Delphinus delphis Linnaeus, 1758 Taxonomic position Class Mammalia (Mammalia). Order cetaceans (Balaeniformes). Dolphin family (Delphinidae). conservation status Rare species (3).

area

Tropical and temperate waters of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Features of morphology

The body length of adult animals is 160–220 cm, coloration with a double light field on the side, expanding towards the ends of the body, the anterior part of this field is often light yellow. The dorsal fin is high, narrow, sickle-shaped; muzzle with elongated long snout. It differs from the bottlenose dolphin in the color of the sides of the body and in small numerous teeth.

Features of biology

Occurs in all Black Sea areas of Crimea and in Kerch Strait. Forms large accumulations in the open sea. It feeds on small schooling fish (hamsa, sprat, horse mackerel). Probable age at sexual maturity is 5–10 years, breeding rates in the Black Sea are unknown.

Threat factors

Deterioration of the food base due to the invasion of the comb jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi and non-compliance by fishermen with the norms of fishing; epizootics of various origins.

Protection measures

Listed in Appendix II of the Berne Convention, Appendix II of the Bonn Convention, Appendix I of the ACCOBAMS Agreement and Appendix II international convention CITES.

Sources of information

Barabash-Nikiforov, 1940; Kleinenberg, 1956; Mikhalev, 2008; ChKU, 2009.

Compiled by: Startsev D. B. A photo: Redfern J. (http://commons.wikimedia.org/) (public domain).

common dolphin(or common dolphin) is a mammal belonging to the dolphin family of the suborder of toothed whales of the order of cetaceans.

White flanks of these animals are called because of the color of the body: a black or dark brown body is painted from below and on the sides in a bright light color. Such a contrast of colors makes the common dolphin the most noticeable among the entire dolphin family. body length adult ranges from 1.6 to 2.5 m, weight - 70-110 kg, and males are only slightly larger than females.

Common dolphins are slender animals with an elongated head, a prominent forehead and a narrow, long beak. In the middle of the back is a triangular dark-colored fin. Pectoral fins narrow and long, in newborn babies they are relatively larger than in mature individuals. The caudal fin has pointed ends and a small notch in the middle.

White flanks are quite fast and frisky creatures: they are able to swim at a speed of 45-55 km / h, while moving, making giant gentle jumps from the water to a height of up to 5 m. Hearing is developed better vision, because under water it has greater value. They have about two dozen sound signals: these are whistling, squeaking, creaking, grinding, etc. At the same time, white flanks understand "speech" and other representatives of dolphins: bottlenose dolphins and pilot whales.

The habitat of mammals is separate regions of the World Ocean. Preferring open waters of temperate and tropical latitudes, these representatives of cetaceans are rarely found near the coast. Their large populations live in the east Pacific Ocean, in Black and mediterranean seas, as well as in the waters surrounding such territories as North and South America, Korea, Seychelles, Japan, Oman, South Africa, Tasmania, New Zealand, Madagascar, Taiwan, etc.

The main food of these marine inhabitants is pelagic fish inhabiting the upper layers of the waters of the seas: sprat, anchovy, horse mackerel, mackerel, herring, anchovy, capelin, mackerel, sardine, mullet and others. Less commonly, the menu contains mollusks (squid) and crustaceans (shrimp, sea cockroaches).

White bugs breed in summer months, pregnancy lasts 10-11 months. The birth of a baby occurs under water, he is born tail first and immediately knows how to swim well. After birth, the mother pushes the baby to the surface of the water so that it can breathe air for the first time. The length of the newborn is 80-90 cm, it feeds on mother's milk for about six months and lives next to the parent for about 3 years.

Common dolphins are smart, friendly and sociable animals. They form complex social packs, in which there may be a thousand or more individuals. Scientists believe that flocks are made up of families that consist of the offspring of several generations of one female. Together they hunt for prey, guard the young, help each other and play. If the old dolphin finds it difficult to stay on the surface, then stronger individuals support him so that he can breathe. They also protect children and pregnant females from attack. natural enemies: sharks and killer whales.

