Dolphin Facts

Height
Adult males are larger than females. The Mid-Atlantic dolphins will reach 7 to 10 feet in length.

Weight
Dolphins reach 300 to 500 pounds by their early teens.

Food
After feeding on mother's milk for the first few weeks, calves begin eating fish at 3 to 4 months and are weaned at 12 to 18 months. Dolphins feed on all kinds of fish and crustaceans, with adults eating 22 to 50 pounds of fish a day and more in colder winter waters.

Life Span
The average lifespan is around 20 years, but some have been known to live up to 40 years.

Reproduction
Mature female dolphins will give birth to one calf every 2 to 3 years, and could give birth as many as eight times during their lifetime. They can give birth at any time of year, but they most commonly calve in the spring and summer. Females mature sexually at 8 years and dolphins are sexually promiscuous with males competing for females.

Colors
Dolphins can be found in many colors; they range from black to blue, and white to gray.

Habitat
Dolphins can be found in many parts of the world in various oceans and even in the freshwater rivers of Asia, Africa and South America.

Interesting Facts
Every dolphin has its own signature whistle to distinguish it from other dolphins, much like a human fingerprint.

Deep within a dolphin's body it's temperature is normally 36.9 degrees Celsius, while it's outer body temperature is usually cooler. In comparison, man's body temperature is 37.3 degrees Celsius.

A dolphin can hold its breath for 5 to 8 minutes at a time.

Dolphins sleep in a semi-alert state by resting one side of their brain at a time.

Dolphins, like cows, have two stomachs - one for storing food and one for digesting it.

Dolphins once were hunted commercially, especially for the small quantity of valuable oil extracted from parts of the head and used to lubricate delicate watch mechanisms. Cheaper oils have now been found from other sources, and dolphins are no longer hunted.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, amended in 1988 and 1992, was passed to prevent exploitation of dolphins and related aquatic animals.

Dolphins, like whales, breathe through a blowhole at the top of the head. As they travel they break surface about every two minutes to make a short, explosive exhalation.

Dolphins almost constantly emit either clicking sounds or whistles. The clicks are short pulses of about 300 sounds per second, emitted from a mechanism located just below the blowhole. They are used for the echolocation of objects and are resonated forward by the so-called oily melon, which is located above the forehead and acts as an acoustic lens. The returning echoes are then picked up by the bony forehead, which acts as a reflector. This echolocation system, similar to that of a bat, enables the dolphin to navigate among its companions and larger objects and to detect fish, squid, and even small shrimp. The whistles are single-toned squeals that come from deeper in the larynx. They are used to communicate alarm, sexual excitement, and perhaps other emotional states.

Sub Species
There are 26 types of ocean dolphins and 5 types of river dolphins.