DID YOU KNOW?
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Dolphins can live up to 50 years |
| Some adult dolphins have bristles on their heads. |
| A dolphin's brain is almost the size of a human's. |
| There are two different groups of whale - Baleen & Toothed. Dolphins are toothed whales. |
| Toothed whales (dolphins) feed on fish, squid and octopus. |
| Atlantic spotted dolphins have no spots when they are born. They are about a year old when the first greyish white spots begin to appear. |
| Hector's dolphin is the world's smallest. |
| The Orca is the largest dolphin. |
| Dusky dolphins are one of the most acrobatic of all the dolphins and are known for their amazingly high jumps and twists. |
| The baiji or Chinese river dolphin, is the rarest dolphin in the world. It lives in the Yangtze River in China. There are thought to be perhaps less than 100 of these dolphins remaining, and the planned damming of the river could mean that the dolphin will become extinct in the next few years. |
| Dolphins do not sleep like we do, they rest on the surface of the sea or catnap for a few moments while they are swimming. Each side of the brain takes it in turns to 'switch off' while the other half stays alert. |
| A group of dolphins is called a pod. |
| Sometimes there can even be 100s of dolphins in one pod. |
Bibliography:
Parish, S. Amazing Facts about Australian Mammals. Discover and learn vol.2. Steve Parish Publishing, 1997.