White flanks treat people peacefully: they never bite or attack. But since these are quite strong animals, during the game, with their muzzle or tail, they can, although accidentally, but quite noticeably hit a person. Dolphins love to accompany passing ships and passing whales: they frolic in the waves and sharp streams of water they create. Compared to other members of their family, white flanks endure captivity worst of all, so it is almost impossible to meet them in dolphinariums.

The threat to the health and life of cetaceans is mainly human activity. Pollution of the oceans has a negative impact on immune system dolphins and they get sick more often. Also, careless individuals fall into the propellers of ships or become entangled in fishing nets. As a trade, these representatives of the fauna were almost never caught, only the fishermen of Peru killed them in order to sell their meat. Now the populations of common dolphins living in the Black and Mediterranean Seas are listed in the Red Book.

Dolphins are not fish at all, as many believe, and aquatic mammals are not big size belonging to the order Cetaceans. Dolphins are directly related to whales and killer whales (the latter are actually large dolphins). Highly distant relatives dolphins can be considered pinnipeds and terrestrial predators leading an aquatic lifestyle (sea otters). This group of animals is extensive and diverse and includes 50 species.

bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus).

Common features of all species of dolphins are a naked, streamlined body, flexible and muscular at the same time, highly modified limbs that have turned into fins, a small head with a pointed snout, and a dorsal fin, which most dolphins have. On the head of these animals, the transition between the frontal part and the nose is well expressed. The eyes are small and dolphins see poorly, because they do not use their eyesight to track down prey. They also lack tactile vibrissae and sense of smell. Dolphins do not have a nose as such in our understanding. The fact is that dolphins are so adapted to permanent living in water that their nostrils have merged into one breathing hole (breathing hole), which is located on ... the parietal part of the head. This allows animals to breathe when their body is almost completely submerged in water. In addition to the nose, dolphins also lack ears. But they have a rumor, it just works in an unusual way. In the absence of external auditory openings, the perception of sounds has taken over the inner ear and air cushions in the frontal part of the brain, which act as a resonator. These animals have perfect echolocation! They catch the reflected sound wave and thus determine the location of the object. By the nature of sound vibrations, dolphins also determine the distance to the object and its character (density, structure, material from which it is made). It is no exaggeration to say that dolphins literally see the world through sounds and see it much better than other creatures! Dolphins themselves make sounds similar to crackling, clicking, clattering and even chirping. The sounds made by dolphins are extremely diverse and complex, they consist of many individual modulations and are used by animals not only for communication, but also for communication with the outside world. The teeth of dolphins are numerous (40-60 pieces), small and uniform. This structure of the dental system is due to the fact that dolphins only catch prey, but do not chew it. The body of dolphins is completely naked, devoid of even the slightest rudiments of wool. Moreover, the skin of these animals has a special structure that reduces the friction of water and improves the hydrodynamic properties of the body.

Common dolphin, or common dolphin (Delphinus delphis).

Since dolphins are very mobile and constantly move through the water at high speeds, the outer layer of the skin is constantly wearing down. Therefore, the deep layers of the skin have a powerful supply of regenerating cells that are constantly dividing. During the day, the dolphin is replaced by 25 cell layers of the skin! We can say that these animals are in a state of continuous molting. Coloring in dolphins is of two types: monochromatic (gray, black, pink) and contrasting, when large areas of the body are painted in black and white.

Commerson's dolphin (Cephalorhynchus commersonii) has a bright black and white coloration.

