Facts about Dolphins

Here are some interesting facts about dolphins.

* There are more than 35 different kinds of dolphins.

* These are the "true" dolphins - these don't include porpoises and river dolphins.

* They do include bottlenose, common, spinner, spotted, striped, hourglass, Chilean, Commerson's, Hector's, Peale's, dusky, short beaked, long beaked, Fraser's, humpback, Irrawaddy, rough-toothed, and Risso's dolphins, and melon headed, pilot, and killer whales.

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* Most of them are 2-3 metres in length although killer whales can reach 10 metres.

* Dolphins are fast swimmers and active predators.

* Dolphins are smart animals, able to solve simple puzzles and learn tricks.

* Their communication is complex, almost like a language.

* Dolphins have a good sense of taste but not a very good sense of smell.

* Their hearing is also better than their eyesight, because sounds travel very well in the water, while water can be murky and not very easy to see through.

* Dolphins also have two senses that humans don't - they can sense the Earth's magnetism; and they can use echolocation.

* Most dolphins have 60-100 teeth. They use their teeth to catch the food rather than to chew it. They swallow their food instead.

* Dolphins make many different sounds for many different reasons such as communicating to each other, navigating and finding different objects such as prey, mates or enemies.

* Dolphins don't migrate long distances as do baleen whales.

* Dolphins are fast, active swimmers.

* They always swim in groups, sometimes very large groups.

* They are often seen bow-riding in front of ships - this is like surfing on a wave that the ship creates, and getting a free ride.
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