Dolphins how long do they live

Many dolphins are grey in color, some species have various patterns of black and white, and a few are even pink. In terms of behavior, all species of dolphins are quite gregarious. In fact, many dolphin species can form groups of over 1, individuals, known as super pods!

Dolphins come in all shapes and sizes, and each species has their own unique features. You may not expect to find a dolphin in freshwater areas, but this species thrives in the Amazon River.

It's also called the boto or bufeo dolphin and its skin turns pink as it matures. Here's another entry to the list of freshwater dolphins. As you'd guess from the name, this species can be found in the Ganges River in India. It has a unique habit of swimming sideways, allowing it to sidle up to food. This striking, highly social dolphin species is found off the coast of Argentina and in parts of the Indian Ocean.

It's best known for a panda-like black and white color pattern. Risso's dolphins love deeper waters, where they seek out a diet of squid and other deepwater fish species.

However, their favorite prey fights back and older members of this species may have a mottled pattern of battle scars from squid attacks.

Did you know that killer whales are members of the dolphin family? These animals, also commonly called orcas, are the world's largest dolphins.

How big are they? Larger individuals can grow over 30 feet long and weigh 11 tons. They typically have a bold black and white pattern similar to Commerson's dolphin. They use some of the most sophisticated and unusual communications of all dolphin species. These playful dolphins have earned their name, in part, for the high jumping spins they take out of the water. These aerial acrobatic tricks make them a favorite among dolphin-watchers.

They are found throughout the world, preferring warm and shallow waters. Once you've seen one of these members of the dolphin family, you'll never forget them. The short-finned pilot whale has an unusual, squared-off head and lacks the long beak of most dolphin species. Pilot whales are very social and travel in pods of up to 50 members. This shy, elusive dolphin species share a similar black and white color pattern to killer whales, but they are a fraction of the size.

They are rarely seen by humans as hourglass dolphins are one of the few dolphin species who favors the Antarctic area. Although the bottlenose is the most famous dolphin species, there is a good chance you've seen a striped dolphin in action at an aquatic center.

These attractively striped animals can live in very large groups, and they perform elaborate acrobatics when they leap into the air. We saved the bottlenose dolphin for last for two reasons. Flipper, the world's most famous dolphin, was a bottlenose dolphin.

The other reason is they hold a special place in our hearts, since most the dolphins at Dolphins Plus are Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. These majestic animals are dark grey and, as you'd expect from the name, have a short and blunt rostrum.

Bottlenose dolphins live throughout the world in warmer waters. They have a number of interesting features ranging from how they look to how they interact with each other. Bottlenose dolphins are varying shades of grey with a lighter belly counter-shading , which helps conceal them from predators. They have a streamlined body that allows them to swim up to 20 mph.

The typical length for an adult bottlenose dolphin can range between 6 to over 12 feet and they can weigh over a 1, pounds. The bottlenose dolphin's diet varies depending on the region where they live. These skillful predators primarily eat fish, but can also hunt other marine life such as squid. Dolphins have some sophisticated ways to catch a meal. Some of their tactics include herding prey into muddy areas and even catching leaping fish out of the air. They tend to hunt in a group, which makes the foraging process very effective.

Dolphins thrive in both tropical and cooler, more temperate waters. Humans have encountered dolphin pods both near shore and in deep offshore waters like the Indian Ocean.

Some dolphin groups stay in one area for a lifetime while others migrate. When their calves are born they typically weigh around pounds, compared to full-grown dolphins that can weigh over a 1, pounds.

That's quite a difference! Bottlenose dolphins start out quite dark in color, lightening as they mature. Dolphins are under threat worldwide, mainly human generated threats. Two of the biggest issues are entanglement in fishing gear and nets, and pollution. Dolphins often pursue the same fish species that commercial fishing ships are hunting and may get accidentally caught in their nets.

They can also get tangled in discarded ropes and gear, causing a significant amount of marine mammal deaths each year. Finally, the human-created pollution that is affecting the world's oceans is causing a wide variety of problems for dolphins, ranging from diseases to difficulty finding food.

Dolphins do not mate for life. Dolphin reproduction often involves putting on displays including posturing and vocalizations to attract a mate. How different are they? There are so many different species of oceanic dolphins that it is difficult to say what your sailors will see. Sperm whales, while not dolphins, are common around the Galapagos Islands. The sailors may see spinner dolphins, spotted dolphins, killer whales, false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, bottlenose dolphins, and who knows what else!