Dolphins live exclusively in water bodies, never leaving the water column. The range of these animals is very extensive and covers almost the entire globe. Dolphins are absent only in the coldest Arctic and subantarctic waters. Basically, these mammals live in salt waters - the seas and oceans, but some species of dolphins (Chinese and Amazonian river dolphins) live in major rivers. Dolphins prefer open spaces, moving freely across the ocean, but sometimes they come close to the shore and even play in the surf. Another phenomenon associated with this is the so-called throwing of dolphins ashore. For a long time, cases of finding individual animals and even whole flocks of dolphins on the shore have been known. Discarded animals are always healthy, and often still alive. For what reason they end up on the shore, scientists are still arguing. It is impossible to blame dolphins for movement errors, because their echolocating abilities are perfectly developed. The notion that dolphins do this on purpose is untenable, since no animal is capable of suicide. It is most likely that dolphins end up on the shore because of the information "noise" - a large number sounds from ship engines, radio frequency beacons, etc. The dolphins' sophisticated sonar picks up this cacophony, but their brains can't filter out so many sound sources, and as a result, the animals see an erroneous "map of the area" and run aground. This confirms that dolphins are more likely to die in the area of ​​busy shipping and generally close to human civilization.

A flock of common dolphins.

All species of dolphins are pack animals, their groups can number from 10 to 150 individuals. Their social relations are very developed. These are friendly animals that maintain peaceful relations with each other, there are no fights and fierce competition between them. But the pack has its own leaders, more experienced animals and young animals. Between themselves, they communicate with sounds of various tonality and duration, each member of the herd has its own individual voice. With various signals, dolphins inform each other about impending danger, the presence of food or the desire to play. Moreover, dolphins designate each category of objects with their own sound. For example, when a killer whale approaches ( dangerous predator) dolphins "speak" differently than when approaching a whale (just a neighbor), they can combine simple sounds into Difficult words and even suggestions. It's nothing but speech! That is why dolphins are considered one of the most highly developed animals, putting their intelligence on a par with great apes.

A flock of bottlenose dolphins examines an underwater photographer with interest.

The mind of dolphins has another little-known side. In connection with high level development, these animals have a lot of free time, not busy looking for food. Dolphins use it to communicate, play and ... have sex. These animals have sexual intercourse regardless of the breeding season and biological cycle each member of the herd. In this way sexual relations serve not only for procreation, but also for pleasure. Also, dolphins love to play “outdoor games”, as we would call them. They practice jumping out of the water in a forward direction, up or twisting around their axis like a corkscrew.

With movements of a strong tail, a dolphin is able to raise its body above the water, hold it for several seconds, and even move backwards at the same time (stand on the tail).

With a man, dolphins are related by one more little known fact. It turns out that despite the differences in physiology, dolphins can suffer from completely human diseases; in captivity, they have recorded cases of cirrhosis of the liver, pneumonia and brain cancer.

Dolphins feed exclusively on fish. They prefer small and medium fish- anchovies, sardines. Dolphin fishing techniques are unique. First, the herd scans the water column using echolocation; when a school of fish is found, the dolphins rapidly approach it. Along the way, they make sounds of a special frequency that cause panic in the fish. A fish school huddles together, and that's all the dolphins need. Approaching, they catch fish with common efforts, often while dolphins exhale air, the bubbles of which create a kind of barrier around the fish school. Thus, these hunters can catch a significant part of the fish school. Dolphins also have companions: gulls and boobies monitor the behavior of dolphins from a height and attack fish schools from the air during feeding.

A common dolphin is fishing with a shark (in the background). In this case, the shark does not pose a danger to the dolphin.

Dolphins breed all year round. They don't have special marriage rituals, but usually the leading male of the herd mates with the female. Mating occurs while moving, and the birth of a baby dolphin occurs on the go. Dolphin babies, like all cetaceans, are born tail first. This is due to the fact that the newborn is under water and for the first breath he must first rise to the surface. Dolphin cubs are born so well developed that from the very first seconds of life they independently swim after their mother. However, the mother and nearby members of the herd help the baby to rise to the surface, pushing him with their noses. The cub often suckles its mother, thanks to nutritious milk it grows quickly. Communicating with relatives, the cub learns from them the art of hunting and soon begins to participate in the life of the herd on an equal basis with adults.

