Dolphins, whales, and porpoises are closely related animals and are collectively known as Cetaceans. Dolphins are born to swim far and fast in their search for food. In the wild they may travel hundreds of miles a day, reaching speeds of up to 30 miles an hour and diving to depths of over three hundred feet. Bottlenose dolphins get their name from their bottle-shaped snout.

Did you know that dolphins…

… are as intelligent as human toddlers?
Scientific research shows that dolphin intelligence is comparable to that of human toddlers. They are self-aware and capable of abstract thinking and recognize their reflection in a mirror.

… ‘see' with their ears?
Like most bats, dolphins use sound to ‘see'. They use echolocation—making a sound and listening to it bounce off objects—for finding food and navigating without bumping into things. While hunting for food underwater, some dolphins also make very loud clicking sounds that may knock out any small fish or squid within range. The dolphins then gobble up the sound-stunned prey. Scientists believe that dolphins have little or no sense of smell but they do have a sense of taste like humans.

… listen with their jaws?
Dolphins receive sounds through their lower jaw. A fat-filled cavity conducts sound waves through the jaw to the middle ear bones and on to the hearing centers in their brain.

… breathe through the top of their head?
Dolphins do not have gills (like fish do), so they cannot breathe underwater. They must come up to the surface to get air. Dolphins do not breathe through their mouth and they do not have nostrils like humans do. Instead, they have a blowhole (a dolphin's nose) at the top of their head which they can open and close to breathe. Also, unlike humans, dolphins breathe voluntarily, i.e. they have to consciously inhale and exhale.

… once had legs?
Millions of years ago, dolphins had legs. If you look closely at a dolphin's skeleton, you'll see two small rod-shaped pelvic bones. These bones may be leftover hind legs that some scientists think mean the dolphin's ancestors walked around on land.

… have more teeth than crocodiles?
If dolphins had dentists, those docs would be busy! A dolphin's extremely long jaws may contain as many as 250 pointy white teeth.

… don't chew their food?
Despite having a mouth full of teeth, dolphins do not chew their food. They swallow their food whole and digest it in their three-chambered stomach. Teeth only help to firmly hold onto their prey.

… enjoy teamwork?
Dolphins are highly complex mammals who live in societies and rely on each other for kinship and survival. Dolphins swim in groups called pods of usually around a dozen animals. Sometimes pods combine to form super pods or herds of several hundred dolphins! These super pods can spread across several miles. Dolphins often hunt together which allows them to cover larger areas as they look for schools of fish. Sometimes they work together to herd a big school of fish into a small, crowded clump. Then they take turns speeding through the trapped fish to eat!

… are fishermen's helpers
For over 150 years, fishermen have told tales of dolphins helping them by herding fish into their nets. In southern Brazil, bottlenose dolphins signal fishermen when it's the best time to cast their nets. What's in it for the dolphins? Apparently the dolphins enjoy the leftovers that the fishermen leave behind.

… call each other by name?
Dolphins communicate with whistles and use individual ‘names' to identify one another. Some research scientists who study dolphin communication think that wild dolphins have special high-pitched calls known as signature whistles that they use to tell pod pals apart. Each dolphin chooses his or her own signature whistle, usually by their first birthday.

… have babysitters?
Cooperation among female dolphins is crucial to a newborn. These groupings are called ‘maternity pods'. Female dolphins, or aunts, tend to assist the mother during the birth of her baby. Aunts also stay close to help with babysitting.

… also live in rivers?
While most dolphin species live in the salt water of the ocean, the Ganges River dolphin in South Asia, the boto or Amazon River dolphin and the franciscana or La Plata River dolphin in South America, all live in fresh water. The baiji or Yangtze River dolphin, now believed to be extinct in the wild, lived in China until as recently as 2006.

… teach their kids to use tools?
When researchers first saw something strange on the snout of a dolphin in Shark Bay, Western Australia, they thought it was a tumor. The object turned out to be a marine sponge broken off from the seabed. The dolphins appeared to use the sponges as a protective glove on their snouts so the dolphins don't get stung by stonefish (a bottom dweller with highly venomous spines). The sponge also appears to disturb fish hiding on the seabed. The dolphins then snap the fish up!

… are surfers?
Boats create a pressure wave as they push through water. Dolphins surf on this wave at the bow of the boat, cleverly getting a ride at speeds they couldn't manage on their own!

… cannot really smile?
The dolphin's smile is a feature of their anatomy unrelated to its health or emotional state. Dolphins cannot move their facial muscles like humans can, and a dolphin can appear to smile even while injured or seriously ill.

… are wild animals?
It is important to remember that dolphins can be unpredictable and aggressive – to each other and to humans. They must be respected for the wild and beautiful animals they are.