Dolphins are some of the most playful and intelligent animals on our planet. Even though dolphins spend their lives in the water, they are not fish, but are mammals. Dolphins can’t breathe water like fish, but need to come to the surface to breath air. There are many kinds of dolphins.
Dolphins are smart marine mammals and great swimmers. They are known to be very friendly to humans and other wildlife creatures, dolphins often display a playful attitude which makes them popular to human nature and the culture. They can be seen jumping out of the water,riding waves, play fighting and occasionally interacting with people swimming in the water.
Dolphins have a strong behavior; they are very social and travel in groups together. They commonly swim in groups of 2-15 . Several Of different groups of dolphins may temporarily join, for several minutes or hours.
The largest dolphin is the Killer Whale which grows up to 23 feet long and can weight over 4 tons. The smallest dolphin is the Heaviside’ s Dolphin which grows to just over 3 feet long and weighs around 90 pounds. Dolphins have long snouts that typically hold around 100 teeth. They also have a blowhole on the top of their head that they use for breathing.
Dolphins communicate through chirps and whistles. Not a lot is known about their communication. They like to jump and play and do acrobatic spins in the air. They have been known to surf waves near the beach or follow the wake of ships. Dolphins are also very trainable as shown by the shows they put on at ocean parks like Sea World.
Dolphins have excellent eyesight and hearing. Underwater they use echolocation. Echolocation is kind of like sonar where dolphins make a sound and then listen to the echo. Their hearing is so sensitive to these echoes that they can almost “see” objects in the water by hearing. This allows dolphins to locate food in cloudy or dark water.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral process can be measured by the way its animals are treated.” In a world where much of nature and the wild has already been lost to us, it is up to us to let these beautiful marine mammals free.
ARTICLE BY KAVYA B J
DOLPHINS 