The main enemies of dolphins are sharks and ... their own relatives. One of the most large species dolphins - killer whale - hunts for warm-blooded inhabitants of the seas. Smaller species often become its prey. Since ancient times, humans have also hunted dolphins. True, the extraction of dolphins has never been carried out in industrial scale because besides meat (not the best palatability) you can’t extract anything from the carcass of a dolphin. Therefore, dolphins were caught only locals northern countries or sailors on long journeys. Despite this, these animals are still being caught in some countries. Such a hunt looks cruel, because the meat of the caught dolphins is only fed to dogs and does not bring any economic benefit. Such actions are doubly absurd when you consider that many species of dolphins are endangered. These animals die in fishing nets, from oil spills, from wounds caused by ship propellers. At the same time, dolphins are often kept in water parks, where they undergo a complex training program and perform in entertainment shows.

Dolphins are marine mammals animals that belong to the suborder of toothed whales. They are found in the seas and oceans, as well as rivers that have access to the sea. They feed, as a rule, on crustaceans, mollusks, fish, and some do not disdain sea ​​turtles and birds.

Where do dolphins live?

The habitat of the dolphin is exclusively water bodies. The dolphin lives in almost all places on our planet, with the exception of the Arctic and Antarctic regions. Dolphins live in the sea, in the ocean, as well as in large freshwater rivers(Amazonian river dolphin). These mammals love space and move freely over long distances.

Description

The length of dolphins ranges from one and a half to ten meters. The smallest dolphin in the world is Maui, which lives near New Zealand: the length of the female does not exceed 1.7 meters. major inhabitant sea ​​depths is considered a white-faced dolphin with a length of about three meters. The largest representative is the killer whale: the length of males reaches ten meters.

It is worth noting that males are usually ten to twenty centimeters longer than females (the exception is killer whale dolphins - here the difference is about two meters). They weigh on average from one hundred and fifty to three hundred kilograms, killer whale - about a ton.

Back sea ​​dolphins it comes in gray, blue, dark brown, black and even pink (albino) colors. The front of the head can be either solid or white (for example, the white-faced dolphin has a beak and the front of the forehead white color).

In some species, the mouth is rounded in front, the beak-shaped mouth is absent. In others, small sizes, the head ends with an elongated mouth in the form of a flattened “beak”, and the mouth is shaped so that people watching them seem to be always smiling, and therefore they often have an irresistible desire to swim with dolphins. At the same time, even a huge number of teeth of the same cone-shaped shape does not spoil the impression - dolphins have about two hundred of them.

Due to the elongated body and smooth, elastic skin, these animals almost do not feel water resistance during movement. Thanks to this, they are able to move very quickly (the average speed of a dolphin is 40 km / h), dive to a depth of about one hundred meters, jump out of the water nine meters high and five meters long.

Another unique feature of these marine mammals is that almost all species of dolphins (with the exception of the Amazonian river dolphin and several other varieties) see well both underwater and above the surface. They have this ability due to the structure of the retina, one part of which is responsible for the image in the water, the other - above its surface.

Since whales and dolphins are relatives, like all representatives of cetaceans, they are quite capable of staying under water for a long period. But, they still need oxygen, so they constantly float to the surface, showing a blue muzzle and replenishing air supplies through a drawbar, which overlaps under water. Even during sleep, the animal is fifty centimeters from the surface and, without waking up, swims out every half a minute.

Dolphin species

There are 17 genera in the dolphin family. Most interesting varieties dolphins:

• White-bellied dolphin (black dolphin, Chilean dolphin) (lat. Cephalorhynchus eutropia) lives exclusively on the coast of Chile. An animal with a rather modest size - the length of the stocky and rather thick body of this cetacean does not exceed 170 cm. The back and sides of the white-bellied dolphin have grey colour, while the throat, belly area and parts of the flippers adjacent to the body are absolutely white. The flippers and dorsal fin of the white-bellied dolphin are smaller than those of other dolphin species. This type close to extinction, protected by the Chilean authorities.

