, global warming & water pollution.
