Mr. Dolphin's Close Relatives

Dolphins are closely related to whales.

  

Picture from The Original Dolphin Watch

Dolphins and whales are members of the same scientific order, Cetacea.  There are a total of 36 species in the dolphin family, including the largest dolphin which is actually the killer whale.  The most well known dolphin however is the bottlenose dolphin.

The scientific order, called Cetacea, includes dolphins, whales, and porpoises. The dolphin family Delphinidae has 36 species in all. It can get confusing at times, because some members of the dolphin family have the word whale in their common name. In fact, the largest dolphin is the killer whale! Depending on the species, dolphins range in color from white, pearl, and pink to darker shades of brown, gray, blue, and black. - See more at: http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/dolphin#sthash.ZnXYIEFB.dpuf

The scientific order, called Cetacea, includes dolphins, whales, and porpoises. The dolphin family Delphinidae has 36 species in all. It can get confusing at times, because some members of the dolphin family have the word whale in their common name. In fact, the largest dolphin is the killer whale! Depending on the species, dolphins range in color from white, pearl, and pink to darker shades of brown, gray, blue, and black. - See more at: http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/dolphin#sthash.ZnXYIEFB.dpuf

High-Flying Spinner Dolphins

Though not as recognizable as their larger bottlenose cousins, spinner dolphins are one of the most playful and entertaining to watch of all dolphin species.

There are four recognized subspecies of spinner dolphins inhabiting tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world. At only 50-200lbs fully grown, spinner dolphins are quite small, but make up for their lack of size with amazing athletic ability. The species gets its name from its ability to leap out of the water and perform up to five and a half longitudinal spins in mid-air.

Hawaiian spinner dolphins usually live in pods of up to 200 individuals, with some in the Costa Rican region living in groups of 1,000 or more. Most spinner dolphins are nocturnal feeders and travel offshore each evening to hunt a variety of fish, squid and crustaceans. During the daylight hours the pod will return to the warm, shallow waters near the coast to play and rest. Although spinner dolphins are quite friendly towards people, tourists are often asked not to disturb resting groups during the day.

Conching - The Dolphin Version of a Spork?

It’s well documented that dolphins are among the smartest animals in the world, but bottlenose dolphins in Australia’s Shark Bay may be taking tool use to a whole new level.

Photo: Murdoch University

The picture above shows a dolphin doing what scientists call “conching”. Basically, the dolphins will turn over these large conches on the sea floor, making an attractive habitat for small fish. Once the fish swims inside, the dolphin will carry the conch to the surface and tilt the shell back, emptying the water out and dropping the fish directly into its mouth.

Though this hunting technique has been observed for several years, the frequency at which it is happening has increased dramatically since last May, leading Murdoch University researchers to believe that more dolphins are learning how to do it from watching their friends. If this is the case, it would be the first documented case of a learned behavior spreading this quickly in marine mammals.

Source.

Dolphins Making Bubble Rings

For years, scientists have recognized dolphins as being some of the smartest animals in the world, perhaps even more intelligent than monkeys or other primates. Their complex social structure and problem-solving abilities have fascinated people for centuries, but one of the coolest things they do seems to be just for fun; they make bubble rings.

Photo Credit: SeaWorld

With a puff of its blowhole, a dolphin can create these beautiful spinning rings of air as large as a basketball rim. They will often observe them, push them around, then bite them into progressively smaller rings before they finally dissipate and rise to the surface. Only a select few people have ever seen this in the wild, and no one is quite sure how they learn to do it, but it sure is cool!

Check out the video from SeaWorld below to see more of this awesome phenomenon!

Boto Dolphins Use Their Heads

Boto or Amazon River Dolphins are the largest freshwater dolphins alive, growing up to nine feet long and weighing roughly 300 pounds. They are often a pink color, but can also be pale blue and frequently are albino. Because they have poor eyesight, they use the echolocation-bump on their head as a sensory detector to help find food or to protect them from danger. Some reports say that they can even scare of prey with bursts of sound from the organ in their bulging forehead. They can even make the bump change shape too, from flat to spherical.

A Full Night's Rest?

Don’t ever mess with dolphins when they’re asleep: They sleep with one eye open! They rest in a state of unihemispheric sleep, which means that only half of their brain sleeps at a time while the other half stays awake. Throughout a sleep cycle, dolphins will alternate sleep between both sides of the brain, opening and closing each eye whenever the change occurs. Part of them has to be conscious at all times because dolphins are conscious breathers. If they lost complete consciousness during sleep, like humans do, they would suffocate or drown. When they do sleep, they float at the surface of the water with — amazingly enough —one eye wide open.

Animals at War - Strange but True

Ever heard of bomb sniffing rats? Or Frogman killing dolphins? How about landmine detecting bees? Humans have a great appreciation for the natural abilities of animals. That appreciation can lead to bizarre, inhumane and occasionally, benignly beneficial uses of animals in wartime.