• Common dolphin (common dolphin) (lat. Delphinus delphis). The length of a marine animal often reaches 2.4 meters, the weight of a dolphin varies between 60-80 kilograms. In the back area, an ordinary dolphin is painted dark blue or almost black, the belly is white, and a spectacular yellowish-gray stripe runs along the light sides. This species of dolphins lives in the waters of the Mediterranean and Black Seas, feels at ease in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. There is a common dolphin on east coast South America, along the coasts of New Zealand and South Africa, in the seas of Japan and Korea.

• White-faced dolphin (lat. Lagenorhynchus albirostris) - a large representative of cetaceans with a body length reaching 3 meters and weighing up to 275 kg. Distinctive feature The white-faced dolphin has a very light, sometimes snow-white muzzle. The habitat of this mammal includes the waters of the North Atlantic, the coast of Portugal and Turkey. The dolphin feeds on fish such as capelin, saffron cod, flounder, herring, cod, whiting, as well as mollusks and crustaceans.

• Large-toothed dolphin (lat. Steno bredanensis). The body length of this marine mammal is 2-2.6 meters, weight varies from 90 to 155 kg. Height dorsal fin is 18-28 cm. The color of the dolphin is dominated by gray, over which whitish spots are “scattered”. This species of dolphin is common off the coast of Brazil, in the Gulf of Mexico and California, lives in warm waters Caribbean and Red Seas.

• bottlenose dolphin ( big dolphin or bottle-nosed dolphin) (lat. Tursiops truncatus). The length of the animal can vary from 2.3 to 3.6 meters, and weight from 150 to 300 kg. The body color of the bottlenose dolphin depends on the habitat, but basically the species has a dark brown upper part body and grayish-white belly. Sometimes there is a weakly pronounced pattern in the form of fuzzy stripes or spots on the sides. The bottlenose dolphin lives in the Mediterranean, Red, Baltic and Black Seas, and is often found in the Pacific Ocean along the coasts of Japan, Argentina and New Zealand.

• Broad-faced dolphin (beakless dolphin) (lat. Peponocephala electra) common in the waters of countries with tropical climate, especially mass populations live along the coast of the Hawaiian Islands. The torpedo-shaped, light gray body of the animal is crowned with a cone-shaped dark gray head. The length of a mammal often reaches 3 meters, and an adult individual weighs more than 200 kg.

• Chinese dolphin(lat. Sousa chinensis). This representative of the genus of humpback dolphins lives in the waters along the coast. South-East Asia, but migrates during the breeding season, therefore it is found in bays, quiet sea lagoons and even rivers washing Australia and the countries of South Africa. The length of the animal can be 2-3.5 meters with a weight of 150-230 kg. Surprisingly, although dolphins are born completely black, as they grow, the body color changes first to light gray, with slightly pinkish spots, and adults become almost white. The Chinese dolphin feeds on fish and shellfish.

• Irrawaddy dolphin (lat. Orcaella brevirostris). A distinctive feature of this species of dolphins is the complete absence of a beak on the muzzle and a flexible neck, which received mobility due to several skin and muscle folds behind the head. The color of the body of the Irrawaddy dolphin can be either light gray with a blue tint or dark gray, while the belly of the animal is always a tone lighter. In length it aquatic mammal reaches 1.5-2.8 meters with a weight of 115-145 kg. The dolphin's habitat covers the waters of the warm Indian Ocean, from the Bay of Bengal to the northern coast of Australia.

• Cruciform dolphin (lat. Lagenorhynchus cruciger) lives exclusively in the waters of the Antarctic and subantarctic. The color of the dolphin is black and white, less often - dark gray. A spectacular white marking, covering the sides of the mammal, stretches to its muzzle, framing the eye area. The second mark runs along the back of the body, intersecting with the first and forming a pattern in the form hourglass. An adult cruciform dolphin has a body length of about 2 meters in length, the weight of a dolphin varies between 90-120 kilograms.

