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Dolphins are amazing animals. They are social, friendly, and incredibly smart. But there are many fascinating facts that people don't know about these mammals. Did you know, for instance, that dolphins respond to their names and that, in Brazil, dolphins can have a light pink color to them? How about that they can be trained to detect naval mines?Browse through this gallery and discover amazing facts about dolphins.
Scientists have been studying dolphin vocalizations for a long time, but their language still remains a mystery.
Scientists are still trying to find the link between the animals' vocalizations to their behavior.
Every dolphin has its own signature whistle. How cool is that?
They use their unique whistles to call out to one another. Scientists believe they might even be able to remember other dolphins' whistles after years apart.
Dolphins have teeth, but they don't use them to chew food, as we do.
Instead, dolphins use their teeth to catch prey and swallow it whole, without chewing them.
Dolphins are unable to breathe underwater, so how do they sleep without drowning? They take 15-20-minute naps!
But they don’t just fall asleep completely. They actually just rest one hemisphere of their brain. This way they can still swim, breathe, and notice predators.
Dolphins have complex social networks. Scientists discovered that they actually make friends with other dolphins. In this aspect, they are similar to humans, as they prefer the company of certain dolphins more than others.
Pregnancies last approximately between nine to 17 months and they usually give birth to one calf.
Calves are nursed between one to two years, and then usually stay with their mothers for another one to seven years.
Dolphins live in groups, called pods. This is how they organize themselves to hunt prey, escape from predators, and even care for sick or injured dolphins.
Sometimes these pods merge and they form a superpod that can consist of over 1,000 dolphins!
A dolphin can regenerate the outer layer of its skin in just two hours! This is the secret to their smooth skin. It's believed that this is to reduce drag while they swim.
They use clicks and whistles to communicate with each other underwater.
In addition to the click and whistles, they also produce loud burst-pulse sounds. These can be used to scare off a predator, or used by female dolphins to reprimand their offspring when necessary.
Dolphins have their own sonar. This allows them to detect other objects via sound waves.
They produce click sounds, and by listening to the echo produced when those sounds bounce off objects, dolphins are able to determine their surroundings and navigate.
You're probably more familiar with bottlenose dolphins, but there are actually 44 dolphin species.
Killer whales, also known as Orcas, are the largest dolphin species (yes, they're dolphins).
The Amazon dolphin is an essential part of the Brazilian fauna and the largest species of freshwater dolphins among the four on the planet.
Many times, they have a light pink color; they're found only in the rivers of South America.
They might look alike, but they’re not even from the same family. When compared to porpoises, dolphins are usually bigger and have longer beaks and curved dorsal fins.
When compared to dolphins, these small-toothed whales have more triangular dorsal fins and different-looking teeth.
The Navy Marine Mammal Program at San Diego's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command trains dolphins. Dolphins are trained to find mines, spot enemy divers, and used to guard a nuclear arsenal.
Dolphins have also been used during the conflicts in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.
This is mostly due to hunting (their meat is eaten in parts of Japan and the Faroe Islands), overfishing (many get caught up in fishing nets), and pollution.
Rising ocean temperatures are also changing the habitats of a number of species, including those that dolphins eat.
This varies depending on the species, but they live longer in the wild than when kept in captivity.
But some do live long lives in captivity. Nellie, a dolphin who lived in a marine entertainment park in Florida, lived until he was 61.
Exploring the fascinating world of dolphins
Discover the wonders of the ocean’s most endearing creatures
LIFESTYLE Animals
Dolphins are amazing animals. They are social, friendly, and incredibly smart. But there are many fascinating facts that people don't know about these mammals. Did you know, for instance, that dolphins respond to their names and that, in Brazil, dolphins can have a light pink color to them? How about that they can be trained to detect naval mines? Browse through this gallery and discover amazing facts about dolphins.