The Bizarre: History is replete with tales of dolphins rescuing humans from the perils of the sea. Relying on the dolphin's natural curiosity and affinity to humans, the US Navy began the "swimmer nullification plan." Attaching hypodermics filled with compressed CO2 to the dolphin's nose, the marine mammals were trained to find divers swimming in restricted areas and inject them. Getting injected with compressed CO2 kills you, and it also makes your body float to the surface so you're easily retrievable. Supposedly 40 Viet Cong frogmen were killed this way.

The Inhumane: Over the course of thousands of wars, numerous types of animals have been used as living incendiaries. Cats, dogs, pigs, rats, even camels have all been lit on fire and pointed at the enemy. Of course nothing prevented these animals from turning around and running back through the host forces (makes you cheer a bit). Needless to say, the practice ultimately fell out of favor.

Unfortunately, militaries discovered safer (for them) ways to use animals to decimate enemy forces. What did they do? They strapped bombs to them. Tank dogs were trained to run under enemy tanks where their bomb harnesses would be detonated. Free-tailed bats were strapped with timed incendiary devices. The plan was to release them over Japan where their natural instinct would cause them to roost in the eaves of factories and warehouses. Once there, the timing devices would go off, causing the bat, and hopefully the building, to catch fire. Cats, wearing small explosives, were to be dropped over enemy ships. With their natural dislike of water, the cats would be sure to land on the ships and then could be exploded. Thankfully, most of these projects went nowhere. The bats escaped, burning down an Air Force hanger and blowing up a general's car. The cats, mercifully, lost consciousness soon after they were ejected from the planes.

The gathering strength of worldwide Animal Rights Groups has largely brought an end to such schemes.

The Benignly Beneficial: Glow worms were used in the trenches of WWI to create enough light for soldiers to read maps by. Gambian Pouch Rats, with their incredible sense of smell, are being used to sniff out landmines. Their small size protects them from triggering the mechanisms. The rats are currently clearing mines from much needed farm land along the coast of Mozambique. Bees are also helping to find long buried landmines. Having been fed trace elements used in the making of explosives, the bees naturally swarm around buried mines that leak these elements into the atmosphere. Small "backpacks" attached to the bees help humans determine where the bees are congregating. Once the humans arrive, they can dig up and dispose of the mine. The amount of bees needed to create a hive of landmine seekers costs about $100. The bees can be trained in less than 3 hours and have a 98% success rate of finding long buried and forgotten landmines.

Of course we know what would be best for animals as well as humans with regard to the practice of war, but conflict will occur. More than likely, our need for animal helpers in battles will also occur. Hopefully it will only be in a benignly beneficial way.

Leaping Animals

Every animal we've celebrated so far this week has been a land lover. For our next featured leaper, we're going to the ocean.

If you've been to an aquarium or to Sea World, you've probably had the opportunity to watch a dolphin show. In these events trainers take a natural dolphin behavior (one the dolphin exhibits in the wild), highlight it and expand upon it. The twists, acrobatic leaps and extreme jumps from the water are not that common for the average wild dolphin to perform. Think of these entertainers as professional athletes.

In the wild, dolphins leap for any number of reasons. While surfing in the prow wake of a boat, leaping helps the dolphin conserve energy (it's easier to move through air). Some scientists believe a good leap may help dolphins get a different view of prey; dolphins see as well above water as they do below. Other scientists believe it’s the splash the dolphin is looking for. Crashing back into the water dislodges unwanted aquatic "hitchhikers." Whatever the beneficial reasons, there is another reason that scientists, naturalists and ordinary observers all agree on—dolphins leap for the sheer joy of it.




The Jungle Store has an Animal Fact article about the dolphin. Click on the link to read it.

Not really a whale…

Orcas, or killer whales, have striking black and white markings. You, like me, may have seen them perform at places like Sea World. Aren’t they beautiful?

Orca are carnivorous hunters and are sometimes called "the wolf of the sea." They prey on sea lions, elephant seals, harbor seals, porpoises, squid, sharks, fish, penguins, smaller whales, such as belugas and narwhals, and even large baleen whales.

Orca actually belong to the dolphin family. Warm blooded, males (bulls) average 19-22 feet and usually weigh between 8,000-12,000 pounds. Females (cows) are smaller, averaging 16-19 feet, weighing between 3,000-8,000 pounds.

Some day I’d like to be close enough to see one in the ocean. But for now this incredible video from National Geographic will have to do!


Jaw dropping,

Jane

Dolphins

There are nearly 40 species of dolphins.

We have added a lot of new great dolphin items.

Active Sleeping

Dolphins can sleep and swim at the same time.