• Killer whale (killer whale) (lat. Orcinus orca)- a mammal that belongs to the dolphin family, a genus of killer whales. The male killer whale has a length of about 10 meters and a weight of around 8 tons. Females are smaller: their length reaches 8.7 meters. Pectoral flippers of killer whales have a wide oval shape. Killer whale teeth are quite long - up to 13 cm in length. The sides and back of the mammal are black, the throat is white, and on the belly is white stripe. There are white spots above the eyes. Sometimes completely black or white individuals are found in the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The killer whale lives in all waters of the oceans, except Sea of ​​Azov, Black Sea, Laptev Sea and East Siberian Sea.

Dolphin Speed ​​Mystery

In 1936, the British zoologist Sir James Gray (Sir James Gray) drew attention to the enormous speed (up to 37 km / h, according to him), which dolphins manage to develop. Having produced necessary calculations, Gray showed that, according to the laws of hydrodynamics, it is impossible to achieve such a high speed with the muscle strength that dolphins possess. This riddle is known as the Gray paradox. The search for its solution to one degree or another continues to this day. AT different time Various research teams have put forward various explanations for the phenomenal speed of dolphins, but there is no unequivocal and universally recognized answer to this question.

Ability to regenerate

Dolphins have an incredible ability to heal themselves. If they receive any kind of wound - even a large one - they do not bleed and do not die from infection, as one might assume. Instead, their flesh begins to regenerate at a rapid pace, so that in just a few weeks, a deep wound, such as from a shark's teeth, leaves almost no visible scars. Interestingly, the behavior of injured animals is practically no different from normal. This gives reason to believe that nervous system dolphins are capable of critical situations block pain.

Why don't dolphins freeze underwater?

Finally, let's find out why dolphins, being warm-blooded, do not freeze in water. Their body temperature is 36.6 degrees. AT northern seas Animals need to keep warm. Water, which conducts heat up to twenty-five times more efficiently than air, allows you to freeze much faster than in air.

Why do dolphins do such miracles?! This is due to the large layer of fat under the skin. They can control their circulation and metabolism. This makes it possible to support normal temperature body, according to wikipedia.

How do dolphins breathe?

Whales and dolphins are related and can stay under water for a long time without surfacing. The drawbar is closed during such periods. But, like other cetaceans, dolphins still need air underwater and periodically rise to the surface to breathe.

How Do Dolphins Sleep?

Dolphins also have another interesting physiological feature A: They never sleep. Animals hang in the water column, periodically rising to the surface for breathing. During rest, they are able to alternately turn off either the left or the right hemisphere of the brain, that is, only one half of the dolphin's brain sleeps, while the other is awake.

How are they born?

Do you know how dolphins are born? The bottlenose dolphin bears a baby for about a year. He is born tail first. The eyes of the cub are immediately open, and the senses are as developed as possible. Moreover, the barely born dolphin already has enough coordination to follow in the footsteps of the mother, who helps to rise to the surface. Then follows the first breath in the life of a baby dolphin. Such trusting relationship in a baby dolphin with a mother, they last approximately 3 to 8 years.

Dolphins and humans: who is smarter?

When dolphins began to be studied and trained in the middle of the last century, the first results of this work seemed so unusual, and even surprising (they talked about it a lot, wrote and made films), that a legend gradually emerged about the unusual high intelligence dolphins; one could often hear that they were not dumber than a man only their minds are different.

The brain of an adult dolphin weighs about 1700 grams, while that of a human weighs 1400. The dolphin has twice as many convolutions in the cerebral cortex. At the same time, there are relatively few neurons in a cubic millimeter of its substance (less than in the brain of primates).