Some are easy to tell apart and others are very difficult to identify, even for experienced observers. What dolphins are found off New Jersey? Dolphins are whales. In fact, the killer whale is just a big dolphin! Technically, the toothed-whale family Delphinidae contains all of the dolphins except the freshwater species.

The real differences are between toothed whales including dolphins and baleen whales. For example, toothed whales have teeth and baleen whales have baleen. Toothed whales have one blowhole and baleen whales have two. A wide variety of dolphins can be found off New Jersey: bottlenose dolphins, pilot whales, killer whales, striped dolphins, whitesided dolphins, etc.

Bottlenose dolphins are the most common near shore. Why does the dolphin's skin feel slimy and rubbery? While the bottlenose dolphin's skin may feel rubbery, it certainly isn't slimy. Dolphins don't have skin glands. Dolphin skin grows rapidly and is very flexible. It helps with streamlining. Why don't dolphins have all those crusty barnacles on them like whales? Actually, many species of dolphins do have barnacles, but of a different type than those found on the baleen whales.

Lots of dolphins have soft barnacles on their flukes, fins, and flippers. Some beaked whales even have them growing on their teeth! I don't know why the hard barnacles grow on whales and not on dolphins. It may have something to do with swimming speeds as well as the speed with which a barnacle larva can attach to whale or dolphin skin.

What do dolphins smell like? I've never actually smelled one. When they are dead they really stink! However, live dolphins don't have much of an odor because they don't have skin glands. What do dolphins do to avoid their predators? Dolphins have few predators to begin with. I would guess that whenever possible the dolphins will avoid predators rather than try to fight with them.

Is it possible that a dolphin can get caught in seaweed? Dolphins play with lots of things, including seaweed. Seaweed includes a variety of aquatic plants. However, I've never heard of a dolphin becoming entangled in it. When was the first dolphin discovered and where?

I don't know when the first dolphin was discovered. Probably no one knows. Do dolphins sleep? Yes, dolphins sleep but apparently not the same way that humans do. Is anything that lives on land related to dolphins? I believe that animals like deer and antelope are very remotely related to dolphins. Why can't dolphins breathe under water? Why do dolphins have to live in the water? Dolphins can't breathe under water because they don't have gills. They have lungs just like people and must breathe air.

Dolphins have to live in water because they would overheat and dry out on land. Their bodies and body functions have evolved for life in the water. Can dolphins understand human language? How do dolphins understand people?

Dolphins don't "understand" people as far as we know. Dolphins can not understand human language. Just like dogs and parrots, dolphins can be trained to respond to certain sounds or hand signals. How many people are you working with? What other dolphins have you studied besides bottlenose? I work on the dolphin project with four other people.

I also study killer whales which are really big dolphins , false killer whales, pygmy killer whales, spotted dolphins, spinner dolphins, Clymene dolphins, striped dolphins, Risso's dolphins, Fraser's dolphins and a few more.

How long do dolphins actually live? It depends on which species you are talking about. Bottlenose dolphins may live for 50 years, but most only live for 25 years. How long can dolphins stay under water without surfacing to breathe? Bottlenose dolphins only stay under a few minutes on average. It depends on what they are doing. How many times a day do dolphins eat? For example the Amazon river dolphin a freshwater dolphin has a life expectancy of only 15 — 20 years while the Stripped dolphin may live to be 50 — 60 years.

While it is unclear whether or not their habitat is solely responsible for their lifespan we can assume that their lifespan may be partially based on their species. In the wild, bottlenose dolphins generally live between 30 and 50 years. We knew that a life in a tank can never replicate the quality of life that dolphins enjoy in their natural homes and this was borne out by my findings.

Bottlenose dolphins in captivity only survive to an average of 12 years, 9 months and 8 days — this is appallingly low compared to their life expectancy in the wild. I wanted to test the suggestion that wild dolphins live longer, so I calculated the percentage of individuals who survived past certain ages, both from Ceta-Base and from the well-studied wild Sarasota bottlenose dolphin population in Florida recorded in Shockingly, only I found that Even in populations suffering declines in the wild, individuals fare better than their counterparts in captivity.

While they are alive, captive dolphins suffer an impoverished existence which is bad for their mental and physical health, and captivity kills them early — just so humans can be entertained. Things are definitely changing, but too slowly. Despite all the awareness and controversy, people still flock to these cruel, exploitative attractions in their millions. We need the world to wake up fast before too many more dolphins suffer and die.

WDC is leading the way to help develop sanctuaries for captive whales and dolphins.