Our seas are blessed with many magnificent creatures. Amongst them are the beautiful and graceful dolphin. Known for their intelligence and their docile nature they are truly a treasure. However, they too are effected by the pollutants and litter that contaminate our waters. Good people are trying to make a difference by cleaning up our waters and beaches so all of the oceans creatures have a fighting chance for survival. Be a part of something that could ultimately save lives. Join us in our fight and help us clean up our beaches .
INTRODUCING DOLPHINS
Thought to be one of the most intelligent and beautiful creatures in our oceans and rivers, dolphins also take on a persona that is adored worldwide. We see them jumping, playing, and even hear them laughing as they have fun in the ocean. Dolphins are some of the most highly intelligent creatures on earth. These warm-blooded mammals belong to a group of mammals called Cetaceans which also encompass all whales. Dolphins are referred to as "toothed whales" or Odontocetes differentiated from Baleen whales which have horny plates connected to their upper jaw.
Dolphins come in many colors from the black and white Killer whale (which is actually in the dolphin family) to the False Killer whales and Pilot whales which are almost solid black. There are 67 total species of dolphins 32 of them oceanic with River dolphins, Sperm whales, Beaked whales, Beluga, Narwhal and Porpoises rounding out the other 35 species. Porpoises are often confused with dolphins, but while dolphins have rounded interlocking teeth, porpoise teeth are squared. Pacific Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) are the variety most commonly observed in and around the Banderas Bay area.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Deliveries can be either tail or head first. "Auntie" dolphins, either male or female may assist with the birth and are generally the only other dolphin allowed near the calf. Dolphins have a relatively close relationship with their offspring with a long period of parental care through maturation. Dolphins are birthed like most mammals via the birth canal in the female abdomen. Generally there is only a single offspring.
When a new baby dolphin is born it immediately heads for the surface of the water with the help of its mother for its first breath. It is nursed on the surface as the mother turns on her side to allow the calf to breathe easily while nursing.
The baby will generally nurse for up to 18 months, while the milk, which is about 33% fat helps the calf establish a thick layer of blubber for insulation. The rapid growth of the baby dolphin is related largely to the high fat, calcium and phosphorus content of the mother's milk. In zoological environs calves can start to take a few fish at about 90 to 120 days. Mother-calf bonds are long-lasting with calves staying with their mother 3 to 6 years or more. An average bottlenose dolphin calf is a little over 3 feet at birth and can grow to eight or nine feet long. After the gestation period that ranges from 9.5 to 17 months.
IS THERE AN ECHO IN HERE?
Although the dolphins have large eyes located near the corners of their mouths with acute vision both in and out of the water, a great deal of their location of food is done through echolocation. The term echolocation refers to an ability that dolphins possess that enables them essentially to "see" with their ears by listening for echoes. Dolphins echo locate by producing clicking sounds and then receiving and interpreting the resulting echo. Dolphins produce directional clicks in trains. Each click lasts far less than a second.
The click trains pass through the melon (the rounded region of a dolphin's forehead), which is made up mostly of fatty tissue. The melon acts as an acoustical lens to focus these sound waves into a beam, which is projected forward into water in front of the animal. Sound waves travel through water at a speed of about one mile per second which is 4.5 times faster than sound traveling through air. These sound waves bounce off objects in the water and return to the dolphin in the form of an echo.
SAY WHAT?
Bottlenose dolphins identify themselves with a signature whistle. However, scientists have found no evidence of a dolphin language. Sounds are probably produced by movements of air in the trachea and nasal sacs. During some vocalizations, Bottlenose dolphins actually release air from the blowhole, but scientists believe that these bubble trails and clouds are a visual display and not necessary for producing sound.
Bottlenose dolphins produce clicks and sounds that resemble moans, trills, grunts, squeaks, and creaking doors. They also produce whistles. They make these sounds at any time and at considerable depths. The sounds vary in volume, wavelength, frequency, and pattern. A mother dolphin may whistle to her calf almost continuously for several days after giving birth. This acoustic imprinting helps the calf learn to identify its mother.
THE 5 SENSES
The dolphin's senses are very highly developed, with acute hearing, eyesight and sense of touch. Like all toothed whales dolphins have a limited sense of smell. Little is known about a dolphin's sense of taste, although they do have taste buds and show strong preferences for certain types of food fishes.
