These intelligent and highly sociable creatures are found
in most of the world's oceans including here in the UK.
Here's our top facts about dolphins.
Fact one
Dolphins can be found all over the world.
There are nearly 40 species of marine dolphins
and they can be found in all sorts of places, from rivers,
to open oceans, to right here on the UK's coastlines,
dolphins are some of the most adaptable mammals in the world.
Fact number two
Dolphins keep the balance.
Dolphins are a really important part of the ecosystem,
and while dolphins eat other animals like squid and fish,
they themselves are an important source of food for other animals including sharks.
Without dolphins, the natural balance in the food chain would be disrupted.
This is bad news for the help of the ocean overall.
Fact three
They're sociable.
Dolphins are really sociable creatures and they live in groups called ‘pods’,
which can sometimes number thousands of individuals, they even hunt in groups with other dolphins too.
Fact four
They’re generally slow swimmers.
While dolphins can be fast sprinters, reaching speeds of up to 30 miles per hour,
bottlenose dolphins actually prefer to keep to an average speed of only two miles per hour.
Fact number five
They have really particular ways of eating.
How do you eat?
Probably not like a bottlenose dolphin. That's for sure. They swallow fish head first
so their spines don’t catch in their throats.
Fact six
Dolphins blow bubbles.
When hunting, dolphins blow bubbles to herd their prey to the surface.
One of their hunting techniques is called ‘fish-whacking’,
where they whack a fish to stun it, making it easier to catch.
Fact number seven
Dolphins are chatty animals!
Dolphins have some of the most elaborate acoustic abilities in the animal kingdom.
They make all kinds of sounds from clicks, to whistles, to groans,
yelps, squawks, and squeaks. By producing clicking sounds
and measuring the echoes that come back to them,
they're able to tell the size, speed, and the shape of stuff underwater,
which is really helpful for hunting!
Fact number eight
They're intelligent, like us.
Dolphins are one of the few species, along with apes and humans,
that are able to recognise themselves in the mirror.
This is considered ‘reflective’ of their intelligence.
Dolphins are also among the few animals that have been documented using tools.
In Shark Bay in Australia, dolphins have been observed fitting marine sponges
over their beaks which then protects them from sharp rocks
as they hunt for food.
Fact nine
They can turn off half their brain.
When they sleep, bottlenose dolphins can turn off half their brain and they keep one eye open.
It's believed they do this so they can watch out for their pod
and for predators like sharks.
Fact ten
Dolphins are under threat.
Getting caught in fishing gear
and colliding with ships are two of the biggest threats the
dolphins face in our ocean.
other disturbances at sea, like noise pollution, oil and gas extraction,
and seismic surveys also directly impact dolphins health and the health of the ocean they call home.
We're supporting researchers and conservationists to protect our UK populations of dolphins and whales.
If you'd like to support our work, then why not adopt a dolphin.
We hope you like this video, comment below which animal you'd like to see us cover next,
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