DolPhins

scientific Classification

• Kingdom- Animalia
• Phylum- Chordata
• Class- Mammalia
• Order- Cetacea
• Family- Delphinidae Iniidae Lipotidae Platanistidae Pontoporiidae

dIet

• Dolphins are active predators and eat a wide variety of fishes, squids, and crustaceans such as shrimps. The foods available to a dolphin vary with its geographic location. - Coastal dolphins tend to eat fishes and bottom-dwelling invertebrates. -Offshore dolphins tend to eat fishes and squid.

hAbitat

• Dolphins are found living in bodies of water around the world. They are found in all of the oceans.
• Most of them live in saltwater but they can also live in freshwater locations.
• Dolphins tend to like areas that have warmer temperatures too. However, sometimes they are found in colder water due to the need for food.
• Wild whales and dolphins can swim up to 100 miles a day, hunting and playing.

SIze

• Because the forty species of dolphins are so diverse, they range in size.
• The familiar bottlenose dolphin is around 8 feet (2.5m) long and weighs between 440-660 lbs (200-300kg).

Behaviour

• Dolphins live in social groups of five to several hundred. They use echolocation to find prey and often hunt together by surrounding a school of fish, trapping them and taking turns swimming through the school and catching fish
• Dolphins can establish strong social bonds; they will stay with injured or ill individuals, even helping them to breathe by bringing them to the surface if needed

SLeeping

• Generally, dolphins sleep with only one brain hemisphere in slow-wave sleep at a time, thus maintaining enough consciousness to breathe and to watch for possible predators and other threats.
• In captivity, dolphins seemingly enter a fully asleep state where both eyes are closed and there is no response to mild external stimuli. In this case, respiration is automatic; a tail kick reflex keeps the blowhole above the water if necessary

Reproduction

• Mating Season: Throughout the year, though in some areas there is a peak in spring and fall.
• Gestation: 9-17 months depending on the species. When it is time to give birth, the female will distance herself from the pod, often going near the surface of the water.
• Number of offspring: Usually one calf; twins are rare. As soon as the calf is born, the mother must quickly take it to the surface so it can take its first breath.

Lifespan

• Most dolphins live long lives.
• The bottlenose dolphin can live over 40 years, and the orca can live to be 70 or 80!

CApitivity

• Dolphins are well known for their agility and playful behavior, making them a favorite animal to train and make shows with.
• However, many people believe that putting whales and dolphins in tanks for our ‘entertainment’ is wrong.