National Dolphin Day

1. There are around 40 species of dolphins around the world. Most of them live in the oceans, but a few are river dolphins, found in South America and Asia. The Common Dolphin and the Bottlenose Dolphin are some of the most common and widespread species of dolphins. The largest species of dolphin is an Orca, which is also, rather confusingly, called a killer whale!

2. There are lots of different species of whales. The different species are either baleen whales and toothed whales. You can learn more about these different types of whales on our World Whale Day blog post. Dolphins are a type of toothed whale.

3. Dolphins are not fish but mammals. They are warm blooded creatures and vertebrates, which means they have a skeleton including a backbone in their body. They have to come up to the surface to breathe air into their lungs and they do this through blow holes on top of their heads. They can stay under water for 8 to 10 minutes before needing to take a breath. They also give birth to live young and feed them milk once they are born.

4. Dolphins have streamlined bodies perfect for cutting through the water and are between about 2 to 4 metres long. Most dolphins have grey rubbery skin. However, did you know a couple of species are actually pink. The most well known is the Amazon River Dolphin, although its quite tricky to spot!

5. Dolphins have large brains and are one of the most intelligent creatures on Earth! They can use tools, have excellent communication skills and even show self awareness, something most animals can’t do. This means they have been shown to recognise themselves in a mirror. They have even been known to help rescue humans in trouble in the water, protecting them from drowning and even stopping them being hunted by sharks!

A lot of this has probably been worked out while they have been in captivity, which for such clever creatures is incredibly sad. Thankfully people are realising this and it is becoming less common to keep dolphins in tanks and make them perform.

6. Dolphins are very sociable creatures and live in groups called pods. These pods usually are made up of 2 to 30 dolphins. They can also combine into superpods of hundreds or thousands sometimes. These groups don’t stay the same though and dolphins move from pod to pod.

7. Dolphins use something called echolocation to communicate. This means they make clicking noises to “see” their surroundings, navigate, and hunt their prey by listening to the echoes of the sounds they make bouncing back to them. So clever!

8. Dolphins are carnivores. They like eating fish, squid, and crustaceans. They use their teeth to catch food but usually swallow it whole, head first. Some species such as Orcas will attack other whales, even ones bigger than itself.

9. Dolphins sleep with only half their brain at a time, keeping one eye open to breathe and stay safe!

10. Dolphins give birth to one baby at a time, which are called a calf. Dolphins take good care of their young, with the mother feeding the calf milk and pods helping look out for them. Dolphins live different amounts of time depending on the species, in general they can live between 30 to 60 years.