Dolphins

Courtesy of RedOrbit.

Courtesy of FunMozar

Members of the cetacean family Delphinidae, dolphins are related to both whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphins living all over the world, and only five species live in the world’s rivers (Defenders). Like humans, dolphins live in communities and social groups which canrange from large to small. They hunt together using echolocation (reflection of sound to find the location of fish), and take turns breaking up the schools to make it easier to catch them.

 Dolphins have a longer gestation period than humans–ranging from 9-17 months–depending on the species. Once the calf is born, the mother takes it up to the surface to take its first breath. The calf stays by the mother’s side until it is between 3 and 8-years-old in order for it to fully develop hunting and survival skills.

These extraordinary marine mammals are known to be the only other animals (besides humans) to be self-aware.

“When you get up in the morning and look in the mirror and know that’s you, you have a sense of ‘you’. They have a similar sense. They can look in a mirror and say, ‘Hey, that’s me’.”

-Dr. Lori Marino, Emory University Psychologist