The results of research on the behavior and physiology of the dolphin brain are highly controversial. Some put their learning ability at about the level of a dog and show that dolphins are very far from chimpanzees. In contrast, studies of dolphin communication methods lead to the conclusion that we have not yet come close to understanding this form of life in vivo and comparing the level of intelligence of dolphins and chimpanzees is simply incorrect.

One property of the dolphin brain is quite unique: it never truly sleeps. Sleep - alternately - then the left, then the right hemispheres of the brain. The dolphin needs, from time to time, to float to the surface to breathe. At night, the awake halves of the brain are responsible for this, in turn.

Dolphin communication

Dolphin language can be divided into 2 groups:

• Sign language(language of the body) - various poses, jumps, turns, various ways swimming, signs given by the tail, head, fins.
• The language of sounds(proper language) - sound signaling, expressed in the form of sound pulses and ultrasound. Examples of such sounds can be: chirping, buzzing, screeching, grinding, clicking, smacking, creaking, clapping, squeaking, roaring, screaming, screaming, croaking, whistling.

The most expressive are whistles, which dolphins have 32 types. Each of them can denote a specific phrase (pain signals, alarms, greetings and a call to me, etc.). Scientists have studied the whistle of dolphins using the Zipf method and obtained the same slope coefficient as that of human tongues, i.e. carrying information. AT recent times found in dolphins 180 communication signs who are trying to systematize, compiling a dictionary of communication of these mammals. However, despite numerous studies, it has not yet been possible to fully decipher the language of dolphins.

Dolphin names

Each dolphin has its own name, to which it responds when relatives address it. This conclusion was reached by American scientists, the results of which were published in the Bulletin National Academy US Sciences (PNAS). Moreover, the experts who conducted their experiments in US state Florida, found that the name is given to the dolphin at birth and is a characteristic whistle.

Scientists caught 14 light gray bottlenose dolphins in the wild with nets and recorded various sounds made by these mammals in the process of their communication with each other. Then, with the help of a computer, “names” were isolated from the records. When a name was "played out" for a pack, a specific individual responded to it. The "name" of a dolphin is a characteristic whistle, average duration which is 0.9 seconds

official recognition

The Government of India recently removed dolphins from the animal category and gave them the status of "non-human beings". Thus, India became the first country to recognize the presence of intelligence and self-awareness in dolphins. In this regard, the Ministry environment and Forestry of India have banned any performances using dolphins and called for their special rights to be respected.

1. There are 43 species of dolphins. 38 of them are marine, the rest are river inhabitants.
2. It turns out that in ancient times dolphins were terrestrial, and only later adapted to life in the water. Their fins resemble legs. So our sea friends might once have been land wolves.
3. Images of dolphins were carved in the desert city of Petra, Jordan. Petra was founded as early as 312 BC. This gives reason to consider dolphins as one of the most ancient animals.
4. Dolphins are the only animals whose babies are born tail first. Otherwise, the baby may drown.
5. A dolphin can drown if a tablespoon of water enters its lungs. For comparison, a person needs two tablespoons to choke.
6. Dolphins breathe through an adapted nose, which is located at the top of their head.
7. Dolphins can see with the help of sound, they send out signals that travel long distances and bounce off objects. This allows the animals to judge the distance to the object, its shape, density and texture.
8. Dolphins are superior bats with its sonar capability.
9. During sleep, dolphins stay on the surface of the water to be able to breathe. For control, one half of the animal's brain is always awake.
10. The Cove won an Oscar as a documentary about dolphin treatment in Japan. The film explores the theme of cruelty to dolphins and the high risk of mercury poisoning from eating dolphins.
11. It is assumed that hundreds of years ago, dolphins did not have such an ability to echolocate. It is a quality acquired with evolution.
12. Dolphins do not use their 100 teeth to chew food. With their help, they catch fish, which they swallow whole. Dolphins don't even have chewing muscles!
13. AT Ancient Greece Dolphins were called sacred fish. Killing a dolphin was considered sacrilege.
14. Scientists have found that dolphins give themselves names. Each individual has its own personal whistle.
15. Breathing in these animals is not an automatic process, like in humans. The dolphin's brain signals when to breathe.

