Interesting facts about dolphins

Read on and enjoy these interesting facts about dolphins. 

Even though dolphins have 100 teeth, they don’t use them for eating. They do use them to get the fish though and then they swallow them. They can consume up to 30 pounds fish per day. They usually work as a team in their pod to get the school of fish surrounded and balled up. From there, they can plow through the middle and eat plenty as they do so.

They take turns doing this so that all that participated get to dine on the fish. This is just one of the many different types of feeding strategies that they may take part in. They do what is necessary to get the food for the pod members. It can include jumps, zig zag patterns, circles, and a combination of efforts to get the job done.

Compared to other animals, dolphins are believed to be very intelligent.

Dolphins are carnivores (meat eaters).

The Killer Whale (also known as Orca) is actually a type of dolphin.

Most of the species of dolphins live in saltwater but there are some that are able to do well in the freshwater locations. They are mainly found in the freshwater of the Amazon River. They are easily seen by humans as they tend to stick to the swallow locations of the water.

It is amazing the difference in size of the various species of dolphins. The larger ones can weigh about 11 tons and be close to 30 feet long. The smaller ones are about 90 pounds and 4 feet long. Between those two spectrums you will find all weights and lengths. The species as well as their location play a huge role in their overall size.

The body of a dolphin is designed to help them move through the water quickly and without exerting huge amounts of energy. They rely on their pectoral fins and the fluke (tail) to help them navigate through the water.

Through extensive research, echolocation has been identified as a key element of dolphin life. It allows them to communicate in the water by identifying sound waves. It is a complex ability that stems from the melon that is located in the head of a dolphin. All dolphin species have a blowhole.

Bottlenose dolphins are the most common and well known type of dolphin.

Female dolphins are called cows, males are called bulls and young dolphins are called calves.

Dolphins live in schools or pods of up to 12 individuals.

Dolphins often display a playful attitude which makes them popular in human culture. They can be seen jumping out of the water, riding waves, play fighting and occasionally interacting with humans swimming in the water.

Dolphins use a blowhole on top of their heads to breathe.

Dolphins have excellent eyesight and hearing as well as the ability to use echolocation for finding the exact location of objects.

Dolphins communicate with each other by clicking, whistling and other sounds

Some dolphin species face the threat of extinction, often directly as a result of human behavior. The Yangtze River Dolphin is an example of a dolphin species which may have recently become extinct.

Some fishing methods, such as the use of nets, kill a large number of dolphins every year.