The average dolphin swims at a rate of between 10 and 15km per hour

If being chased, they can swim as fast as 40km per hour

Sometimes dolphins swim into shallow water and get stuck when the tide goes out.

The shallow water can confuse the dolphin's sonar.

No, dolphins are mammals.

Unlike fish, dolphins are warm-blooded and nurse their young.

Porpoises are smaller than dolphins and swim much faster.

Porpoises have rounder faces.

Dolphins and porpoises are actually both small whales.

Dolphins can be any combination of black, white, light grey, blue-grey, yellow, tan, and even pink

They can also have spots or stripes.

Dolphins use echoes to locate objects in the water.

They send out a series of clicks to find out an objects size, shape, and location.

Dolphins can tell a shark from a boat using this method, called echolocation or sonar.

Dolphins swim in groups, or schools, to protect themselves.

Sharks and Killer whales eat dolphins.

By sticking together, the dolphins have a better chance of avoiding trouble.

A dolphin's reproductive organs are tucked away in slits to make swimming easier.

Males have a separate anal slit, while females have a pair of small mammary slits on either side of the genital slit.

In the wild, most species of dolphins live for at least 25 years.

Some whales, notably the Orca, may reach 60, 70, or even 80 years!

Dolphins are small whales.

Although they look like big fish, dolphins are mammals.

They breathe air and have live young and feed them milk.

They are among the most intelligent creatures on earth.

Most dolphin species are about 2 m (6 ft) in length, the males averaging 10 to 20 cm (4 to 8 in) longer than females. The largest is the bottle-nose dolphin. This species may reach over 3 m (9 ft) in length and 200 kg (440 lb) in weight. The smallest species is the buffeo, found in the Amazon River; the buffeo rarely grows over 1.2 m (3.9 ft) in length and 30 kg (66 lb) in weight

The general form of dolphins is a classic example of streamlining. The body is sleek and smooth; the hairless skin is rubbery to the touch. Most species have jaws that protrude into a beak like snout. Above the upper jaw is a large mass of fat and oil-containing tissue forming the so-called "melon" that looks much like a bulging forehead

Reproduction

Reproductive behavior is known mostly from studies on captive individuals, primarily the bottle-nose dolphin. Copulation normally occurs during the spring months, with the male-female pair exhibiting courtship for some time prior to copulation. Gestation in the species studied is between 11 and 12 months, after which a single calf is produced. Delivery is normally tail first, and the newborn is capable of swimming and breathing within the first minutes. Some mothers have been observed raising the calf to the surface, as if to help it, but dolphins apparently play in this fashion with a variety of objects, living or not. Such play may have provoked the stories of drowning persons being helped to shore by dolphins.

After birth, the calf follows its mother closely, and suckling takes place frequently, with the mother tolling slightly and the calf nuzzling the mammary area. The dolphin's two mammary glands open into a pair of sacs on either side of the anal opening, and the calf's beak fits into the openings on the sacs. The nipple is grasped between the upper jaw and the tongue, and muscular contractions by the mother literally squirt mil into the calf's mouth. Nursing may continue for as long as 12 to 18 months after birth, although weaning is probably slowed or inhibited in captive animals

Communication

Dolphins are extremely and almost constantly vocal. They are capable of two kinds of sounds. A specialized mechanism in the nasal passages just below the blow-hole enables them to emit short, pulse-type sounds. These sounds, called clicks, can be produced in such rapid succession as to sound like a buzz or even a duck like quack. The clicks are beamed forward, with the oily melon serving as an acoustic lens and the bony forehead as a reflector. The clicks are used as a form of sonar, in which echoes of sounds from surrounding objects enable the animals to detect obstacles, other dolphins, fish, and even tiny bits of matter in the water. This ability is termed ECHOLOCATION and is found in a few other animal groups, most notably the insect eating bats. Some Scientists have speculated that dolphins also use the sounds to deliver an acoustic shock for stunning of killing small prey

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