The common dolphin, or common dolphin, is up to two meters long and weighs from forty to sixty kilograms. Most often found on the high seas. If in a bottlenose dolphin the end of the head resembles the neck of a bottle, then in a white barrel it looks like a snout stretched forward, resembling a beak. The body is blue-black, white on the sides, which is why the common dolphin is called the common dolphin.

This species of toothy cetaceans has other names - short-beaked, blubber, tyrtak, sharp-faced, common dolphin. But at the same time, with everything, the most common species in the world's oceans. Lives in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Sea of ​​Japan, and the Baltic Sea, in open water northern latitudes, Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is easier to name where it is not.

Most of its population is found in the Black Sea. But away from the coast. Vacationers crowded on the beach. Animatedly point fingers at the oncoming waves. They make noise, take pictures, film something. Looking closely into the surf, and you see thirty meters from the shore, now plunging into the water, then emerging from it, seemingly sedate marine animals. These are bottlenose dolphins. They cruise along the coast in search of food. At the sight of a jamb, both externally and internally, they are transformed. Become fast, passionate. Grabbed a fish sharp teeth, and she is gone - she disappeared in the mouth And then again the imposingness and some kind of sedateness in swimming.
Whitetail is not like that. You can hardly see it off the coast. Her element is the open sea. You have bought a ticket for one of our sea vessels that regularly approach the berths to deliver you, for example, to the dolphinarium on Bolshoi Utrish or ride on the waves for an hour-long walk - here you will certainly encounter white flanks. The ship retired at a decent distance from the beaches, picked up speed, and suddenly a cheerful flock of dolphins appeared in front of its nose. Beautiful, slender, fast, streamlined, somewhat similar in shape to a spindle, they look at you, people with funny intelligent eyes and seem to ask: “Well, who is who ...” You can’t keep up with them. And so they will accompany you to the very Big Utrish, gleaming with white sides, which is why they called them "white flanks".

But they can entertain you only at sea at a speed of forty to fifty kilometers per hour. But in dolphinariums, thank you. White flanks cannot stand captivity, they prefer freedom. Therefore, bottlenose dolphins mainly perform in dolphinariums.

A little more about the white flanks - since this is our most common species. The length of animals from the tip of the tail to the tip of the snout is on average from one and a half to almost two meters. Although larger individuals are not excluded. They live in the world for twenty to thirty years. Their teeth are shorter, but sharper than bottlenose dolphins. About a hundred and twenty pieces. Males are larger than females. mating games fall in spring and summer. The cubs are born in the water after ten months or more and feed their mothers with their nutritious milk for up to four months, and then get food yourself. Their usual food is anchovy, sprat, although they do not disdain larger schooling fish, mollusks. They can dive for more than seventy meters. Very attentive to old relatives. They can raise them with their friendly efforts to the surface of the water so that they can breathe air. Sharks and killer whales will get away from them if they suddenly decide to attack their juveniles. People are treated as their brothers. Don't mind playing with them in open water. However, it is better not to contact them. In sympathy for you, they can hit you in the side with a sharp snout so painfully that it won’t seem enough, although they had no intention of offending you. So it is preferable to admire white-flanked whales from the deck of a yacht or ship and from there listen to their "speech", reminiscent of the squeak of mice or the gnashing of rusted door hinges. Having acquired offspring, they live in families. But in winter they gather in large flocks of up to hundreds or more individuals. The vision of white flanks is weaker than that of bottlenose dolphins, but they have excellent hearing. Especially in the water. A shoal of anchovies will be heard at a considerable distance from oneself. And a merry hunt will go on ... They hunted them too. Because of the fat stuffed with vitamins, skins, which no water for anything. Exterminated by the thousands in all coastal countries of the Black Sea. Now they are practically left alone, from which their population is growing.