SWIM OR SURF?
Bottlenose dolphins can often be found "surfing" on the bow of a boat, this is done for the purpose of "hitching a ride" on the currents pushed forward by the boat and considered to be good luck by boaters around the world. The bottlenose routinely swims at speeds of about 3 to 7 miles per hour and can burst to speeds of 18 to 22 miles per hour for short periods.
Dolphins are quite acrobatic and can be seen doing complex and artful aerial maneuvers that awe spectators both in marine parks and in the wild. They are able to execute spins and flips that place them well out of the water during mating, demonstrations of hierarchical dominance or even just while being playful.
OUR BEAUTIFUL FRIEND
More than just being a fascinating sea creature and fellow mammals, dolphins and humans have a history of positive interaction with one another. Dolphins routinely interact with swimmers and divers in a very playful fashion, swimming closely, nosing around and even offering a lift when a person gently grabs onto the dorsal fin. They are quite genial and there are tales of dolphins offering aid to sailors swept overboard or injured swimmers and surfers. It's always fun to have dolphins around while swimming, diving or snorkeling, their bright, playful personalities are very endearing, creating a happy and memorable spectacle. They are also being used in aquatic therapy more and more with very positive results.
WE ARE FAMILY
Dolphins live in groups referred to as pods. Pods are coherent, long-term social units that vary in size and structure although composition is largely based on age, sex and reproductive condition. Many pods are composed of mother-calf pairs and pods of mature females and their recent offspring while others occur in mixed-sex and single sex groups. Some adult males are observed to be alone, in pairs or occasional trios, moving between female groups in their age range, pairing up with females for brief periods. Adult males rarely associate with sub-adult males. Does this sound familiar? At times several pods may join for short periods to form herds or aggregations of up to several hundred animals. This is seen often and throughout the year in our bay. Whatever the size of the group, social hierarchy may often be observed in bottlenose dolphins.
LONG LIVE THE DOLPHIN
Census data from various conservation organizations and scientific study of dental material suggests that the average lifespan of a Bottlenose dolphin is about 20 years or less. While currently not endangered, it is important for us all to help conserve this beautiful creature. Their predators are generally various types of sharks, killer whales and disease such as bacteria and parasites. Pollution is also a factor in many areas, having caused the deaths of large numbers of dolphins in coastal areas. Many conservation organizations are making efforts to prevent this type of ecological disaster.
Did you know . . . ?
- Dolphins are not endangered
- They can jump up to 20 feet above water
- Their brain is bigger than the monkey
- They have 100 teeth
- Some kinds of dolphins can hold their breath for 30 minutes
- The Boto is the largest dolphin
- The dolphin may eat up to 30 pounds of fish a day
- The baby dolphin can stay with his mother for two to three years
- The dolphin can live to be 50 years old
If Dolphins can learn to pick up litter why can't we all?
At the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Mississippi, dolphins are learning how to pick up litter that may fall into their pools. All the dolphins at the institute are trained to hold onto any litter that falls into their pools until they see a trainer, they then trade the litter for fish. This helps keep their environment clean. One of the dolphins really setting an example is Kelly.Kelly has taken this task one step further. When people drop paper into the water she hides it under a rock at the bottom of the pool. The next time a trainer passes; she goes down to the rock and tears off a piece of paper to give to the trainer. After a fish reward, she goes back down, tears off another piece of paper, and gets another fish, and so on. This behavior is interesting because it shows that Kelly has a sense of the future and delays gratification. She has realized that a big piece of paper gets the same reward as a small piece and so delivers only small pieces to keep the extra food coming. She has, in effect, trained the humans. This smart dolphin didn't stop at just litter. When a gull flew into her pool, she grabbed it, waited for the trainers and then gave it to them. This large bird that she gave back to the trainers rewarded her with lots of fish. This seemed to inspire Kelly to come up with a new idea. The next time she was fed, instead of eating the last fish, she took it to the bottom of the pool and hid it under the rock where she had been hiding the paper. When no trainers were present, she brought the fish to the surface and used it to lure the gulls, which she would catch to get even more fish. After mastering this lucrative strategy, she taught her calf, who taught other calves, and so gull-baiting has become a hot game among the dolphins.
