Beautiful Dolphins

Image via Wikipedia

            I think dolphins are the most awesome creatures of the sea. They are fun to play with when trained do all sorts of tricks, kissing their trainer and besides they always look like they are smiling. Dolphins are said to be intelligent, and great learners. They are able to learn one two word commands; some can even get specific items.

Image via Wikipedia

 They are very happy mammals, but the reason they look as if they are smiling, is because of their bone structure that gives them that look. I don’t know much about dolphins which is why I want to learn about them, since they are my favorite mammals; from afar.

Image by gregmote via Flickr

            Dolphins are aquatic animals, which tell us they live in the water, but they are not fish, they are mammals, warm-blooded creatures. They are part of the Odontoceti family, which include certain whales and porpoises, but I see they seem to be the kindest of their group

 I did not know there were so many difference species, most are gray which are the ones we know, and they are called bottlenose dolphins they look like they are smiling the most. There are also 2 species that are the pink dolphins. There are marine dolphins that swim in the oceans, then your have the species that swim in the rivers, they look different, mostly because they have tiny eyes, which give them have poor eyesight. No one can see the dolphin’s ears, but even so they have very great hearing. Dolphins squeak and make all kind of different sounds. Each dolphin has its own sounds, like humans have their distinct voices; dolphins have their own distinct sound. They use the different sounds to communicate, and each dolphin has it own signature whistle. They communicate to each other and using they use echolocation, which uses a clicking sound to find out how close or how far something is. Dolphins use “ a click train”; which is a lot of clicks together, at about 700 clicks per second these clicks can tell the distance away, and which side the object is, when the click echo comes from.

            There are many interesting facts about dolphins, such as they have one and only one set of teeth, my favorite fact is the way they sleep. All dolphins need air, so when they are asleep, half of their brain stays awake, so they automatically go up for air, and the go back under water.

Image via Wikipedia

            Different dolphins have different sizes, but most dolphins are Five to Eight feet, and they weight between 250-350 pounds. Their weight varies from species and from male and female dolphins.

 You can tell the different species by their snouts.  There is the Bottlenose, smiling dolphin; they are mostly out in the Pacific Ocean, while the white-sided dolphin has as a shorter more rounded snout. Some species actually have very tiny eyes; while others their fin, on their back, can distinguish species. Some have rounded fins, and usually don’t go very fast.

My favorite the bottlenose Dolphin has a curved triangle fin, very much like the killer whales. This dolphin like all dolphins have tail fins called flukes, and depending on how strong this fin is will determine how fast the dolphin will go. The fluke of the dolphin is unlike a fish’s tail that goes back and forth, to propel itself; the dolphins go up and down, which helps give it speed.
A Group of Bottlenose dolphins just enjoying the day.

Image via Wikipedia

            Dolphins don’t swim too fast; they swim about 4 miles an hour, while some can actually go between 6-9 miles an hour.  The spotted dolphin is the fastest of their kind, and in short swims, they have been clocked doing about 25 miles per hour, but they cannot do that for lost distances.

Most dolphins if left alone will live to about 15 to 25 years. Females will have their first calf (baby) at about 8-12 years old, and they stay pregnant for about 10-12 months. The calf will stay with his mother for about 3-6 years, they use their fins to touch and communicate feelings. The bond between mother and calf is very strong one.

The mother dolphin nurses her calf, the milk is ½ fat, so that he can grow very quickly and because he is born with no Blubber, he needs to develop some quickly, for many reasons.

            Dolphins have Blubber, which keeps them warm when the waters turn cold in the winter. It is also used when sharks attack and bite the dolphins. The shark has difficulty cutting through the blubber with their teeth.

            Some dolphins don’t live too long, because of attacks by another sea creature, but also because of man. In the 60,70 and early 80’s dolphins were dying because fisherman, fishing for tuna, would but large nets out to catch the fish, and the dolphins got caught in the nets. Then because they could not get the dolphins out of the nets fast enough and get them back into the water the dolphins would die, during this time a lot of dolphins died.

With that said, my family and I don’t eat tuna if it does not have the sign that shows that dolphins did not die.      

Today dolphins are still dying because of the trash thrown into the ocean; some because the trash is poisonous, while other get their snouts stuck in six pack plastics and plastic bags and bottles.